Help shape a new education programme on antimicrobial resistance (AMR)

The Fleming Initiative at Imperial College London is developing a new education programme to help young people understand and take positive action on antimicrobial resistance (AMR)—the growing problem of antibiotics becoming less effective. We want students to help shape what this programme looks like so it is engaging, relevant, and useful for schools.

What is Antimicrobial Resistance (AMR)?

Antimicrobial resistance occurs when microbes, such as bacteria, fungi or viruses, change in a way that makes the drugs used to treat them ineffective. This means that medication such as antibiotics may not work as well, and infections may be much more difficult to treat. By using antimicrobial drugs appropriately and reducing the chance of infections though vaccination and good hygiene practices we can reduce the spread of drug-resistant antimicrobials.

In building the resilience of future generations, you can make a positive impact by communicating AMR messages to children and young people.

What we are inviting schools to do

We are running a series of creative design workshops with secondary school students. These sessions give students the opportunity to share their ideas about how AMR should be taught and how to help young people make informed choices about antibiotic use.

What this looks like in practice

Who can take part?

Students aged 13-18 (Year 9-12) are invited to participate in the workshops. The developed educational initiative will be targeted at students aged 14-16 (Year 10-11).

How many students?

The number of students is flexible and can be adapted to each school. Workshops are usually run with a single class at a time, but we can adjust this to suit your school's needs.

What will students do?

Students will take part in engaging, interactive activities where they:

• explore what AMR means for them
• identify the messages about AMR that matter most to young people
• develop ideas for lessons, resources, or activities that support understanding and positive behaviour change to slow the spread of AMR
• create prototypes of their ideas using creative techniques (e.g., storyboards, posters, role-play, digital concepts)

When and where?

Workshops take place in your school from March 2026, at times that work best for you. We can run them during the school day (for example, over two lessons or half a day) or after school as an enrichment activity. Session lengths and scheduling can be adapted to fit your school's timetable and needs.

Who runs the workshops?

The sessions will be led by trained researchers and facilitators from Imperial College London with experience in education, design, and behavioural science. A member of school staff only needs to be present for safeguarding purposes.

What is the benefit for students?

Students will help shape a national education initiative on a major public health issue. They stand to gain:

• Insight into real-world challenges
• Creative and critical thinking experience
• Opportunities to influence resources that will be used by young people across the UK

What happens afterwards?

Ideas from all workshops will be combined to create a new AMR education programme, which will be piloted and evaluated nationally and potentially adapted for international roll-out.

Interested? Here's what to do next

If your school is interested, please do get in touch! We can then arrange a brief call to talk through how the workshops could work in your setting and agree on practical details such as group size, timing, and dates.

We welcome enquiries from any member of staff who can support or coordinate student participation. Please contact:
Natalie Tham
Research Associate, The Fleming Initiative
[email protected]