Four Stockport students have taken home the trophy in a real world cyber security challenge, organised in partnership with StateTalking.

The teenagers, from St James’ Catholic High School in Cheadle Hulme, came up with a very timely solution to an issue that keeps many parents up at night.

Scarlett, Jaxon, Charlie and Cora, all BTEC Digital Information Technology students, were named winners for their age verification app that would work alongside social media platforms such as TikTok and Snapchat.

Their proposed app would mean users only need to verify their age once, with the information being shared securely across platforms.

The Callsign Challenge saw student teams from state schools across five Greater Manchester boroughs flex their problem solving, innovation and communication skills.

Over the course of three months, small groups of year 10s worked on scenarios inspired by real business challenges faced by the company Callsign, which specialises in digital identity verification and fraud prevention.

Each group of students was supported by a mentor from the company to develop a practical solution, with members taking on roles including product lead, developer and marketing lead.

The project culminated in a live final event at HOME arts centre in Manchester, where students pitched their ideas. The challenge was a partnership between StateTalking and Callsign.

Scarlett, 14, was a member of the winning team. She said: “We suggested creating an app, where you register your personal details so they can be used by other companies to create accounts safely and securely.

“Other  companies would partner with us and use our app when customers want to create an account. That way they could guarantee that they get the correct information and that customers are not lying about their age.

“It simplifies the process for everyone, as it means you only enter your details once.”

Teammate Jaxon, also 14, said:  “I really enjoyed the challenge, especially designing the app.

“The presentation was very nerve wracking but also exciting and I was really happy when we won!”

Dominique Rarity, careers lead, St James Catholic High, said: “This challenge was a fantastic opportunity for the pupils to gain experience in the cyber security industry whilst working as part of a team.

“I was so proud watching them present their solution to industry leaders and other schools.”

The Challenge was led by Chris Hutton, the company’s VP of customer integration, who attended Stockport School and later Aquinas College.

He said: “The Callsign Challenge has supported young people to build teamwork, leadership and problem solving skills, developing the ability to present an idea and showing real-world relevance by responding to our brief.

“It has also helped to give them insight into the tech industry and roles within it.

“The teams came up with some highly innovative solutions to questions like ‘How could a company check someone’s age without making the sign-up process slow or annoying?’ We were really impressed with all of them. But we had to pick one winner and St James’ Catholic High School are very worthy of the title.”

Fran Kennedy, founder, StateTalking, said: “StateTalking is about levelling the playing field and offering state school pupils the kinds of experiences and connections that are often only available to young people at independent schools.

“Whether we’re sending relatable, inspirational speakers into Greater Manchester schools, or partnering with businesses to create opportunities like the Callsign Challenge, everything we do is about elevating the experiences available to state educated students.”

As well as going home with a trophy, the winners have been invited to spend a day with Callsign founder Zia Hayat and his team at the company’s Manchester office.

Business interested to partner on similar events, or primary and secondary schools and 16-18 colleges looking for free inspirational speakers can contact info@statetalking.org