Pupils from Hitchin Boys’ School have won through to the national final of a competition which asked students to build and fly drones of their own design.

Two teams from the boys’ school took part in the regional finals of Raytheon UK’s Quadcopter Challenge, securing first and second place out of 12.

Competitors had to build a fully functioning, four-bladed, multi-rotor, remotely piloted air system, and had to navigate the quadcopter through an obstacle course.

Team members also had to give a 10-minute presentation to explain their design process and how they managed their project.

The winning HBS team will now compete in the national finals in Birmingham on Wednesday.

Science teacher Rulank Kotecha, who coached the boys through the competition, said: “All the students involved have put a huge amount of time and effort into their designs and we are delighted.”