Transition and Future

LEGO Education has announced that it will not continue its partnership with FIRST after the 2026/27 FIRST LEGO League season.

The official statement from LEGO Education can be found here:

• LEGO Education: https://education.lego.com/en-gb/first-lego-league/partnership-update/
• FIRST: https://community.firstinspires.org/first-lego-education-partnership-update

2026/27 Season

There will be no changes for the 2026/27 season. The educational program will run as planned, with two program editions offered in parallel:

• Founders Edition eaturing the established Explore and Challenge programs based on LEGO Education SPIKE products and previous-generation systems.
• Future Edition featuring the 5+ and 8+ programs based on the new LEGO® Education Computer Science & AI sets.

This allows schools, teams, and educational institutions to start gaining experience with the future program format today.

From the 2027/28 Season

From the 2027/28 season onward, the educational program will continue under LEGO Education as LEGO® League. HANDS on TECHNOLOGY e.V. will remain the program organizer for Germany, Austria, and Switzerland. During the 2027/28 transition season, both program editions will be available. Teams will be able to use either the LEGO® Education Computer Science & AI sets or LEGO® Education SPIKE™ and previous-generation systems.

LEGO® Education Announces Its Successor Program to FIRST® LEGO® League: On June 4, 2026, LEGO® Education shared information about the future direction of its global educational and competition program.

As announced in March, the FIRST® LEGO® League 2026/27 BIOGLOW™ season will be the final season of the long-standing partnership between FIRST® and LEGO® Education. Following this season, LEGO® Education will launch a new program called LEGO® League in August 2027.

According to LEGO® Education, LEGO® League will build on the proven strengths of the current program and continue to provide hands-on STEM learning, teamwork, creativity, and competition opportunities for children and young people aged 5 to 16. Events will continue to be offered at local, regional, national, and international levels.

In the 2027/28 LEGO® League season, teams will be able to participate using existing LEGO® Education SPIKE™ systems, legacy robotics systems, as well as the new LEGO® Education Computer Science & AI platform. Beginning with the 2028/29 season, LEGO® League is expected to use LEGO® Education Computer Science & AI as its primary robotics platform. The use of LEGO bricks for team models and constructions will continue without restrictions.

For FIRST® LEGO® League, this announcement marks the conclusion of a highly successful partnership FIRST® and LEGO® Education that has spanned many years. At the same time, it represents the beginning of a new chapter in the evolution of educational robotics and STEM competitions for young people around the world.

HANDS on TECHNOLOGY remains in close contact with LEGO® Education and will continue to monitor these developments closely. At this time, not all details regarding future structures, competition formats, and international frameworks have been announced. We will keep our community informed as soon as further official information becomes available.

We would like to thank all teams, classes, coaches, partners, and supporters who have brought FIRST® LEGO® League to life in Germany, Austria, and Switzerland over the years. Together, we have inspired countless young people to explore science, technology, and innovation, and we look forward to continuing this journey in the future.

The official statement from LEGO Education can be found at https://education.lego.com/de-de/lego-league/program-update/.

FIRST LEGO® League comes to an end after the 2026-2027 BIOGLOW™ season. In 2027 LEGO® Education will launch the new LEGO® League program. In Germany, Austria, and Switzerland, HANDS on TECHNOLOGY e.V. organizes the LEGO League in collaboration with regional partners.

The first LEGO League season (2027/28) will be offered in two formats.

- for teams using LEGO Education SPIKE™ and older systems, as well as

- for teams using LEGO Education Computer Science & AI.

The version with LEGO Education Computer Science & AI builds on the concept of the Future Edition and will be further developed in the future. The focus is on computational thinking, design tasks, and the collaborative development of solutions to real-world challenges within the framework of an annual season theme.

The core components of LEGO League are: a game-based Design Challenge, a Real-World STEM project, a culminating event experience that can take place in-school, locally, regionally, nationally, or internationally (pending registration and qualification) as well as the 4 C's as core part of participation: Collaboration, Communication, Creativity and Critical thinking

Additional program elements include access to: LEGO® Education Coding Canvas, LEGO® Education Teacher Portal and supporting program materials.

LEGO League follows a familiar schedule: In Germany, Austria, and Switzerland, registration for the 2027/28 season begins in May 2027, following the conclusion of the BIOGLOW™ season. The challenges will be released in August, marking the official start of the season. Events will then take place from November through April.

The hardware in the game- and student models will be based on the LEGO Education Computer Science & AI kits and hardware.* For team builds you can use any type of LEGO brick you have, including LEGO® Technic bricks.

*Additional hardware is required when participating with 8+ CS&AI kits.

You can use block-based coding via the LEGO Education Coding Canvas, or advance to text-based coding using Python.*

*The Python package can be used with any Integrated Development Environment (IDE), e.g. VS Code, running locally.

The LEGO League ages 5-7 division is designed for students to work in team of 4.

For LEGO League ages 8-16 we recommend teams of 8 students with a minimum of 4 and a recommended maximum of 10 to ensure an engaging and meaningful experience for all participants. HANDS on TECHNOLOGY e.V. will inform you in a timely manner of the rules regarding team sizes for germany, austria and switzerland.

LEGO League consists of two age bands:

• 5–7: For the age 5-7 division student work in teams of 4 and will be tasked to build and program a solution to a challenge around the annual theme. They will also undertake a small project with research and create a visual presentation.

• 8–16: The division spanning ages 8-16 will consist of an annual themed game with design challenges, a related research project with a presentation, a culminating event and a progression as you know it. To ensure age-appropriate challenges, learning and competition, we are developing differentiated lessons for students age 8+ and 11+. Students will play the same game across the span of ages/grades but will be scored separately to ensure fair competition and level playing fields for all participants.

LEGO Education has announced that the new LEGO® Education Computer Science & AI platform will become a permanent part of the LEGO League. The platform serves as the foundation for future developments and is designed to open up new opportunities for learning, collaboration, and competition.

The event structure will be similar to what our community has come to expect with previous competition programs. As with any program, we will make changes or tweaks along the way when we see an opportunity to improve the experience. As mentioned above, teams will be able to compete in events, with the opportunity to progress regionally, nationally and internationally.

The AI features are new and exciting, and we want to make sure that we incorporate these meaningfully. The 2027-2028 season will be the first to include missions that can include AI-tools and lessons from the LEGO Education Computer Science & AI kits in the solution.

Registration for the LEGO League in Germany, Austria, and Switzerland begins in May 2027.

We are unable to provide any information on this at this time. We will inform our community about the entry fees well in advance of the start of the first LEGO League season.

The Future Edition is the evolution of FIRST LEGO League announced by FIRST and LEGO Education in January 2026. Its goal is to adapt the program more closely to modern learning needs and, in particular, make it easier to integrate into the classroom. The new concept is based on the LEGO® Education Computer Science & AI sets and expands the existing format with features including wireless hardware, interactive mission models, new team roles, and some cooperative gameplay elements. At the same time, the playful, hands-on STEM approach remains at the heart of the program and aims to engage even more children and young people. Starting with the 2026/27 season, a transition period will begin in which the existing Founders Edition (based on SPIKE) and the new Future Edition (based on Computer Science & AI) will be offered in parallel.

More Information About the FIRST LEGO League Programs