T Level Software Development students Heritage Ojo and Elwin Oka represented Derby College Group in the challenge, organised by Fsas Technologies, a Fujitsu company, alongside technology partners NetApp and Juniper Networks.
Over 50 colleges across the UK submitted entries, but only four teams were selected to present at the national final, held at the National Museum of Computing at Bletchley Park.
A historic setting for the future of AI
Bletchley Park—famous for its World War Two codebreakers whose early computing and cryptography breakthroughs helped shorten the war—provided an inspiring backdrop for students exploring the ethical challenges of modern artificial intelligence.
Exploring the ethics of generative AI
The brief tasked students with examining the ethical implications of generative AI and demonstrating why strong safeguards and regulation are essential.
Heritage and Elwin tackled this by designing and programming an AI chatbot intentionally engineered to mislead users through consistently deceptive responses.
Their project illustrated how easily generative AI can be manipulated when ethical protections are weak, reinforcing the need for responsible AI development and regulation.
Judges praise technical skill and real‑world thinking
Judges commended the Derby College Group team for both their technical execution and their understanding of practical computing considerations.
Ashraf Merchant, Head of Public Sector at Fujitsu, praised the pair for their “business-focused thinking around processing speed and memory use,” and highlighted their innovative decision to create a virtual site to overcome technical challenges that other teams struggled with.
Nipa Soni, AI and Data Specialist at Fsas Technologies, said: “I want to extend huge congratulations to your students Elwin Oka and Heritage Ojo, who both did an outstanding job.
“I was extremely proud of them. They received excellent feedback from the panel judges, and the way they showcased their working model was exceptional.”
Derby College Group reflects on student success
ICT Curriculum Manager, Francis Malute added: “These two students are hugely talented. To come away with such positive feedback at a national competition is a credit to the way they approached the project.
“Their problem solving skills and fundamental understanding of programming and large language models developed enormously during the process.
“We are grateful to Fsas Technologies and their partners for supporting computing education in colleges and creating opportunities like this to showcase emerging talent.”
Students share their learning experience
Heritage Ojo reflected on how the project deepened his technical knowledge: “The project was both helpful and educational. I learned new skills such as using Linux commands and gained a deeper understanding of how AI systems work and the ethical considerations behind them.
“I also discovered concepts I had not encountered before, such as QLoRA and the importance of high-quality datasets when training AI models.
“It introduced me to powerful Python libraries like PyTorch and Transformers. Overall, it was a fantastic experience.”
Elwin Oka added: “The whole project was exciting. At the beginning, it was challenging because I didn’t have much experience with AI, but I decided to treat the competition as a chance to learn.
“As I worked through the project, I became more interested in concepts such as tokenisers, Hugging Face and adapter paths.
“The experience really helped build my understanding and confidence step by step.”
Supporting the next generation of digital talent
The competition showcases the strength of Derby College Group’s computing and digital curriculum, which equips students with the advanced skills needed for careers in the rapidly evolving tech sector.
Students interested in studying computing or software development at Derby College Group can learn more about available courses at [insert course link here].
