Birmingham-based VR programme wins Innovation Award at Education Awards for tackling youth violence in schools
Virtual Decisions, a Birmingham-based immersive technology company, has been recognised with the Midlands Education Award for Innovation for its VR-based programmes addressing knife crime, anti-social behaviour (ASB) and county lines exploitation in schools and youth justice settings across the region.
The company’s programmes use virtual reality to place young people in realistic, decision-based scenarios designed around trauma-informed principles – creating experiences that are engaging and safe without being retraumatising. They are currently being delivered in schools, pupil referral units and youth justice settings throughout the UK.
Created in Birmingham and now used across the UK and internationally, Virtual Decisions has reached an estimated 80,000–100,000 young people since 2020. Developed by co-founders Stuart Lane and Claire Downes, the VR programmes and wraparound learning resources are now embedded in youth justice teams, councils, schools, police forces and Violence Reduction Units, tackling knife crime, antisocial behaviour, identity, exploitation and peer influence.
Stuart Lane, Co-Founder of Virtual Decisions, said: “Winning this award is a proud moment, but the work is what matters. We’re using immersive technology to reach young people at the point where early intervention can make a real difference. These programmes are built to be honest about the realities of knife crime and exploitation, without ever putting young people back in harm’s way.”
The impact of the programmes is felt directly in schools and communities. A teacher working with Nuneaton Bedworth United to Achieve described the effect on their pupils: “The children talked very highly of how good the session was and how much it had made them think. Both packages have really supported our children to see how things can go so wrong, if you take certain paths in behaviour and life. It has also got the children talking to school staff more openly about things they see.”
Virtual Decisions works with local authorities, schools, youth services and police and crime commissioners across the Midlands. Its programmes are designed to complement existing early intervention and violence reduction frameworks, offering measurable outcomes and practitioner support.
Building on its UK success, Virtual Decisions is now expanding internationally, with new clients secured in Ireland and Australia. The team has also recently commissioned new VR titles, extending the programme’s reach into additional themes affecting young people today.
