LEGO Education has announced it will not be renewing its partnership with FIRST, bringing an end to the longstanding FIRST LEGO League.
The 2026 – 2027 FIRST LEGO League season will be the last in the partnership between FIRST and LEGO Education, ending a collaboration that’s been going since 1998.
FIRST LEGO League is a competition for children that has teams compete in robotics-based challenges, teaching about STEM and teamwork in a competitive but supportive environment. The programme was most recently built around the LEGO Education SPIKE portfolio, which was recently announced to be ceasing production, forcing a pivot for FIRST LEGO League. Blocks covered everything you need to know about that when it was announced a few months ago.
But now the pivot for the programme is going to be even more severe, as it’s not only losing SPIKE, it’s losing FIRST, which is a third of the name and a huge part of putting the competitions on, as well as developing the programmes that prepare children for the contests.
This does not mean that the whole FIRST LEGO League programme is coming crashing down. FIRST will be leaving, but LEGO Education plans to launch a 2027 – 2028 season, promising to bring “fun, inspiring and creative STEM learning and the important skills it develops to even more children in the future.”
Upgrade your LEGO hobby! If you take out a subscription to Blocks, the monthly LEGO magazine, you’ll get each issue first and at a discount, plus other perks including a free digital subscription and the chance to win LEGO prizes every month.
Details as to what the first FIRST-less season will look like are under wraps for now, so there’s no telling how the programme will change — if it does much at all. The announcement only goes so far to say that LEGO Education is “looking at all aspects of the programme to make sure it’s as accessible, fun and engaging as possible.”
The upcoming 2026 – 2027 season will run as usual, with the theme being announced during World Festival on May 2, 2026. FIRST LEGO League Founders and Future Edition will continued to be supported through the 2027 – 2028 season, which does raise questions as to how the removal of FIRST will affect previously announced FIRST LEGO League seasons, as well as the branding of the competition.
The FAQ on the announcement page references a “new era of FIRST LEGO League,” which given the break between LEGO Education and FIRST, would seem to be a difficult thing to pull off. This may just be placeholder wording before a rebrand is announced, but with details sparse as of now, speculation is just that — very little is confirmed outside of the partnership ending and the 2026 – 2027 season running as usual.
As more details become available, Blocks will keep you posted, so be sure to keep an eye out here for updates. You can also sign up to our free newsletter to receive updates straight to your inbox. Of course, if you really want to upgrade your LEGO hobby for the true insider experience, take out a subscription to Blocks, the monthly LEGO magazine for fans.