Robots are being used to teach computer programming to schoolchildren.

Wowwee robots, designed by Q4 Technologies, are used by several hundred schools in the UK to help pupils develop code-writing skills.

The £70 robots use a programming language called Grid script in order to move. To make lessons more interesting the company developed Go-Robo Choreographer and Go-Robo Studio, so children could get the robots to dance.

Jane Braybrook, managing director of the educational software company, said: “The Strictly Come Dancing finals scandal grabbed the headlines, but the real scandal has to be the fact that the UK is lagging behind in what is one of our major intellectual exports: competent coders.

“If we want to have a future in the software coding market we have to nurture the young students of today and that means giving them interactive tools to set them on the right path.”

Go-Robo Choreographer is designed for younger students, who can use the software to create a dance program, building up steps using a graphical design mode.

Students input numbers and symbols on to a sheet of paper and these are used to guide the robot. For example, a star may mean jump, while the number 10 may mean hop.

The Go-Robo Studio edition is aimed at older students, who use the software to create code for up to 11 different Wowwee robots. They can edit and play back programs and add soundtrack and sound effects.

The instructions can be streamed wirelessly to the robots so they can be controlled from a PC. Programs can also be saved to a USB-programmable infra-red controller. The software costs £40.

RM, a company specialising in developing educational software, chose to announce its ED-E human robot at BETT, the educational information and communications technology fair currently being held at London's Olympia.

The idea of this robot is to teach children aged between seven and 14 the principles behind physics, mathematics, biology, engineering and computer programming.

Children use programming software to tell the robot to walk, jump, perform backflips or headspins. Through its transparent body, students can also see exactly how the motors operate. They can also pull the robot apart to put in additional sensors, which will let the robot perform more moves.