The ‘App-a-thon’, organised by BCSWomen, part of The Chartered Institute for IT, saw people from across the country learn to code a mobile app at the same time.

The University was one of 30 venues hosting the attempt, contributing around 50 inspired coders to the record, which broke the 1,000 mark. The Guinness World Records will now validate the result.

The event aimed to break the record, but also to encourage young people, particularly girls, to consider a career in IT. Currently, women account for just 16% of industry professionals.

Sue Brandreth, visiting lecturer at the University and from the Bedford branch of the BCS, said:

“We are delighted to have taken part in the BCSWomen App-a-thon event because we see this as one way to demonstrate to young girls and women that IT can be a fun and interesting career.

"I believe there needs to be a continual focus on attracting young women to study computing at higher education level and anything we can do to facilitate this must be positive.”

Everyone from young children to city traders, and even a professional app developer, attended the event at the University.

Sessions across the country, each led by a woman, were a mixture of talks, activities and hands-on coding.

Gillian Arnold, Chair of BCSWomen, said: “The BCSWomen App-a-thon event was a great way for lots of people to learn how to code at the same time, engage with those who are considering a career in IT and give every generation an opportunity to try their hand at coding.

“It is vital that we support girls wishing to enter the IT profession; the lack of women entering the industry is a very real threat. Having a woman lead the App-a-thon sessions, we hope to have inspired many young women and demonstrated to them and their parents what an exciting and rewarding career IT can be.”