Competition Roundups
A practical guide to student competition registrations opening or closing in November 2026, grouped by subject with school-entry warnings, eligibility notes and confirmed organiser dates.
November is a month of very different kinds of decisions. Some students are still choosing whether to enter; others already need a finished story, essay, research application or team registration. Several of the most important dates also sit very close together in the first full week of the month, so leaving every decision until November begins is risky.
The most useful way to approach this calendar is to separate entry administration from project preparation. A school-led Olympiad may require a teacher to register the student, while a writing competition may allow an individual submission but still expect a teacher or mentor to approve the work. A science research application can demand far more supporting material than its deadline alone suggests.
November planning rule: check who must submit before deciding how much time you have. If a teacher, faculty adviser or school employee controls the entry, contact them first. A complete project is not enough if the authorised adult has not opened the registration route.
This roundup was last updated and checked on 30 October 2026. Organisers may change dates, times, capacity or regional arrangements. Always confirm the live details on the linked CompeteMap competition page and the official organiser website before entering.
| Date | Competition or action | Who needs to act? |
|---|---|---|
| 1 November, 11:59 p.m. ET | Bennington Young Writers Awards submission deadline | Student, with teacher or mentor approval |
| 2 November | All American High School Film Festival 2027 submissions open | Student filmmaker or student team |
| 2 November | UK Linguistics Olympiad Advanced Round 1 entry deadline | School or authorised organiser |
| 4 November, 2:00 p.m. EST | HiMCM 2026 team registration deadline | Faculty adviser |
| 5 November, 8:00 p.m. ET | Regeneron Science Talent Search application deadline | Eligible student researcher |
| 6 November, 9:00 p.m. GMT | BBC 500 Words submission deadline | Parent, guardian or teacher supporting the child |
| 6 November | All Ireland Linguistics Olympiad school registration deadline | Secondary school teacher |
| 9 November, 5:00 p.m. GMT | RGS × Financial Times School Essay Competition deadline | Student and submitting teacher |
| 19 November | Primary Mathematics Challenge final online/PDF order date | School competition organiser |
| 20 November, 6:00 p.m. | BAAO Junior Astro Challenge participation window closes | Registered school |
| 22 November | National STEM Festival UK Edition application deadline | Eligible individual student |
| 23 November | Samsung Solve for Tomorrow USA application deadline | Teacher or eligible school employee |
| 30 November, 11:59 p.m. ET | Theme Park Design Competition submission deadline | Eligible individual student |
The table is a planning overview, not a substitute for the rules. Time zones matter, and several entries are restricted by country, age, school year or submission route.
The Bennington Young Writers Awards is an international opportunity for students in grades 9–12 to submit original work in poetry, fiction or nonfiction. The competition is free, but the entry process is not entirely independent: a teacher or mentor must approve the submission.
This is the first deadline in the calendar and therefore the least forgiving. Students should not spend the final hours making large structural changes. The better use of the last day is to check the selected category, word limit, file formatting and approval step.
The United Kingdom Linguistics Olympiad asks students to solve language puzzles through pattern recognition and logical reasoning; prior knowledge of particular languages is not the central requirement. The 2 November date applies specifically to Advanced Round 1, not automatically to every UKLO level or activity.
Schools should confirm the correct division and organiser route rather than treating UKLO as one single registration. For students, preparation is less about memorising linguistic facts and more about learning to extract a consistent rule from unfamiliar evidence.
BBC 500 Words is for children aged 5–11, with separate age categories for 5–7 and 8–11. The task is a child-authored story of no more than 500 words.
Because the format is short, the main challenge is not producing a large amount of writing. It is choosing a clear idea, beginning quickly and allowing enough space for the story to reach an ending. Adults can help with the entry process, but the creative work must remain the child's own.
The All Ireland Linguistics Olympiad is open to secondary-level students across the island of Ireland and begins through a school-organised preliminary round. A teacher registers the school and coordinates participation.
This makes the practical deadline earlier than it may feel to an individual student. Anyone interested should contact the relevant teacher before 6 November, not assume that an individual registration form will remain available afterwards.
The Royal Geographical Society × Financial Times School Essay Competition is aimed at sixth-form geography students aged 16–18 in the UK and overseas. The 2026 task focuses on migration, and students may respond through an essay or a StoryMap within the published limit. Entries are submitted through a teacher.
A strong response needs more than a broad opinion. Students should define the geographical issue precisely, select evidence that genuinely advances the argument and distinguish between describing a pattern and explaining why it matters.
The High School Mathematical Contest in Modeling is built around teams using mathematics to investigate a substantial real-world problem. Teams may include up to four students and work under a faculty adviser. The contest period runs beyond the registration deadline, but the adviser must complete the team entry first.
HiMCM is not a speed paper. Teams need to divide work, state assumptions, build and test a model, and turn the result into a coherent report. Before registering, students should check whether they can protect a continuous block of time during the contest window and whether the adviser understands the submission process.
The Primary Mathematics Challenge is a school-run challenge for pupils aged 9–11. Its questions reward careful reasoning and flexible problem solving rather than simply moving faster through routine arithmetic.
The official challenge window runs during November. The important administrative point is that schools order the relevant materials; the 19 November date concerns online/PDF orders, while physical paper availability may close earlier or sell out. Families should therefore ask the school whether it is participating rather than wait for an individual entry route.
The Regeneron Science Talent Search is for eligible US high-school seniors presenting original, independent research. The application is much more than a short project summary: students should allow time for the research report, responses, recommendations and other required materials in the official application.
This is a deadline where “almost finished” can still be far from submission-ready. Students should use the final days to audit every required component and verify eligibility against the official rules, particularly if schooling, residency or citizenship circumstances are unusual.
The BAAO Junior Astro Challenge introduces younger students to astronomy-flavoured problem solving through a school-based route. The 20 November date is best understood as the end of the challenge window, not as a conventional last-minute individual registration deadline.
Schools need to register and organise access in time for students to take part before the window closes. Students interested in astronomy should therefore ask their physics or science teacher early, especially if the school has not previously entered a British Astronomy and Astrophysics Olympiad activity.
The National STEM Festival UK Edition invites UK residents aged 13–19 to present an individual STEM project. It can suit students whose work does not fit neatly into a traditional exam or Olympiad format: the centre of the entry is the project, the problem it addresses and the student's ability to explain what they did.
Applicants should make the evidence of their own contribution easy to see. A polished idea is helpful, but clarity about the process, testing and learning often matters just as much as an ambitious topic.
Samsung Solve for Tomorrow USA is for US public schools serving grades 6–12. Students develop a STEM-based response to a community problem, but the application is submitted by an eligible teacher or school employee aged 21 or over.
This is therefore a school opportunity, not an individual form a student can complete privately. A team should first secure a teacher sponsor, then narrow the community problem and explain how the proposed use of STEM connects to a realistic local need.
The All American High School Film Festival is the clearest major opening in this month's calendar. International students may enter, provided they meet the published student-status rules for when the film was made. The festival accepts work across multiple categories, each with its own technical and length requirements.
Opening day is not a reason to rush an unfinished film. It is a useful moment to read the category rules, confirm music and image permissions, organise credits and work backwards from the later submission tiers. Students with a completed film can also use the early period to check that the exported file matches the required format.
The Theme Park Design Competition is for US students in grades 11–12 and asks each entrant to design an original parade float. It combines visual design with storytelling and practical communication: the concept needs to be imaginative, but the viewer must also understand how the theme, audience and design choices fit together.
Students should treat the final presentation as part of the design rather than an afterthought. Labels, scale, sight lines and a concise explanation can make a complex idea much easier to evaluate.
Not every competition date shown in November is a registration deadline.
This distinction matters because calendar planning should tell families what action is still possible. A competition day, a school-order deadline and an individual submission deadline are three different things.
If several opportunities are relevant, work through them in this order:
The right competition is not simply the one with the latest deadline. It is the one for which the student is eligible, the registration route is still open and there is enough time to produce work that represents them well.
Use the CompeteMap competition calendar to check upcoming dates, and open each linked competition page for eligibility, entry route, fees and official sources. If you are still deciding which opportunities fit the student, the Not sure where to start? finder on the CompeteMap homepage can narrow the list before you approach a school or begin an application.
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