Explore student competitions.

QUICK SUMMARY

An England and Wales drama and oracy competition where students perform a Shakespeare monologue or duologue and introduce their interpretation. Open to students aged 11–14 in Years 7–9 at schools or home schools in England and Wales. Rated Intermediate Level, with difficulty mainly coming from performance skills, textual understanding and confident spoken delivery.

QUICK SUMMARY

An England and Wales debating competition where school teams argue for or against motions on current and controversial issues. Open to students aged 11–18 in Years 7–13, with one team of three speakers representing each school. Rated Advanced Level, with difficulty mainly coming from argument construction, rebuttal, teamwork and competitive multi-round judging.

QUICK SUMMARY

An England and Wales public speaking competition where school teams take on the roles of speaker, chairperson and questioner. Open to students aged 13–16 in Years 9–11 at schools in England and Wales. Rated Intermediate Level, with difficulty mainly coming from speech delivery, questioning, teamwork and quick thinking.

QUICK SUMMARY

An international public speaking competition where national champions deliver a prepared speech on an annual theme. Open to students aged 16–20 who qualify through an ESU-recognised competition in their country or region. Rated Expert Level, with difficulty mainly coming from national selection, persuasive delivery and high-level international judging.

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Difficulty varies by division from Advanced to Expert, HMMT Season 30 combines an in-person November tournament at Harvard with a substantially harder February tournament at MIT. Eligible students worldwide may apply through an adult coach as a team or individual, with places normally allocated by lottery. Both events mix individual, team and rapid Guts rounds; the main challenge is sophisticated timed problem solving, especially February's proof work.

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A UK mathematics competition where girls solve five challenging answer-only problems. Open to students in Year 11 and above at UK schools, with younger students accepted at the school’s discretion. Rated Intermediate Level, with difficulty mainly coming from non-routine problem-solving and increasingly demanding questions.

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A UK mathematics olympiad where girls and young women solve five challenging proof-based problems. Open to school-nominated students across the UK, with each school able to enter up to four participants. Rated Expert Level, with difficulty mainly coming from advanced problem-solving, rigorous mathematical reasoning and written proofs.

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An all-Ireland science and technology competition where students conduct original research and present their findings at a national exhibition. Open to secondary-school students entering individually or in groups of up to three through their school. Rated Advanced Level, with difficulty mainly coming from project selection, sustained research and in-person judging.

QUICK SUMMARY

Rated Advanced, This one-hour, non-calculator physics paper uses multiple-choice problems as the entry stage for the main British Physics Olympiad pathway. It is intended for strong pre-university physics students and is entered through a registered teacher, with successful candidates invited to Round 1. The main challenge is moving quickly from standard A-level knowledge into harder calculations, elimination and unfamiliar problem solving without a calculator.

QUICK SUMMARY

Rated Intermediate, A long-running school mathematics programme offering grade-level contests and a six-meet high-school sequence. Schools register students from grade four through high school, with separate grade and Algebra Course 1 options and paper or online administration. Questions begin accessibly and rise sharply, rewarding concise reasoning while giving teachers material for later classroom discussion.

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Rated Advanced, This national team competition asks students to secure virtual operating systems and solve networking tasks across a season of online events. Middle- and high-school teams enter through a coach at an eligible school or approved youth organisation. Success requires practical system administration, careful teamwork and reliable performance during tightly timed live sessions.

QUICK SUMMARY

Rated Advanced, this UK school team challenge is for eligible students in Years 8–11 and Sixth Form. Teams design, build and test a satellite model before regional activity and a national final. The main challenge is integrating electronics, programming, mechanical design, scientific measurement and project management into a robust device that can complete the published mission.