UK Bebras Challenge
A UK computational thinking competition where students solve interactive logic and problem-solving tasks online. Open to young people aged 6–19 through schools, clubs or home-education coordinators. Rated Beginner Level, with difficulty mainly coming from unfamiliar puzzles, logical reasoning and working accurately within the 45-minute limit.
Verified information
Competition details can change. Always confirm dates, eligibility and entry requirements on the official organiser's website.
Official website ↗OVERALL COMPETITION LEVEL
Beginner Level
5 evaluation dimensions have source-backed automatic scores; 0 dimensions need conflict review.
Competition overview
Key information
Eligible ages
6–19
School level
Years 2-13 (UK), grouped by age categories
Registration method
School Only
Competition stages
Single annual challenge window
Fee
Free
Online / in-person
Online
Dates
Competition timeline
Registration opens
Not yet announced by the organiser
Registration closes
Not yet announced by the organiser
Competition starts
9 Nov 2026
Competition ends
20 Nov 2026
Editorial perspective
Our Take
The UK Bebras Challenge is a national expression of the international Bebras initiative, which promotes informatics and computational thinking among school students. In the UK it is organised by the Raspberry Pi Foundation and is designed to be taken in schools under teacher supervision. The challenge is deliberately broader than programming: students solve interactive problems involving patterns, algorithms, decomposition, abstraction and logical reasoning, often without writing a line of code. Its scale and accessibility are important. The UK challenge is open to young people aged 6–19 across age groups, and the international Bebras community reaches millions of students in many countries. A 45-minute set of age-appropriate tasks gives students a quick way to encounter computer-science ideas, whether or not their school offers a full computing course. The result is less a test of prior coding experience than a snapshot of how a student approaches a structured problem. The competition also has an unusually healthy preparation model. No specialist study is required, and the organisers provide past challenges and explanation booklets so students can discuss the reasoning after the event. Practice can help students become familiar with the format, but the more important long-term benefit is learning to break a complex task into smaller parts, spot a pattern and check whether a rule works in every case. Those are useful habits for computing, mathematics, science and everyday decision-making. We rate the UK Bebras Challenge at Beginner Level. It is free, broad and designed to let students participate without prior computing knowledge. It is especially suitable for children who enjoy puzzles, logic, games or problem-solving, and for parents who want to explore a child’s interest in computing before committing to more specialised coding competitions.
Read full guide →Preparation support
Recommended resources
UK Bebras Past Challenges
Open resource ↗Self-marking challenges by age group with feedback and answer explanations.
Official · Free · Interactive past-paper archive · Essential
Preparing for the Challenge
Open resource ↗Guide to practice mode, review mode and custom quizzes made from past tasks.
Official · Free · Preparation guide · Recommended
Bebras Past Challenges and Answers
Open resource ↗Teacher guide to archived tasks, answer booklets and computational-thinking links.
Third-party · Free · Teacher resource guide · Recommended
Computational Thinking Workbook
Open resource ↗Printable Bebras-style tasks on decomposition, algorithms, patterns and abstraction.
Third-party · Free · Printable workbook · Optional
Source information
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