SciFest@School 2026/27

SciFest@School is the most flexible part of the SciFest programme because the school chooses when to hold its in-house fair, which year groups take part and how large the event should be. That flexibility makes it useful for schools that want a genuine project experience without beginning with travel or a regional deadline. Students can enter alone or in teams of up to three, investigate a STEM question and explain their work to an audience within the school. The fair can be small; the value comes from completing the cycle of asking, testing, revising and presenting. Registration for the 2026/2027 school programme is available, and a SciFest@School event may be held at any time during the academic year. It should not be misrepresented as a required qualifying round for SciFest@College: schools may select projects to progress, but students can also enter a regional college fair directly. CompeteMap sees the school format as particularly useful for first-time project students and mixed-ability groups because teachers can set a realistic scale while preserving student ownership. The main risk is turning it into a poster exercise completed at the last minute. A worthwhile programme gives students enough time to collect evidence, encounter a problem, change something and explain what they learned.