IOA Young Person's Competition 2026

The Institute of Acoustics Young Person’s Competition gives students an unusual subject to work with: sound. The Institute of Acoustics is the professional body for people working with acoustics, noise and vibration, so the competition opens a window onto a field that sits between physics, engineering, architecture, music, film, public health and environmental science. It is not asking students to reproduce a standard science-fair experiment; it is asking them to notice how sound shapes places, experiences and wellbeing. The competition, formerly known as the Secondary School Competition, has been running annually since 2021. The 2026 theme, “Sound Unleashed”, invites individual students or teams to explore questions such as how sound affects the world, where technology helps or falls short, and how better sound design could improve lives, communities or the environment. Entries are submitted as short videos, which changes the task from simply having a good idea to explaining it clearly for an audience. That combination is what makes the competition valuable. A student might investigate noise in a school, the acoustics of a performance space, sound in games or films, communication in busy public places, or the effects of noise on wildlife. The strongest projects are likely to connect a concrete example to an underlying acoustic question and then communicate the result with evidence, structure and imagination. A technically correct idea that cannot be explained clearly will be less effective than a focused investigation with a thoughtful conclusion. We rate the IOA Young Person’s Competition at Intermediate Level. The age range and creative video format make it approachable, but the need to combine scientific understanding, research, visual communication and technical production requires real preparation. It is a strong fit for students who enjoy physics, engineering, design, media, music technology, architecture or environmental questions.