Explore student competitions.

QUICK SUMMARY

A global STEM competition where teams design, manufacture, brand and race miniature Formula 1-style cars. Open to students aged 9–19 in teams of three to six, through participating schools and national programmes. Rated Advanced Level, with difficulty mainly coming from engineering design, project management, technical regulations and multi-stage competition.

QUICK SUMMARY

An Ireland-based entrepreneurship competition where students create, develop and operate a real student business. Open to secondary-school students through participating schools, with Junior, Intermediate and Senior categories. Rated Advanced Level, with difficulty mainly coming from business planning, product development, sales, financial management and competitive judging.

QUICK SUMMARY

Rated Advanced, AILO is an all-island school competition built around unfamiliar-language puzzles that reward logic, pattern finding and precise explanation rather than learned vocabulary. Second-level students enter through a teacher, with separate Junior and Senior awards but the same puzzles and marking. The main challenge is sustaining original multi-step reasoning across unfamiliar linguistic data and expressing the inferred rules clearly.

QUICK SUMMARY

Rated Advanced, Fresh Film’s annual youth festival invites an original short film and offers screenings plus Ireland’s Young Filmmaker awards. Open to filmmakers aged 7–19, with Junior and Senior age bands and separate Island of Ireland and International entry categories. Entrants must complete a coherent short film within the relevant time limit, balancing story, direction, performance, sound and visual craft for selection and specialist award judging.

QUICK SUMMARY

An all-Ireland environmental action competition where young people develop projects addressing local or global sustainability issues. Open to young people aged 10–18 across Ireland, entering individually or in groups through schools, youth organisations or independently. Rated Advanced Level, with difficulty mainly coming from project planning, environmental impact, teamwork and presenting evidence of action.

QUICK SUMMARY

An all-Ireland art competition where young artists submit original artwork for judging across age-based categories. Open to residents of the island of Ireland under 19, entering individually through school, art school or home entry. Rated Intermediate Level, with difficulty mainly coming from artistic originality, technical quality and competitive national judging.

QUICK SUMMARY

An all-Ireland STEM competition where students develop and present original science, technology, engineering or mathematics projects. Open to second-level students across Ireland through schools and regional SciFest events. Rated Advanced Level, with difficulty mainly coming from project development, scientific investigation, presentation skills and competitive progression to the national final.

QUICK SUMMARY

Rated Advanced, this regional science-fair route is for second-level students associated with the Northwest Northern Ireland venue. Entrants submit a project for college-level exhibition, judging and awards through the published route. The main challenge is planning a sound investigation, collecting credible evidence and explaining methods, results and limitations clearly to judges.

QUICK SUMMARY

Rated Advanced, Ireland’s national environmental journalism competition asks young people to investigate a local issue, report solutions and share the work with a real audience. Open to individuals or groups aged 11–25 in participating Green-Schools secondary schools and Green Campus third-level institutions. Success depends on credible research, a clear local-to-global story, a practical solution and thoughtful dissemination across article, photo, video, reel or podcast formats.

QUICK SUMMARY

Rated Advanced, A school-year team programme turning research into a practical social innovation project. For school-led teams aged 15 to 18 in Transition Year or Youthreach; an educator registers the group. The challenge is sustaining original action across research, implementation, impact evidence, a detailed report and a confident Speak Out presentation.

QUICK SUMMARY

Rated Advanced, Concern Debates is a long-form schools programme in which students repeatedly research and argue global-justice motions rather than preparing for a single one-off speech. Senior-cycle schools across the island of Ireland register teams of four to six students through a teacher. The season rewards evidence-led argument, rapid rebuttal, coordinated team roles, confident delivery, and the resilience to improve across many rounds.

QUICK SUMMARY

An all-island maths activity programme where students take part in games, puzzles and competitions designed to build numeracy and problem-solving skills. Open to learners of different ages across Ireland and Northern Ireland, with activities available through schools and at home. Rated Beginner Level, with difficulty mainly coming from age-appropriate puzzles, logical thinking and applying maths in engaging contexts.