Explore student competitions.

QUICK SUMMARY

Rated Intermediate, this UK team programme offers age-appropriate Discover, Explore and Challenge divisions for children from primary through secondary school. Teams design with LEGO, investigate a theme and, in the Challenge division, build and program a robot for tournament tasks. The main challenge is integrating engineering, coding, research, presentation and sustained teamwork.

QUICK SUMMARY

A UK mathematical olympiad where students solve four exceptionally difficult proof-based problems. Open mainly to around 100 top performers from BMO Round 1, with discretionary school entries also permitted. Rated Expert Level, with difficulty mainly coming from advanced problem-solving, rigorous proofs and highly selective progression towards UK IMO training.

QUICK SUMMARY

Rated Expert, this in-person UK rocketry challenge is for school, college or youth-group teams of students aged 11–18. Teams build and test a rocket against the season's technical mission before qualifying launches and national competition. The main challenge is balancing safety, stability, payload protection and target flight performance through disciplined engineering and repeated evidence-led testing.

QUICK SUMMARY

Rated Expert, this UK team engineering challenge is entered through schools, colleges, education providers or youth groups for students aged 11–18. Teams design, build and launch a rocket through regional qualification and a national final, with international progression available. The main challenge is meeting strict flight specifications through safe engineering, testing, data analysis and coordinated iteration.

QUICK SUMMARY

UK Schools Music Festival offers primary and secondary pupils video-submission categories alongside selected live competition routes. Entrants use the school or individual process attached to their chosen instrument or category and must check its performance requirements. The main challenge is preparing a musically convincing interpretation, recording or performing it reliably, and responding confidently to formal adjudication.

QUICK SUMMARY

A UK-based mathematics competition where students solve 25 multiple-choice problems requiring logical reasoning and non-routine problem-solving. Open to students in Year 11 or below, or equivalent, through participating UK and overseas schools. Rated Intermediate Level, with difficulty mainly coming from increasingly challenging questions, time pressure and negative marking on later problems.

QUICK SUMMARY

A UK team mathematics competition where students solve collaborative problems across group, crossnumber, shuttle and relay rounds. Open to teams of four from eligible UK schools, mainly covering Years 8–9 or equivalent. Rated Advanced Level, with difficulty mainly coming from non-routine problem-solving, time pressure, teamwork and selective progression to the national final.

QUICK SUMMARY

Rated Expert, this economics competition is for secondary students who enter individually and progress from regional qualification towards a UK national final and possible international pathway. It suits students with substantial subject knowledge. The main challenge is applying economic theory, quantitative reasoning and evidence to unfamiliar problems while making precise decisions under competitive conditions.

QUICK SUMMARY

Rated Advanced, this free online coding challenge is entered through schools for teams of students up to Year 11 or S4. Teams begin with a first round, while the strongest certificate performers are encouraged towards the second. The main challenge is coordinating algorithmic problem solving, writing correct code quickly and checking solutions together under timed conditions.

QUICK SUMMARY

A British programming olympiad where students solve challenging algorithmic problems under timed conditions. Open to full-time pre-university students under 19 in mainland Britain through their school or college. Rated Expert Level, with difficulty mainly coming from advanced algorithms, coding efficiency, complex problem-solving and highly selective progression to the national final.

QUICK SUMMARY

An international biology competition where students complete two online multiple-choice papers covering advanced school-level biology and unfamiliar applications. Open mainly to students in the final year of post-16 education through recognised schools worldwide. Rated Expert Level, with difficulty mainly coming from broad biological knowledge, scientific reasoning and challenging unfamiliar questions.

QUICK SUMMARY

A global biology olympiad where national team members complete demanding theoretical and practical examinations across major areas of biology. Open to secondary-school students selected through their country’s national biology olympiad, with up to four competitors representing each participating country. Rated Expert Level, with difficulty mainly coming from highly selective national qualification, advanced biological reasoning and complex laboratory tasks.