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COMPUTING & AI PATHWAY

Computing & AI Pathway for United Kingdom

A route for building programming skill through challenges, computational thinking, and projects.

This pathway is based on competition region and does not confirm participant eligibility. Check each competition's details and official rules before applying.

Advanced Level

For experienced students tackling substantial preparation and complex challenges.

4 competitions

Competition in progress
Computing & AI
United Kingdom

National Cipher Challenge 2026 — University of Southampton

QUICK SUMMARY

Rated Advanced, A free online UK codebreaking competition built around a serial mystery and ten progressively harder weekly chapters. Anyone may participate individually or in a team, while prizes are reserved for eligible UK and Channel Islands school-level entrants. Success requires sustained cryptanalysis, careful checking, self-written tools and increasingly sophisticated reasoning across the full season.

School or Individual

COMPETITION LEVEL

Advanced Level

View evaluation

COMPETITION DATE

8 Oct 2026

Competition ended
Computing & AI
United Kingdom

British Algorithmic Olympiad (BAO)

QUICK SUMMARY

Rated Advanced, this algorithmic competition serves lower and upper secondary students in British schools. Participants begin with an online open round, and leading performers progress to a final. The central challenge is translating unfamiliar problems into precise algorithms, implementing efficient solutions and testing them carefully enough to perform reliably under competition time limits.

Up to age 18
School or Individual

COMPETITION LEVEL

Advanced Level

View evaluation

REGISTRATION DEADLINE

5 Dec 2025

COMPETITION DATE

8 Dec 2025

Competition ended
Computing & AI
United Kingdom

Perse Coding Team Challenge

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.

Up to age 16
School Only

COMPETITION LEVEL

Advanced Level

View evaluation

REGISTRATION DEADLINE

19 Jan 2026

COMPETITION DATE

26 Jan 2026

Competition ended
Computing & AI
United Kingdom

The Raspberry Pi Foundation Coding Challenge

QUICK SUMMARY

A UK coding competition where students create programmed solutions to computational thinking problems using block-based or text-based coding. Open to students aged 10+ who previously participated in the UK Bebras Challenge, through their school or as home-educated entrants. Rated Advanced Level, with difficulty mainly coming from algorithmic thinking, coding accuracy and solving problems within the 45-minute limit.

Age 10–19
School Only

COMPETITION LEVEL

Advanced Level

View evaluation

COMPETITION DATE

2 Mar 2026