What makes a good first competition?

Three things: a low or no entry fee, published past problems or past winners so you know the standard, and a format you can prepare for in weeks rather than seasons. Everything on this page meets all three.

Best first competitions for students with no experience

Math AMC 8 A 40-minute, 25-question exam for middle schoolers and the natural first step into contest maths.

Grades1 to 8
CostFree to $30
RecommendedGrades 6 to 8
FormatIndividual
WhereIn person

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Coding Bebras Challenge A short online computational thinking challenge with no programming required, from age 8 upward.

Grades1 to 12
CostUp to $5
StructureDivisions by grade or level
FormatIndividual
WhereOnline

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Robotics FIRST LEGO League The entry point to competitive robotics, starting at age four and running through middle school.

Grades1 to 8
Cost$100 to $1,200
StructureDivisions by grade or level
FormatTeam
WhereIn person

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Engineering Invention Convention Invent something that solves a real problem, document the process, and pitch it like an inventor.

Grades1 to 12
CostFree to $100
StructureDivisions by grade or level
FormatEither
WhereIn person

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Business InvestWrite A free national essay competition on investing, judged on reasoning rather than returns.

Grades4 to 12
CostFree
StructureDivisions by grade or level
FormatIndividual
WhereOnline

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Engineering Junior Solar Sprint Design and race a solar-powered model car, free, for middle school teams.

Grades4 to 8
CostFree to $150
FormatTeam
WhereIn person

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Math MOEMS Five short contests across the school year, designed as a first taste of olympiad problem solving from grade 4.

Grades4 to 8
CostNot confirmed
StructureDivisions by grade or level
FormatEither
WhereIn person

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Math Math Kangaroo A friendly international puzzle contest that starts in grade 1.

Grades1 to 12
Cost$21 to $30
StructureDivisions by grade or level
FormatIndividual
WhereIn person

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Coding NASEF Scholastic Esports School-based esports leagues paired with a curriculum in production, broadcasting, analysis and game design.

Grades6 to 12
CostFree
FormatTeam
WhereOnline

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Writing NYT Student Podcast Contest Make a five-minute podcast on any subject, free, judged by New York Times editors.

Grades7 to 12
CostFree
FormatEither
WhereOnline

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Civics and social science National Civics Bee Write a short essay about a problem in your community, then defend it in a live civics quiz.

Grades6 to 8
CostFree
FormatIndividual
WhereBoth

143 days left

Academic National Latin Exam A single low-cost exam sat at school, with medals and a very high award rate for prepared students.

Grades6 to 12
CostUp to $10
StructureDivisions by grade or level
FormatIndividual
WhereIn person

139 days left

Writing Patriot's Pen A short patriotic essay contest for middle school students, free, with national awards.

Grades6 to 8
CostFree
FormatIndividual
WhereBoth

49 days left

Robotics SeaPerch Build an underwater robot from PVC pipe and motors for well under a hundred dollars, then race and manoeuvre it.

Grades1 to 12
Cost$50 to $300
FormatTeam
WhereIn person

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Engineering The Paradigm Challenge Solve a real social problem however you like, from age four upward, with a large prize pool.

Grades1 to 12
CostFree
StructureDivisions by grade or level
FormatEither
WhereOnline

231 days left

Business The Stock Market Game Manage a virtual $100,000 portfolio against other school teams over a full trading season.

Grades4 to 12
CostFree to $30
FormatTeam
WhereOnline

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Robotics VEX IQ Robotics Competition A snap-together robotics league for elementary and middle school, with cooperative rather than head-to-head matches.

Grades3 to 8
Cost$200 to $1,200
StructureDivisions by grade or level
FormatTeam
WhereIn person

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Art and design Vans Custom Culture Design and paint shoes as a school art team, competing for a large grant for your school's art programme.

Grades9 to 12
CostFree
FormatTeam
WhereBoth

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Civics and social science Voice of Democracy Record a three-minute audio essay on a patriotic theme and compete for scholarships from local post to national level.

Grades9 to 12
CostFree
FormatIndividual
WhereBoth

49 days left

Writing Write the World Free monthly writing prompts with peer review and expert feedback built into the process.

Grades7 to 12
CostFree
FormatIndividual
WhereOnline

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Coding ACSL A school-based league of short written and programming contests across four ability divisions.

Grades1 to 12
Cost$125 to $175
StructureDivisions by grade or level
FormatEither
WhereOnline

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Business Blue Ocean Competition A fully online entrepreneurship pitch competition with no written business plan required.

Grades9 to 12
CostFree
FormatEither
WhereOnline

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Business Business Professionals of America Competitive events in business, IT, digital media and management, with a strong technical event list.

Grades6 to 12
Cost$20 to $1,500
StructureDivisions by grade or level
FormatEither
WhereIn person

80 days left

Civics and social science C-SPAN StudentCam Make a short documentary on a national policy question, free, with a large cash prize pool.

Grades6 to 12
CostFree
StructureDivisions by grade or level
FormatEither
WhereOnline

130 days left

Math CEMC Contests Canada's national contest ladder, from grade 7 puzzles to the Canadian Computing Olympiad.

Grades7 to 12
CostUp to $20
StructureDivisions by grade or level
FormatIndividual
WhereIn person

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Coding Congressional App Challenge Build an app, compete only against students in your own congressional district, and win a display in the U.S. Capitol.

Grades6 to 12
CostFree
FormatEither
WhereOnline

44 days left

Art and design Congressional Art Competition One winner per congressional district, with the winning artwork hung in the United States Capitol for a year.

Grades7 to 12
CostFree
FormatIndividual
WhereIn person

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Coding CyberStart America A free, game-based cybersecurity challenge with scholarships attached, open to US high school students.

Grades9 to 12
CostFree
FormatIndividual
WhereOnline

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Engineering Destination Imagination Team creative problem solving across technical, scientific, engineering, fine arts and service challenges.

Grades1 to 12
Cost$165 to $5,500
StructureDivisions by grade or level
FormatTeam
WhereIn person

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Art and design Doodle for Google Redesign the Google logo around an annual theme, with a scholarship and a day on the homepage at stake.

Grades1 to 12
CostFree
StructureDivisions by grade or level
FormatIndividual
WhereOnline

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Engineering ExploraVision Pick a technology, project it twenty years forward, and write the paper explaining how it gets there.

Grades1 to 12
CostFree
StructureDivisions by grade or level
FormatTeam
WhereOnline

137 days left

Business FBLA More than seventy competitive events in business, technology and finance, competed through a school chapter.

Grades6 to 12
Cost$20 to $600
StructureDivisions by grade or level
FormatEither
WhereIn person

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Robotics FIRST Tech Challenge A smaller, cheaper robotics league with the same season structure as FRC and a far lower barrier to entry.

Grades7 to 12
Cost$300 to $3,000
FormatTeam
WhereIn person

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Engineering Future City Design a city a century from now, in simulation, in an essay, and as a physical model built from recycled materials.

Grades6 to 12
Cost$25 to $25
StructureDivisions by grade or level
FormatTeam
WhereIn person

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Business Global Youth Entrepreneurship Challenge A twelve-hour online startup sprint: the problem is revealed on the day and you pitch by the end of it.

Grades9 to 12
CostNot confirmed
FormatTeam
WhereOnline

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Science HOSA Over sixty competitive events across clinical skills, health knowledge and leadership, from middle school upward.

Grades6 to 12
Cost$20 to $1,500
StructureDivisions by grade or level
FormatEither
WhereIn person

79 days left

Academic International Geography Bee A buzzer geography competition with online qualifying, filling the gap left by the discontinued National Geographic Bee.

Grades3 to 12
Cost$10 to $500
StructureDivisions by grade or level
FormatIndividual
WhereBoth

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Writing JEA Write-off Competitions On-site journalism contests held at national conventions across news, feature, sports, design and photojournalism.

Grades9 to 12
Cost$10 to $30
FormatIndividual
WhereIn person

169 days left

Math MATHCOUNTS The national middle school math league, from your classroom to a televised countdown round.

Grades6 to 8
Cost$42 to $80
FormatEither
WhereIn person

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Debate and speech Model United Nations Represent a country in simulated UN committees, negotiate resolutions, and compete for awards at hundreds of conferences.

Grades6 to 12
Cost$25 to $1,500
FormatEither
WhereBoth

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Academic NACLO Solve puzzles in languages you have never seen, with no prior linguistics knowledge required.

Grades6 to 12
CostFree
FormatIndividual
WhereIn person

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Academic National History Bee and Bowl Buzzer competition in history, run as both an individual bee and a team bowl, with online qualifying.

Grades2 to 12
Cost$10 to $800
StructureDivisions by grade or level
FormatEither
WhereBoth

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Academic National History Day Original historical research presented as a paper, exhibit, documentary, performance or website.

Grades6 to 12
CostFree to $150
StructureDivisions by grade or level
FormatEither
WhereIn person

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Business National Personal Finance Challenge A team competition on earning, spending, saving, investing and managing credit, free to enter.

Grades9 to 12
CostFree
FormatTeam
WhereBoth

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Writing New York Times Student Editorial Contest Write a 450-word evidence-based opinion piece on anything you care about, judged by Times editors.

Grades7 to 12
CostFree
FormatEither
WhereOnline

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Writing Ocean Awareness Contest A free international contest accepting art, writing, film, music and interactive media on a yearly ocean and climate theme.

Grades6 to 12
CostFree
StructureDivisions by grade or level
FormatEither
WhereOnline

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Engineering Odyssey of the Mind Teams solve a long-term creative problem over months, then face a spontaneous problem they have never seen.

Grades1 to 12
Cost$290 to $400
StructureDivisions by grade or level
FormatTeam
WhereIn person

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Science PhysicsBowl A 40-question, 45-minute physics exam sat at school, with divisions matched to how much physics you have taken.

Grades9 to 12
CostUp to $20
StructureDivisions by grade or level
FormatIndividual
WhereIn person

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Art and design Poetry Out Loud Memorise and perform published poems, from a classroom contest all the way to a national final in Washington.

Grades8 to 12
CostFree
FormatIndividual
WhereIn person

176 days left

Math Purple Comet! Math Meet A free, online, team-based maths contest open to any school or club in the world.

Grades6 to 12
CostFree
StructureDivisions by grade or level
FormatTeam
WhereOnline

184 days left

Coding Technovation Girls A free global season where girls aged 8 to 18 build an app or AI project and pitch it as a venture.

Grades3 to 12
CostFree
StructureDivisions by grade or level
FormatTeam
WhereOnline

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Environment The Earth Prize A global environmental sustainability competition for teenagers, free to enter, with a substantial prize pool.

Grades7 to 12
CostFree
FormatTeam
WhereOnline

Check site

Chess and strategy US Chess Scholastic National Championships National championships separated by grade, age and rating, so beginners are never paired against masters.

Grades1 to 12
Cost$30 to $200
StructureDivisions by grade or level
FormatEither
WhereIn person

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Robotics VEX Robotics Competition The largest robotics competition in the world by team count, with tournaments running most weekends.

Grades6 to 12
Cost$300 to $3,000
StructureDivisions by grade or level
FormatTeam
WhereIn person

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Coding WAICY A project-based global AI competition with tracks for art and video as well as technical builds.

Grades4 to 12
CostFree to $100
FormatEither
WhereOnline

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Robotics World Robot Olympiad An international robotics competition running in over eighty countries, with categories from age six upward.

Grades1 to 12
Cost$50 to $2,000
StructureDivisions by grade or level
FormatTeam
WhereIn person

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Debate and speech World Scholar's Cup A team academic competition combining debate, collaborative writing, a quiz bowl and a scholar's challenge, with rounds in dozens of countries.

Grades6 to 12
Cost$100 to $3,000
StructureDivisions by grade or level
FormatTeam
WhereBoth

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Engineering eCYBERMISSION Solve a problem in your own community using science or engineering, entirely online, for free.

Grades6 to 9
CostFree
FormatTeam
WhereOnline

165 days left

Coding picoCTF A free capture-the-flag cybersecurity competition designed specifically for students with no security background.

Grades6 to 12
CostFree
PreparationComfort with a command line and basic scripting
FormatTeam
WhereOnline

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Beginner competitions for students who have never competed

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