Free competitions for teenagers

Competitions with no entry fee for the student. Some of the most respected competitions in the world are on this list, including USACO, the Congressional App Challenge and the Department of Energy Science Bowl, which even funds travel to its national finals. Be aware that a free entry fee does not always mean a free competition: team events can carry materials and travel costs, which each listing states.

52 competitions · 52 free · 46 online · 10 with preparation guides

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

Check site

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

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

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

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

Check site

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

Grades9 to 12
CostFree
FormatEither
WhereOnline

Check site

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

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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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

Check site

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

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

Grades6 to 12
CostFree
FormatIndividual
WhereIn person

Check site

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

Check site

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

Check site

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

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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

Check site

Coding Battlecode Write an AI that commands a team of virtual units against other students' AIs, with a high school bracket.

Grades9 to 12
CostFree
PreparationConfident independent programming, and about a month of sustained work
FormatEither
WhereOnline

Check site

Writing Bennington Young Writers Awards A three-category writing prize from a college known for its writing programme, with scholarship money attached.

Grades9 to 12
CostFree
FormatIndividual
WhereOnline

50 days left

Science Breakthrough Junior Challenge Explain a hard scientific idea in a three-minute video, for a $250,000 scholarship package.

Grades8 to 12
CostFree
PreparationDeep understanding of one concept in physics, life sciences or mathematics
FormatIndividual
WhereOnline

3 days left

Coding Codeforces Free short-format algorithmic contests several times a month, open to anyone with a rating attached.

Grades6 to 12
CostFree
PreparationImplementing algorithms under time pressure in C++, Java or Python
FormatIndividual
WhereOnline

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Business Diamond Challenge Pitch a business or social venture concept against teams from more than a hundred countries, for a prize pool above $100,000.

Grades9 to 12
CostFree
FormatTeam
WhereBoth

Check site

Writing Foyle Young Poets A free international poetry award for 11 to 17 year olds, with a hundred winners chosen each year.

Grades6 to 12
CostFree
FormatIndividual
WhereOnline

322 days left

Business Harrington Foundation Accelerator A free eight-week virtual accelerator ending in a live pitch, with real investment for the winner.

Grades7 to 12
CostFree
FormatIndividual
WhereOnline

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Math IM²C A team modelling challenge with national rounds worldwide feeding an international judging round.

Grades9 to 12
CostFree
PreparationA strong result in COMAP's HiMCM or MidMCM
FormatTeam
WhereOnline

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Science Junior Innovators Challenge The premier middle school science research competition, entered by nomination from an affiliated science fair.

Grades6 to 8
CostFree
FormatIndividual
WhereBoth

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Math MathWorks Math Modeling Challenge Fourteen hours, one open-ended real-world problem, and a written mathematical model. Free, with six figures in scholarships.

Grades11 to 12
CostFree
FormatTeam
WhereOnline

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Math Modeling the Future Challenge Analyse a real dataset, quantify a risk, and make a recommendation, mentored by a working actuary.

Grades11 to 12
CostFree
FormatTeam
WhereOnline

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Coding NASA App Development Challenge Build software against a real NASA mission problem, free, with winning teams meeting NASA engineers.

Grades6 to 12
CostFree
FormatTeam
WhereOnline

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Business National Economics Challenge The only national economics competition for United States high school students, run in two divisions.

Grades9 to 12
CostFree
StructureDivisions by grade or level
FormatTeam
WhereBoth

Check site

Writing Profile in Courage Essay Contest Write about an elected official who took a politically courageous stand, for a $10,000 first prize.

Grades9 to 12
CostFree
FormatIndividual
WhereOnline

121 days left

Scholarships and challenges Prudential Emerging Visionaries Awards for young people using financial or social innovation to solve a problem in their community.

Grades9 to 12
CostFree
FormatIndividual
WhereOnline

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Coding USACO Free, worldwide algorithmic contests on a four-division ladder, and the route to Team USA at the IOI.

Grades6 to 12
CostFree
StructureDivisions by grade or level
FormatIndividual
WhereOnline

Check site

Business Wharton Investment Competition Manage a virtual portfolio for a fictional client and defend your strategy to Wharton judges.

Grades9 to 12
CostFree
FormatTeam
WhereBoth

27 days left

Engineering Zero Robotics Write code that controls a real satellite aboard the International Space Station.

Grades9 to 12
CostFree
FormatTeam
WhereOnline

Check site

Scholarships and challenges Coca-Cola Scholars Program A $20,000 achievement-based scholarship for graduating seniors, awarded to 150 students a year.

Grades12 to 12
CostFree
FormatIndividual
WhereOnline

18 days left

Music From the Top Jack Kent Cooke Young Artist Award A scholarship award for outstanding young classical musicians with financial need, including a national radio appearance.

Grades3 to 12
CostFree
PreparationRepertoire ready for broadcast performance, plus demonstrated financial need
FormatIndividual
WhereBoth

58 days left

Science JSHS Present original research to a live audience of scientists at a regional symposium, with scholarships attached.

Grades9 to 12
CostFree
PreparationOriginal independent research, usually with a mentor
FormatIndividual
WhereIn person

Check site

Scholarships and challenges Jack Kent Cooke Young Scholars Program A five-year, individually advised scholarship for high-achieving students with financial need, applied for in grade 7.

Grades7 to 7
CostFree
FormatIndividual
WhereOnline

215 days left

Math Math Prize for Girls The largest cash prize in pre-college mathematics, open to girls and non-binary students.

Grades1 to 12
CostFree
PreparationAn AMC 10 or AMC 12 score above the year's cutoff
FormatIndividual
WhereIn person

Check site

Environment Stockholm Junior Water Prize An international water research prize with national competitions in over thirty countries.

Grades9 to 12
CostFree
PreparationA completed water-related research paper
FormatEither
WhereIn person

Check site

Scholarships and challenges Davidson Fellows Scholarship Scholarships of up to $50,000 for a significant piece of work in science, technology, mathematics, literature, music or philosophy.

Grades1 to 12
CostFree
PreparationA completed piece of work at or close to college graduate level
FormatIndividual
WhereOnline

Check site

Science Regeneron Science Talent Search The oldest and most prestigious science research competition for United States high school seniors.

Grades12 to 12
CostFree
FormatIndividual
WhereBoth

54 days left

Questions people ask about this

Are free competitions less prestigious?

No. Several of the most selective competitions in this directory are free, including USACO, the Regeneron Science Talent Search and the Davidson Fellows Scholarship. Entry fees correlate with how a competition is funded, not with how hard it is.

What hidden costs should I watch for?

Travel and materials. Robotics leagues in particular have modest registration and substantial equipment costs. Each listing separates the entry fee from the notes on what else you will actually spend.

Free competitions for teenagers

Questions people ask about this

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