The Big Bang Competition recognises and rewards young people's achievements in all areas of science, technology, engineering and maths (STEM), whilst providing them with the opportunity to build their skills and confidence in project-based work.
The Competition is open to all UK residents in full-time education or training (year groups 7 to 13 and Scottish/NI equivalent). We are revising the programme and entry procedure for 2020/21 and will be announcing these details soon.
Finalists compete for over £20,000 worth of amazing prizes , including top and runner-up prizes in the Junior, Intermediate and Senior categories for science and engineering, as well as the coveted titles of GSK UK Young Engineer of the Year and GSK UK Young Scientist.
Visit our How to get started page for advice and inspiration, and read the rules and eligibility for 2020 (2021 Finals).
If you have any questions, please contact us at competitions@thebigbangfair.co.uk
If you are in Years 7-13, you are invited to enter a very short story to be in with a chance of winning up to £100.
Oxford are looking for a complete story, written in Spanish using NO MORE THAN 100 WORDS.
They are looking for imagination and creativity, as well as your ability to write in Spanish. Your use of Spanish will be considered in the context of your age and year group: in other words, we will not expect younger pupils to compete against older pupils linguistically.
There are two categories: Years 7-11 and Years 12-13. A first prize of £100 will be awarded to the winning entry in each category, with runner-up prizes of £25. The winning entries will be published on our website.
The UKMT Individual Maths Challenges are lively, intriguing multiple choice question papers, which are designed to stimulate interest in maths in large numbers of pupils.
intermediate UKMT is the second of the 3 levels and is aimed at 14/15 year olds.
The papers contain 25 multiple choice questions. Of these, the first 15 are more accessible whilst the final 10 will provide more food for thought.
Gold, silver and bronze certificates are awarded to 40% of participants nationally in the Intermediate Challenges,
The most successful participants are invited to enter follow-on rounds; Kangaroos (multiple choice questions) or Olympiads requiring full written answers.
Young Scot is the National Youth Information Agency, providing young people aged 12-26 with a mixture of information, ideas and incentives to help them become active, informed and confident citizens.
No formal qualification required! • Interest in the issues surrounding young people, Scotland and your digital world • Able to work within a group • Have the flexibility, commitment and willingness to travel across Scotland
Peterhouse hold an annual Science essay competition for students with a keen interest in their chosen science.
Competitors are advised that the main focus of the essay should not be material previously or currently being studied by the entrant as part of their sixth form studies. The entrant may refer to topics that will be studied in future so long as, at the time of the closing date, the entrant has received no formal tuition on the topic in question. All entries must be verified by a Head of Sixth Form or Head of History confirming that the essay is the entrant’s own work and that the main focus of the essay is not something which they have hitherto studied in the sixth form classroom.
The prizes are open to all students in year 12 or equivalent (i.e. in their penultimate year of school and usually aged 16 or 17), regardless of nationality or school country. Essays must be written in English.
Each competition has a prize pool of £750. Winners will be contacted by post -...
The deadline for all tasks was 12 noon, Friday 13 March 2020 . The prizegiving ceremony will take place in Oxford in June, and winning entrants will be invited to attend with a guest. Reasonable travel expenses will be covered.
Open to ages 9-18
NCH is inviting competition essay entries from students who are currently in their penultimate year of secondary education (Y12 equivalent in the UK).
The selection of essay titles engages across a broad range of humanities and social sciences topics and are looking receiving entries from talented and intellectually curious students who show passion and academic potential in the humanities and social sciences. Entries welcome from students located anywhere in the world.
Held in December, this two-day residential programme brings together senior leaders who identify as LGBT from across a range of sectors and industries.
You will reflect on what it means to be an authentic leader and explore how to create a more inclusive culture within your organisation.
If you are aged 18 to 25, thinking about your future and wondering how your sexual orientation and/or gender identity relates to the workplace and your career aspirations, the Stonewall Young Leaders programme could be for you.
Each year, the Admissions team organises a free week-long residential summer school intended for those studying anywhere in the UK who still have a year to complete at school. The aim is to demystify elite universities and to equip students with the knowledge and insight to make high-quality applications to top universities.
During the week, participants take part in a varied programme of academic and social activities designed to give insight into what university study would be like. Students will live in a university hall of residence and attend academic sessions in two subject areas of their choice. Sessions are also held on the UCAS application process, personal statements and student finance to ensure advice and guidance are given on all aspects of the journey to university.
Sutton Trust Summer Schools are free of charge. Not only is your place free, but we will also pay for your transport, accommodation, food and all activities and resources. There really is no cost to...
The King's College London Pre-University Summer School is open to high-achieving students who are about to start or who are enrolled in their final two years of high school, and are typically aged 16 and 17. Students must be aged 16 as of 1 September 2020.
As this is an intensive social and academic experience delivered by King's Faculty, it is essential that all applicants are independent, mature and motivated students.
As part of the application process you will need to upload the following:
official confirmation of your most recent high school grades
a personal statement
a reference letter from your school
evidence of your English language proficiency (if your first language is not English or if English is not the language of instruction at your school).
An exciting two-week summer school at The Royal Veterinary College, University of London. You will gain veterinary skills and knowledge that will be recognised by the RVC if you choose to apply.
Earn one week of veterinary experience in our globally-recognised animal hospitals and research facilities.
Get a taste of student life at the RVC and meet our student ambassadors and academic tutors.
Receive world-class teaching alongside your peers.
Explore London one of the world’s most exciting cities as well as the beauty of the English countryside.
Challenge yourself and make friends from around the world
Please note, this is a competitive programme with 50 places available to the strongest applicants. As well as being assessed on your academic suitability, we will also use the personal statement part of the application to help us decide who to offer places to. Successful applicants will be notified in May that they have a place.
Programme: Sunday 2nd August -...
The Hebridean Whale and Dolphin Trust (HWDT) conduct cetacean surveys, from their live-aboard research yacht Silurian, between April and October every year.
HWDT welcome aboard paying volunteers to assist with data collection and help monitor the various cetacean species found in Hebridean waters.
Join HWDT and have the experience of a lifetime, exploring the wilds of the Hebrides whilst contributing to a long-standing dataset – the basis of effective conservation.
Teen Team Surveys provide a fantastic experience for younger environmentalists, with participants gaining the fundamental skills required to forge a career in marine conservation. The protocol during the Teen Team Surveys is exactly the same as the Cetacean Monitoring Programme, however there will be more staff provision to offer insight and support.
Duration: 7 days
Cost: £995 per person
Participant age: 16-17
The Nottingham Potential Summer School is a unique opportunity for high-achieving Year 12 students from the Midlands to join us at the University of Nottingham for a week of living, learning and socialising like a university student – for free!
Subject streams include: Law, politics and international relations; Medicine and medical sciences; Nursing and midwifery; Pharmacy; Psychology and philosophy, Architecture, engineering and physics; Business, maths and economics; English, American and film studies; Sports, physio and nutrition; Sustainable chemistry.
The Goldsmiths free summer school offer an inclusive, empowering and experimental space for you to develop your creativity and confidence and aim to give you the time and space to determine if university is the right ‘next step’ for you.
The summer schools are generally open to Year 12 students who are currently studying in the UK. Update: they are closely monitoring the situation with COVID19 and following government advice. Their official webpage will be updated in May with further information about the summer schools 2020.
1st May 2019 when this year's short story and poetry competitions will open for entries and will usually close for submissions by September. The winner of first prize will receive £500, second prize £150 and third prize £100. The Bedford Prize, kindly sponsored by The Harpur Trust, enables us to award £100 each to the highest placed story and poem by Bedford residents.
The competition is open to anyone aged 17 years and over.
Stories must be no more than 3000 words.
For business people aged 30 or less who have demonstrated a high degree of entrepreneurship, creativity and vision for the future. The judges will be looking to identify an individual who has set up a business that has set and achieved objectives within its business plans. In addition to this, judges will want to see an understanding of the relationship between your own development and the future success of the business.
Not only the future of business, young entrepreneurs are the innovative zest of commerce today. They are the data-literate, socially savvy sharers who create new technologies to render old problems defunct.
The fearless spirit of the young entrepreneur invigorates monopolies with fresh competition, while their acumen as digital pioneers empowers local businesses to adopt global horizons.
Apart from age, there is no specific entry criteria for the Royal Bank of Scotland Great British Entrepreneur Awards. As long as you are an entrepreneur, and your business...
The Bumblebee Conservation Trust invite people from all walks of life to carry out bumblebee surveys.
Anyone can become a BeeWalker – all you need is a spare hour or so every month to walk a fixed route of about a mile (you choose where it goes), and send us your sightings. The information collected by BeeWalk volunteers is integral to monitoring how bumblebee populations change through time, and will allow us to detect early warning signs of population declines.
All data collected will contribute to important long-term monitoring of bumblebee population changes in response to changes in land-use and climate change, and, ultimately, to informing how we manage the countryside.
ComputerAid offer a variety of voluntary opportunities in a variety of different skills in marketing, ICT4D, Finance or Fundraising. ComputerAid will also publish any articles or projects you have related to sustainable IT on their blog!
CA believe that technology has become a necessity for education because it creates a better learning environment. Computers allow easy communication and access to educational resources. Today Computer Aid is one of the leading ICT4D organizations in the world. CA give ICT equipment a second life through our partners and projects around the world.
Peterhouse hold an annual History essay competition for students with a keen interest and high calibre of History writing.
The prizes are open to all students in year 12 or equivalent (i.e. in their penultimate year of school and usually aged 16 or 17), regardless of nationality or school country. Essays must be written in English. Please note that essays must be uploaded as pdf documents through our online submission system. All entries must be verified by a teacher and must conform to the guidelines given in terms of length and content, making sure that all citations and quotes are acknowledged using any recognised system. There is a strict limit of two entries per prize per school or college, unless your school requests extra entries before the closing date of the competition. Extra entries are granted at the discretion of the prize co-ordinators and must be arranged in advance by your teacher.
Each competition has a prize pool of £750. Winners will be contacted by post -...
The Sheffield Philosophy Essay Prize is an annual competition for Years 10, 11 and 12. The aims of this prize are threefold: firstly, to widen interest in philosophy and in studying philosophy at university level among students who would not otherwise be exposed to the subject; secondly, to encourage ambitious and talented secondary school students considering applying to university to study philosophy; and thirdly, to recognise the achievements both of high-calibre students and of those who teach them. The competition is run by the Department of Philosophy at the University of Sheffield.
Entrants must be students in years 10, 11 or 12 in the UK.
