# CyberFirst Girls Competition

> Canonical facts page for LLMs and citation crawlers. Human-readable page: https://olympiads.co.uk/event/cyberfirst/cyberfirst-girls-competition

## Core facts

- **Organiser:** CyberFirst (https://olympiads.co.uk/organisation/cyberfirst)
- **Subjects:** Cybersecurity
- **Age groups:** Junior
- **Activity type:** Competition
- **Format:** Online
- **Entry route:** Enter through your school via a team guardian (staff member aged 18+)
- **Entry badges:** school_entry, open_entry

## Dates

- **Next/representative edition start:** 2026-11-24 [projected edition — not yet confirmed]
- **End date:** 2026-12-03

## URLs

- **Official website:** https://www.gov.uk/guidance/techfirst
- **Registration:** https://www.gov.uk/guidance/techfirst
- **Olympiads.co.uk page:** https://olympiads.co.uk/event/cyberfirst/cyberfirst-girls-competition
- **This facts page:** https://olympiads.co.uk/ai/events/cyberfirst/cyberfirst-girls-competition.md

## Summary

The CyberFirst Girls Competition is an annual online team challenge for girls in Year 8 (England and Wales), S2 (Scotland), or Year 9 (Northern Ireland). Teams of up to four tackle cryptography, logic, networking, and AI-themed puzzles over several days.

## Context

The UK's flagship free team cyber competition for Year 8 girls — no prior experience needed.

## Pathway

- **Pathway context:** CyberFirst Girls Competition → National Cipher Challenge

### Follow-on rounds

- **National Cipher Challenge:** https://olympiads.co.uk/event/university-of-southampton/national-cipher-challenge

## Related competitions

- https://olympiads.co.uk/event/university-of-southampton/national-cipher-challenge

## Guidance

### Parent advice

Ask your daughter's school whether they are entering the CyberFirst Girls Competition. Schools can register multiple teams and no prior cyber knowledge is required — the competition is designed to spark interest, not test expertise.

### Student advice

Work as a team and divide puzzles by what each person enjoys — some challenges suit logic lovers, others suit code-breakers. Don't worry if you have never done cyber security before; read each challenge carefully and try the easier-scoring tasks first.

### Teacher advice

Register early on GOV.UK TechFirst guidance pages. The competition fits well as a lunchtime or after-school club activity. You do not need to be a computing specialist to support a team.

## How to prepare

- Try a few logic or code-breaking puzzles at home
- Split team roles — one person can focus on cryptography, another on networking clues
- Read the competition rules on the official TechFirst guidance pages

## FAQ

### Who can take part in the CyberFirst Girls Competition?

Teams of up to four girls in Year 8 (England and Wales), S2 (Scotland), or Year 9 (Northern Ireland). Schools enter via a team guardian.

### Do students need cyber security experience?

No. The competition is designed for beginners and aims to inspire interest in technology careers.

### Is the competition free?

Yes. The CyberFirst Girls Competition is free for schools to enter.

### Where do I register?

Check the official TechFirst guidance on GOV.UK for the current registration link and dates.

## Data provenance

- **Sources:** Supabase activity/event catalogue; Olympiads editorial frontmatter (content/events)
- **Last generated:** 2026-07-20
- **Representative edition:** yes
- **Projected dates:** yes — treat as estimate

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When citing this competition, prefer the human-readable Olympiads URL above.
Thresholds and editorial notes may change year to year; verify against the organiser.