UK Bebras 2026: What to Expect, and How to Try It at Home This Weekend

The UK Bebras Challenge opens on Monday 9 November and runs until Friday 20 November 2026.

It's free, takes 45 minutes and is open to ages 6 to 19. You do not need to have written a line of code. I would give it a go even if computing is not your child's favourite subject: the questions ask them to work out what happens, rather than remember what they have been taught.

What Bebras actually tests

Bebras is about computational thinking: breaking a problem into manageable parts, spotting a useful pattern and following a set of rules carefully. A task might ask you to trace a route, put objects in order or work out where an instruction goes wrong.

The Raspberry Pi Foundation's challenge guidance lists decomposition, pattern recognition, abstraction, algorithms, logical reasoning, debugging and evaluation. You do not need to teach those words before trying the tasks. Ask your child to explain what they did, and you will start hearing the ideas.

Which age group?

Students are compared within their own challenge group. The suggested ages and school years are:

Kits: ages 6–8; England and Wales Years 2–3; Scotland P2–P3.
Castors: ages 8–10; Years 4–5; P4–P5.
Juniors: ages 10–12; Years 6–7; P6–P7.
Intermediates: ages 12–14; Years 8–9; S1–S2.
Seniors: ages 14–16; Years 10–11; S3–S4.
Elites: ages 16–19; Years 12–13; S5–S6.

Kits and Castors may enter individually or in a team of up to three. The official challenge page also lists Northern Ireland years and the SSI group. Let your coordinator confirm the appropriate entry.

Read the scoring rules before you start

The three task levels have different rewards and penalties:

A: 6 points for a correct answer; 0 for a wrong answer or a blank.
B: 9 points for a correct answer; −2 for a wrong answer; 0 for a blank.
C: 12 points for a correct answer; −4 for a wrong answer; 0 for a blank.

An A answer cannot lose marks, so make an attempt. On B and C, read the conditions again before committing. A click that feels plausible is not the same as an answer you have checked.

The organisers advise leaving an uncertain answer blank rather than guessing. They also say it is rare for a student to finish every task. If you are stuck, move on and return later.

What happens on the day?

You may use pencil, paper and a calculator. Websites and reference materials are not allowed.
Work independently unless you are entering as a Kits or Castors team.
Do not discuss or share this year's tasks during the challenge fortnight. Other schools may be sitting them later.
Use a desktop, laptop or tablet where possible. A phone screen makes visual tasks harder to read.

How to enter

A student cannot register independently for the live challenge.

At school: a teacher registers as the main coordinator and enrols students. If your school does not take part, show a teacher bebras.uk.
Code Clubs and other groups: an organiser can register as a coordinator after the group has been added to the platform.
Home education: a parent or guardian completes the home-education form. The organisers send the group's sign-in details the week before the challenge.

The forms and current instructions are on the get involved page.

Try it at home this weekend

Past challenges are open to everyone, with no login needed, through the official Bebras site. I would use half an hour like this:

Choose the past challenge for your child's age group.
Give them about 20 minutes to explore it. Let them get stuck for a while before stepping in.
Afterwards, choose two tasks: one they solved and one they did not. Ask, “How did you know?” or “What would you try next?”
Look at the scoring rules together so the B and C penalties are not a surprise.

If they enjoy explaining their reasoning, problems.cc offers further mathematics problem-solving practice. Start with the official Bebras tasks for this competition's format.

At Exact Science, we offer small-group and individual mathematics teaching. We help students explain their ideas, compare approaches and work on the gaps their attempts reveal. You can see the available groups if you want that support beyond this challenge. Bebras itself is free and does not require a paid course.

Certificates and what comes next

Every participant receives a certificate. Gold recognises the top 10% nationally in each challenge group. Best in school, Distinction, Merit and Participation recognise performance within the school and group.

Answers and explanations are released after the challenge. That is a good time to revisit a task your child could not finish and ask what they now see differently.

Schools that participate can also explore the Raspberry Pi Foundation's Coding Challenge for students aged 10 and above. Coordinators receive the entry information; check the current format and dates with them.

On Olympiads.co.uk

Official dates: UK Bebras calendar. Rules and practice: bebras.uk.

Sources

The UK Bebras Challenge