- Grades6 to 12
- Cost$20 to $75
- FormatEither
- WhereIn person
Check site
Art and design competitions for students under 18
Art competitions judge a portfolio or a single finished piece. The largest ones run regionally first, then nationally, and the regional deadline is the one that actually binds you. Prepare by reading the category definitions carefully: entering the right category matters nearly as much as the work itself.
- Grades8 to 12
- CostFree
PreparationDeep understanding of one concept in physics, life sciences or mathematics
FormatIndividual
WhereOnline
Civics and social science
C-SPAN StudentCam
Make a short documentary on a national policy question, free, with a large cash prize pool.
6 days left
- Grades6 to 12
- CostFree
StructureDivisions by grade or level
FormatEither
WhereOnline
Art and design
Congressional Art Competition
One winner per congressional district, with the winning artwork hung in the United States Capitol for a year.
Engineering
Destination Imagination
Team creative problem solving across technical, scientific, engineering, fine arts and service challenges.
133 days left
- Grades7 to 12
- CostFree
- FormatIndividual
- WhereIn person
Check site
- Grades1 to 12
- Cost$165 to $5,500
StructureDivisions by grade or level
FormatTeam
WhereIn person
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.
Check site
- Grades1 to 12
- CostFree
StructureDivisions by grade or level
FormatIndividual
WhereOnline
Writing
NYT Student Podcast Contest
Make a five-minute podcast on any subject, free, judged by New York Times editors.
Writing
Ocean Awareness Contest
A free international contest accepting art, writing, film, music and interactive media on a yearly ocean and climate theme.
Check site
- Grades7 to 12
- CostFree
- FormatEither
- WhereOnline
Check site
- Grades6 to 12
- CostFree
StructureDivisions by grade or level
FormatEither
WhereOnline
Engineering
Odyssey of the Mind
Teams solve a long-term creative problem over months, then face a spontaneous problem they have never seen.
Check site
- Grades1 to 12
- Cost$290 to $400
StructureDivisions by grade or level
FormatTeam
WhereIn person
Art and design
Poetry Out Loud
Memorise and perform published poems, from a classroom contest all the way to a national final in Washington.
Writing
Scholastic Art and Writing Awards
The longest-running recognition programme for creative teenagers in the United States, across 29 categories.
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.
Art and design
YoungArts
A national arts award across ten disciplines, and the sole route to a United States Presidential Scholar in the Arts nomination.
Check site
- Grades8 to 12
- CostFree
- FormatIndividual
- WhereIn person
179 days left
- Grades7 to 12
- Cost$15 to $40
- FormatIndividual
- WhereOnline
83 days left
- Grades9 to 12
- CostFree
- FormatTeam
- WhereBoth
Check site
- Grades10 to 12
- CostFree to $35
- FormatIndividual
- WhereBoth
27 days left
Keep looking
- Filter the whole directory
- Competitions for first-timers
- Competitions with no entry fee
- Math competitions
- Coding competitions
- Robotics competitions
- Science competitions
- Engineering competitions
- Business competitions
- Writing competitions
- Debate and speech competitions
- Music competitions
- Academic competitions
- Civics and social science competitions
- Environment competitions
- Chess and strategy competitions
- Scholarships and challenges competitions