The Earth Prize

Key facts

Eligible grades

Not confirmed. Check the organiser's rules before entering.

The Earth Prize sets eligibility by age and education level, not grade. Open to secondary education students; not open to tertiary education students. Eligible institutions are schools or educational programmes.

Eligible ages

Ages 13 to 19 inclusive. The rules define this by birth year: open to students worldwide born between 2006 and 2012.

The birth-year definition is the operative rule and is stricter than a loose 13-to-19 reading. Check your own birth year against the current cycle's range.

Source, checked 2026-09-02

Individual or team

Team · An individual student or a team of up to five students. Educators are no longer required to participate or to create a team, so students may form and submit a team independently. There is no limit on how many teams a school may submit as long as each works independently.

Where it runs

Online · International

Entry cost

FreeNo entry fee is described anywhere in the rules or FAQ.

Registration deadline

Set locally, not published as a single national date 2027 registration is open but its closing date was not confirmed on the pages checked. For reference, the 2026 cycle ran registration from 1 September 2025 to 10 January 2026, with the submission deadline extended to 28 February 2026.

Competition dates

Phased: a Registration and Submission phase in the autumn and winter, a Scholars phase for selected teams who produce a Final Idea and Pitch Video, then a Regional Winners phase with a live Q&A and mentoring, ending in public voting for the Global Winner. In the 2026 cycle the Scholars phase ran 16 February to 9 March 2026 and the Regional Winners phase 10 March to 14 April 2026.

Difficulty

Some preparation neededYou will want a few weeks of targeted practice. Most motivated students place respectably.

Prizes

Seven Regional Winners are selected, one from each participating world region, and the prize is divided evenly among them. The Global Winner is chosen from those seven by public online voting. Three Mentors of the Year receive $2,500 each.Prize funding is split between winning students and their schools, with regional and global awards. The Earth Foundation has publicised a total prize pool of $200,000 in recent editions. Confirm current amounts on the official site.