Note. Read this before registering. VEX Robotics and the Robotics Education & Competition Foundation SPLIT in May 2026 and now run separate competition programmes. VEX states that events.vex.com is the only authorised platform and the exclusive pathway to the 2027 VEX Robotics World Championship. Separately, the REC Foundation now runs its own RECF Robotics Competition programmes, branded ACHIEVE, ENGAGE and INSPIRE, with their own RECF World Championship and their own qualifying criteria. Older guides, and possibly your own school's paperwork, will not reflect this. Decide which pathway you are entering before paying anything, and note that RECF has stated it cannot help recover funds paid to RobotEvents.com before 10 May 2026.

VEX Robotics Competition

VEX V5 Robotics Competition

The largest robotics competition in the world by team count, with tournaments running most weekends.

Run by REC Foundation

Official website Reviews and tips

Eligible grades: Middle and high school. VEX V5 Robotics Competition covers both, with separate middle school and high school divisions at the World Championship. not yet checked against the official source
Source note: the only reference found for this was a third-party listing or encyclopedia, not the organiser. Eligibility must come from the organiser, so this is marked unconfirmed until a first-party page confirms it.
Source, checked 2026-09-02
Official divisions: Separate middle school and high school divisions at the World Championship, assigned by birth date. Note that VEX and the REC Foundation split in 2026 and now run separate programmes.
Based on the organiser's own divisions.
Eligible ages: Not confirmed. This organiser may set eligibility by grade rather than age. We do not convert one into the other.
VEX sets eligibility by birth date relative to the World Championship rather than a simple age range. Reported by a competition academy for 2026-27: high school students born after 1 May 2007, so 19 or younger at VEX Worlds 2027; middle school students born after 1 May 2011, so 15 or younger. Confirm against the official game manual, since these cut-offs decide which division you may enter.
Individual or team: Team · Not confirmed
Where it runs: In person · United States, International
Entry cost: Roughly $1,000 to $3,000 per team for the first seasonNot published as a single figure for V5RC on the pages checked. For scale, the related VEX AI Robotics Competition lists season registration at $200 for the first team and $150 for each additional team in the same organisation. Event entry fees, the robot kit and consumables are separate and are the larger cost. RECF has been collecting $10 per team registration at Signature Events since 2025-26.
Registration deadline: Set locally, not published as a single national date No single deadline. Registration runs through the season and event entry is per tournament. One structural date worth knowing on the RECF side: Signature Events held before 1 August 2026 or after 28 February 2027 are given no spots to the RECF World Championship, so a late event may not advance you.
Competition dates: The regular season runs roughly September 2026 to March 2027, extending to May for teams advancing to a World Championship. The 2026 VEX Robotics World Championship was held in St. Louis, 21 to 30 April 2026; 2027 details were being released through events.vex.com.
Difficulty: Some preparation neededYou will want a few weeks of targeted practice. Most motivated students place respectably.
Prizes: Scholarships and World Championship qualificationJudged and performance awards including the Excellence Award; no cash prize schedule found.

What VEX Robotics Competition is

The VEX V5 Robotics Competition is the biggest robotics league in the world measured by number of teams. Its distinguishing feature is tournament density: instead of two or three events a year, VEX teams can compete most weekends of the season, iterating their robot between events. That feedback loop makes it the fastest way to improve as a robotics team, and the smaller kit-based robots keep costs well below FRC.

How the competition works

The 2026-27 V5RC game is Override, played on a 12-foot square field. Two alliances of two teams each compete in matches of a 15-second autonomous period followed by a 1 minute 45 second driver-controlled period. Teams also keep an Engineering Notebook, which feeds judged awards.

Eligibility notes

Separate middle school and high school divisions. VEX IQ serves elementary and middle school with a simpler kit.

How to register

Register the team with the REC Foundation through RobotEvents.
Order the V5 competition kit and the season's game element kit.
Sign up for local tournaments on RobotEvents. Enter early in the season even if the robot is unfinished; the iteration is the point.
Keep an engineering notebook from the first meeting, since it is judged and cannot be reconstructed later.

What skills you need

Recommended resources

VEX Robotics Competition official page Official · free
Game information, kit details and the competition structure.
RobotEvents Official · free
Team registration and the tournament calendar. This is where you actually sign up for events.
VEX Library Course · free
Free official documentation, tutorials and programming guides.

Frequently asked questions

How does VEX differ from FIRST?

The biggest practical difference is tournament frequency. VEX teams can compete most weekends and improve the robot between events, while FIRST teams typically attend two or three events a season. VEX also uses a standard kit, which lowers cost and levels the field but limits fabrication freedom.

Can a small team compete?

Yes. VEX teams are commonly three to six students, which makes it viable where a large FRC team is not.

Reviews, tips and resources from other students

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Verification

Not yet re-checked 2026-08-29

Format, divisions, kit-based structure and the tournament model follow the REC Foundation's published description. Current registration fees, kit pricing, tournament dates and scholarship amounts were not confirmed during the last check. Confirm on robotevents.com.

Not confirmed for this cycle: Who can enter, Registration deadline, Competition dates, Entry cost, Individual or team, Prizes, How to register. Check these on the official site.

Source: the organiser's own site. No individual fact on this page has been re-checked against it for the current cycle.

Cycle checked: 2026-27 (Override); MAJOR STRUCTURAL CHANGE

Looked for and not found: ages, deadline, entry_fee, prizes, team. These are shown as not confirmed rather than estimated.

Rules and dates change. Confirm everything on the official site before you rely on it.

At a glance

CategoryRobotics
Grades6 to 12
CostRoughly $1,000 to $3,000 per team for the first season
FormatTeam
LocationIn person
Difficulty2 of 5
Top prize$20,000

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