World Scholar's Cup

Key facts

Eligible grades

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

The World Scholar's Cup sets divisions by age, not grade. Not converted.

Official divisions

Junior division for students up to 13 and Senior for 14 and older, fixed by age on 1 January, with additional age bands at larger events.

Based on the organiser's own divisions.

Eligible ages

Junior division is students up to 13 years old, with no bottom cut-off though most participants are at least 10. Senior division is 14 and older. Division is fixed by age on 1 January of the season: for 2026, any student who turned 14 by 1 January 2026, meaning born before 1 January 2012, competes as a senior. Skittles events run in select countries for students 10 and younger, who are also welcome in the standard junior division.

The upper limit of senior eligibility is the last year of a student's pre-university schooling, such as high school, A-levels or the IB Diploma Programme. Students enrolled in such an institution on 1 January of the calendar year keep eligibility through the Global Rounds and the Tournament of Champions. Larger events add further age bands such as Super Junior; the Da Nang 2026 Global Round's first wave was exclusively for scholars not yet 12 as of 1 January 2026.

Source, checked 2026-09-02

Individual or team

Team · Teams are generally three students, who may come from the same school or different schools. Schools can field unlimited teams at regional rounds, but any given team may participate at only one regional round per season.

Where it runs

Online and in person · International

Entry cost

The World Scholar's Cup is a not-for-profit organisation and all its materials are free to participants. There is usually a small tournament fee that varies by round, to cover tournament expenses including staff travel.The organiser does not publish a fee schedule. Third-party sources report regional round fees of roughly $15 to $25 and Global Round registration of around $825 to $950, plus your own travel and accommodation. Treat those figures as unconfirmed but budget for the Global Round being a major cost.

Registration deadline

Set locally, not published as a single national date Each round has its own registration window; no single season deadline is published.

Competition dates

The 2026 regional season is underway and Global Rounds run through the year; the Da Nang Global Round runs 11 to 16 September 2026 in two waves. 2027 season dates were not published on the pages checked.

Difficulty

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

Prizes

Medals, trophies and advancementMedals and trophies rather than cash; no prize schedule on the pages checked.