15 Coding Competitions for High School Students
What are coding competitions?
Coding competitions are competitive events where students, either in groups or individually, can showcase their programming skills. Coding competitions can vastly differ in difficulty levels; however, each contest expects you to have good theoretical knowledge about coding, making it difficult for beginners. Moreover, coding competitions tend to be highly competitive, so being a beginner will pose more of a challenge for you.
If you are a beginner, however, don’t be dissuaded from participating in coding competitions, as many competitions are intended for beginners. Moreover, there are many benefits to participating in coding competitions, as they foster critical thinking, teamwork, and problem-solving skills. Also, your participation in such competitions can help you gain hands-on experience, which shows your dedication to pursuing computer science outside the classroom.
How did we rank these competitions?
In order to determine the prestige and ease of these competitions, we have ranked them according to the following criteria:
We looked at how prestigious these competitions were through their credibility, their complexity, and the problems given in the competitions.
We looked at the size of these competitions, believing that larger competitions are usually better known, run, and have more resources for you to learn.
We also looked at the tournament size– how many teams participated, and how open and accessible registration was for participants – whether the competition was open to different skill levels.
Competitions with levels tagged as ‘Beginner-friendly to intermediate’ indicate that it is necessary to have fundamental programming language proficiency, while ‘Intermediate’ or ‘Intermediate to Advanced’ indicates some degree of specialty needed. If a competition is listed as ‘Advanced,’ it could be a highly specialized or highly competitive tournament.
1. American Computer Science League
Location: Virtual
Cost: No Cost
Eligibility: Must be an elementary, middle, or high school student. Please check if your school has registered for the competition
Prize: Certificates and cash prizes (amount not disclosed)
Coding Experience Required: Beginner - Advanced
Prestige: Highly prestigious
Registration + Submission Deadline: To be announced for 2023 – 2024. The deadline is likely to be December 31st, 2023, tentatively based on previous years
Competition Dates: Varies based on division
ACSL organizes computer programming and computer science contests for K-12 schools, organizations, and local groups. ACSL offers multiple divisions, and each challenge tests students in various age groups and abilities. Each season is divided into four contests, testing students on fundamental concepts in computer science, ranging from Number Systems to Boolean Algebra to Digital Electronics. In the upper divisions, each contest also includes a problem to solve by programming using Python, C++, or Java.
2. Congressional App Challenge
Location: VirtuaL
Cost: No Cost
Eligibility: Must be a middle or high school student in a participating congressional district and must also be a resident of such district. Teams may have up to 4 members.
Prize: Winning apps are eligible to be displayed in the U.S. Capitol Building and featured on the House of Representatives website. Winners are also invited to attend a reception on Capitol Hill and may be awarded additional sponsor prizes.
Coding Experience Required: Intermediate
Prestige: Highly prestigious
Registration + Submission Deadline: Open now for 2023. Register here.
Competition dates: Competition deadline is November 1st, 2023
While not a coding competition in itself, this district-wide contest is hosted by members of the U.S. House of Representatives. The idea of this competition is to encourage students to problem-solve real-world challenges through coding. In this program, you will develop an app (through coding) that addresses a real-world issue. Apart from commonly used programming languages, it is beneficial to brush up on different app development platforms like XCode or Kotlin.
3. USA Computing Olympiad
Location: Virtual/ TBA
Cost: No Cost
Eligibility: Open to all high school students
Prize: Opportunity to advance to IOI and other international olympiads
Coding Experience Required: Advanced
Prestige: Highly prestigious
Registration + Submission Deadline: To be announced. Please go through the training opportunities.
Competition dates: Between December 16th, 2024, and December 19th, 2024 (tentatively, based on the previous year’s schedule).
This is the national round for the International Olympiad in Informatics (IOI). The IOI is one of five international science olympiads. The primary goal of the IOI is to stimulate interest in informatics (computing science) and information technology. UNESCO and IFIP are patrons.
The contest consists of 2 days of computer programming/coding and algorithmic problem-solving. The International Olympiad in Informatics is one of the most prestigious computer science competitions in the world. To participate in USACO, you will have to be proficient in common competitive programming languages (Java, C++, or Python) while also having a strong understanding of fundamental algorithms and data structures. You can check out this post on the best resources to prepare for USACO!
Note: Winners from this and other similar national rounds attend the International Olympiad in Informatics (IOI).
4. Stanford ACM ProCo
Location: Stanford Campus
Cost: No Cost
Eligibility: Open to all high school students. Teams must consist of 1-3 people.
Prize: Awards and trophies to winners. The top 8 will receive a certificate.
Coding Experience Required: You can participate in different divisions based on your level.
Prestige: Prestigious
Registration + Submission Deadline: Likely to be a month to a month and a half before competition day.
Competition Dates: TBA for 2024 (likely in March, based on the 2023 schedule).
Stanford ProCo is a coding competition for high school students modeled after the college-level ACM-ICPC. Teams of up to three people compete in solving algorithmic problems. The contest lasts 3 hours and consists of 9 to 15 unweighted problems. Submissions are accepted in C, C++, Java, and Python 3.6. This competition will test your algorithmic thinking and exercise your skills in debugging and troubleshooting your code effectively. The ProCo has both novice and advanced categories.
5. Imagine Cup
Location: Virtual
Cost: No Cost
Eligibility: Must be 16 or older. Maximum four (4) members per team
Prize: Each winning team is awarded $100,000, as well as mentorship from Microsoft experts and grant money.
Coding Experience Required: Advanced
Prestige: Highly prestigious
Registration + Submission Deadline: December 2023; please register here
Be sure to complete the student-focused training to help you through the competition!
Competition dates: After the submission, there are multiple rounds. The schedule is available here.
This competition seeks to honor the most innovative, accessible, ground-breaking, and appealing software built with Microsoft tools and technology. The Competition may be structured differently based on the country/region you are representing. Please make sure to read your local country/region competition rules. This is a team-based event where you can choose between the AI, Social Impact, or Mixed Reality Streams. In these streams, you will have to design and propose a technological project that addresses an issue in the relevant streams. Apart from using Microsoft tools and tech, you’ll need to practice your skills in UI and UX design
6. Technovation Coding Competition for Girls
Location: Virtual
Cost: No Cost
Eligibility: Must identify as female, translate, nonbinary or gender nonconforming. All participants must be between 8-18 years old. Teams should be composed of 105 students. You can only join 1 team.
Prize: Awards of up to $30,000 are available in cash and prizes.
Coding Experience Required: Beginner
Prestige: Reputable
Registration + Submission Deadline: TBA, but registration dates for the 2023-2024 season will be open in October.
Competition Dates: April 18th, 2024 (Based on the previous year’s dates)
Every year, girls across the globe step up to solve problems in their community with technology through Technovation Girls. More than 39,000 girls from over 100 countries have created apps to solve community problems.
In this competition, you will work in a team to identify a local problem in your community and develop a solution that brings technology to life in an immediate, tangible way. With the help of volunteer mentors, you will then be connected to a local Chapter or Club Ambassador, where you will work on this app. Technovation prioritizes implementing the app, so they have connected with local community leaders in order to bring your app to life.
7. Harker Programming Invitational
Location: Harker Upper School Campus, San Jose, California
Cost: No Cost
Eligibility: Open to all high school students. Teams must consist of 1-4 people.
Prize: Awards and trophies given to winners.
Coding Experience Required: Different divisions are offered based on the coding level.
Prestige: Open to most
Registration + Submission Deadline: TBA for 2024.
Competition Dates: TBA for 2024. Likely to be in March based on the 2023 schedule.
Harker Programming Invitational is a coding competition for high school students that models its question USACO style but is also parallel to Stanford ProCo. Within 2 hours, each team will have to solve 10 unweighted problems. Solutions to problems have to be coded in either Java, Python, or C++.
8. Technology Student Association Coding Competition
Location: Hosted in different cities each year.
Cost: $150
Eligibility: Must be between grades 7-12. More detailed eligibility criteria here.
Prize: Trophies and certificates.
Coding Experience Required: Beginner
Prestige: Open to all
Registration + Submission Deadline: TBA for 2023-2024.
Competition Dates: TBA for 2023-2024.
The Technology Student Association invites middle and high school students who have a proven aptitude in STEM to participate in various challenges. They host various competitions at the local, state, and national levels – where categories extend from coding, robotics, and more. Due to the vast number of competitions that the TSA conducts, you can usually find both team-based and individual events. Also, owing to the vast number and types of competitions the Technology Student Association conducts, the most important basic skill you’ll need to have across all of them is problem-solving.
9. FIRST Robotics Competition
Location: Competitions in most major states. You can find them here
Cost: Differs based on level and event but ranges from $500-$6,000.
Eligibility: High School Students between the ages of 14-18. Teams must have at least 10 students with 2 adult mentors.
Note: Teams are usually affiliated with schools or local educational institutions, or organizations, so it’s best to check whether an organization already exists. If not, you can always independently organize one!
Prize: Scholarships and cash prizes are awarded to the top scorers.
Coding Experience Required: Advanced
Prestige: Highly prestigious (Note. We have rated these in terms of their rankings for robotics competitions as that is their focus.)
Registration + Submission Deadline: The deadline for the first payment is November 13th, 2023. Submission Deadline is yet to be announced.
Competition Dates: Early January through April, tentatively based on the 2023 schedule. 2024 is yet to be announced.
While not a coding competition, the FIRST Robotics Competition involves heavy use of coding as you build an industrial-sized robot that is capable of competing in a complex field game at competitions. Furthermore, this competition also challenges you to fundraise for your team, so you’ll have to flex your non-technical skills as well. In terms of basic skills students would need to compete, it is beneficial if you know prototyping, CAD (computer-aided design), and programming languages like Java, C++, or LabVIEW.
10. VEX Robotics Competition
Location: Multiple Locations
Cost: No Cost
Eligibility: Open to all high school students in schools that have signed up with the Robotics Education and Competition Foundation.
Prize: Awards but no cash prize
Coding Experience Required: Intermediate
Prestige: Highly prestigious
Registration + Submission Deadline: Rolling deadline. The best time to register is the May-June period, as you can participate in multiple rounds.
Competition Dates: Estimated to be late April to early May, based on the 2023 schedule.
The VEX Robotics competition is a highly prestigious, annual international event where teams of students design a robot that competes with other robots in a series of challenges and activities. Each round of the competition is two minutes long, with a 15-second autonomous period and a 1:45-minute controlled driving period. If you want to participate in this, you need to ensure your school is signed up to the Robotics Education and Competition Foundation. Furthermore, you should ensure to practice your skills in not just RobotC or VEXCode, but also design and knowledge of sensors and feedback mechanisms.
11. CyberPatriot’s National Youth Cyber Defense Competition
Location: Maryland
Cost: $205 for Open Division (discounts are provided for early registration by July 2023).
Eligibility: Must be in middle school or high school.Students in JROTC programs have their own divisions.
Prize: Scholarship money (exact amount varies). The top team will have all expenses covered for the final round in Maryland.
Coding Experience Required: Beginner - Intermediate
Prestige: Highly prestigious
Registration + Submission Deadline (2023-2024): April 1st to October 3rd, 2023
Competition Dates: From October 2023 to March 2024
CyberPatriot's National Youth Cyber Defense Competition is the world's largest cybersecurity competition and is open to all schools and approved youth organizations. This is a team-based event where high school and middle school students are placed in the position of newly hired IT professionals tasked with managing the network of a small company. Each team will be given a set of virtual operating systems where they have to find and fix cybersecurity vulnerabilities while still maintaining critical services. To participate, you must start learning or have a strong understanding of computer networking concepts such as IP addressing, subnetting, routing, protocols like IP and DNS and more.
Participants should also ensure they have familiarity with commonly used operating systems, like macOS, Linux, and Windows. That being said, this competition does want to encourage growth, so don’t be afraid of trying it if you’re a beginner.
12. Botball Tournament
Location: TBA for 2024.
Cost: $2,500 (scholarships available)
Eligibility: Open to middle and high school students. Teams should consist of a minimum of 3 people.
Prize: Awards offered
Coding Experience Required: Intermediate
Prestige: Reputable
Registration + Submission Deadline: TBA for 2024, likely to be on March 1st, 2024, based on the previous year's dates.
Competition Dates: TBA, likely to be in April.
Botball organizes a robotics tournament every year where teams compete against each other to create autonomous robots. In this competition, you first compete in the regional qualifier before proceeding to the national finals. An advantage of participating in this tournament is that Botball provides the necessary resources to develop strategies using AI and embedded systems. To participate, you should brush up on languages such as C, C++, and Java.
13. RoboRAVE International
Location: Germany (for 2024)
Cost: $100 per team
Eligibility: Age Group 1: 10-13, Age Group 2: 14-20 Each team should have between 2-4 members.
Note - For detailed eligibility criteria, see here.
Prize: Varies based on the competition.
Coding Experience Required: Beginner
Prestige: Open to all
Registration + Submission Deadline: The deadline for 2024 was June 18th, 2023. The deadline for 2025 is TBA.
Competition Dates: 17th November 2024
RoboRAVE is an international competition where students in teams of 2-4 members create self-designed robots to compete against each other. This competition allows participants from the entire world to participate. Founded in Albuquerque (New Mexico, USA), RoboRAVE is hosted in many countries on five different continents. Before participating, you should practice languages such as Python, Arduino, and Scratch.
14. Cornell High School Programming Contest
Location: Cornell’s Ithaca campus of NYC Cornell Tech Campuses.
Cost: No cost
Eligibility: Open to all high school students who live or attend school in New York, New Jersey, Connecticut, or Pennsylvania. Students must compete in teams of 3.
Prize: Awards Offered
Coding Experience Required: Intermediate
Prestige: Reputable
Registration + Submission Deadline: TBA for 2024, likely to be in March based on the 2023 schedule.
Competition Dates: TBA for 2024, likely to be in April based on the 2023 schedule.
The Cornell High School Programming Contest is a coding competition where students have to solve 6-7 problems of varying difficulty in 3 hours. Each question attempts to test their coding skills, strategy, and teamwork as well. Students must compete using Python, Java, C, or C++. Another more beginner-friendly competition is the Women in Computing at Cornell (WICC) High School Programming Contest which also includes an introduction to programming contest strategy and logistics.
15. HPE CodeWars
Location: TBA, but there is a choice to compete remotely.
Cost: No Cost
Eligibility: Must be between the ages of 13-18. Teams must consist of 203 people with an adult sponsor. Sponsors can only sponsor up to 3 teams.
Prize: Prize pool for raffle winners and awards given.
Coding Experience Required: Beginner - Intermediate
Prestige: Reputable
Registration + Submission Deadline: Registration opens a month before the competition. It closes 2 weeks before the start date.
Competition Dates: March 2nd, 2024
HPE CodeWars is a coding competition for high school students in which a team of 3 students will have 3 hours to solve 30 problems of varying difficulties. The programming languages used in the previous year’s competition were C, C++, Java, and Python 3. To prepare for this competition, you should practice not only your problem-solving skills but also coding techniques such as the two-pointer technique, binary search, and other tools which improve algorithm efficiency.
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