Information for teachers
The Coding Challenge will run between 24th March and 4th April 2025. Please note that we are unable to change these dates. If you wish to set the challenge later, you will be able to do so and can issue your own school certificates using the published grade boundaries.
How to enter your students
By the end of January, we (the support team) will create an account for every student who participated in the 2024 UK Bebras Challenge, with each student assigned a default level of 900. When students sign in to take the challenge, they will see all five challenge groups and must select the one they wish to attempt.
If you wish, you can edit a student's record to change their level before the challenge opens. If a specific level is assigned, the student will only see that challenge group when they sign in.
The levels are:
| Challenge Group | Details | Level |
|---|---|---|
| Novices | Block-based programming challenge for beginners. You can see a full list of skills that might be tested here. | 901 |
| Explorers | Block-based programming challenge for intermediate-level programmers. You can see a full list of skills that might be tested here. | 902 |
| Navigators | Text-based programming challenge for beginners. You can see a full list of skills that might be tested here. | 903 |
| Pathfinders | Text-based programming challenge for intermediate-level programmers. You can see a full list of skills that might be tested here. | 904 |
| Trailblazers | Text-based programming challenge for advanced programmers. You can see a full list of skills that might be tested here. | 905 |
The Coding Challenge is designed to be accessible to all students, including those with basic coding skills. Teachers should enter students at the most appropriate level or guide them in selecting the correct one. As students can only participate in one challenge, please ensure they understand the level of difficulty before making a choice
How to supervise the challenge
There is a two-week window during which students can take the challenge. You must supervise them to ensure they work independently, without using AI or accessing online resources to complete the tasks. However, students may use their own notes, provided these are reasonable - please review them beforehand.
The challenge is hosted on the same platform as the main Bebras Challenge. Students will access it by logging in to the UK Bebras site and selecting the Challenges page. If you haven’t assigned a specific level, the student will be prompted to choose one. If a level has been assigned, they will only see that challenge.
Once a challenge is selected, an automatic timer will start when the student presses the start button. The challenge will close once the allocated time (45 minutes for a standard user) has ended.
Rules
- Students must work independently and all solutions must be their own work.
- Students are allowed to use a pencil, paper, and a calculator.
- Students are allowed to use a set of language notes/hints. These can be their own notes, or those provided by their teacher (challenge supervisor).
- Students are prohibited from using any online resources, including AI, to assist them in solving the tasks.
- Students must not communicate with anyone else during the challenge and you and your students must refrain from disclosing the nature of the tasks or how they solved them until the conclusion of the Coding Challenge fortnight.
Marking
The challenge will be marked automatically. Marking will take place after the challenge fortnight, followed by a period of checking and moderation to ensure everything is accurate.
Checking results
Once the marks have been checked, we will release them to teachers, allowing you the opportunity to verify everything looks correct. At this stage, you should not release the results to students.
Final results and certification
Once all marks have been checked, we will finalise the results and calculate the final grades. Results will then be available to students, and certificates will be ready for download. Schools can choose to allow students to print their own certificates if desired.
Did you know the UK Bebras Challenge is run by the Raspberry Pi Foundation? Discover free teaching resources, tools, and expert support for computing education at raspberrypi.org.