Information for home educators
The Coding Challenge will run between 24th March and 4th April 2025.
How to enter your young person
By the end of January, we (the support team) will create an account for each student who participated in the 2024 UK Bebras Challenge. Students will not be assigned a specific level. Instead, when they sign in to take the challenge, they will see all five challenge groups and choose the one they wish to attempt.
If you wish, you can request an update to a student's record to change their level before the challenge opens. If we make this change, the student will only see the selected 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, even those with basic coding skills. Home educators should guide students in selecting the most appropriate level. As students can only participate in one challenge, please ensure they understand the level of difficulty before choosing.
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 and do not use AI or online resources to complete the tasks. However, students may use their own notes, provided they are reasonable. Please review these beforehand.
The challenge runs on the same platform as the main Bebras Challenge. Students will access it by logging in to the UK Bebras site and navigating to the Challenges page. If a student has not been assigned a specific level, they will be prompted to select one.
Once a challenge is selected, an automatic timer will begin when the student presses the start button. The challenge will end when the allocated time (45 minutes for a standard user) runs out.
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 a teacher or their 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.
Final results and certification
Once all marks have been checked, we will finalise the results and calculate the final grades. Students will then be able to view their results, and certificates will be available for download.
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.