Competitions
Browse verified academic, arts, service, and STEM competitions for high-school students.
Stars highlight editor-reviewed programs and award results with documented competitive recognition.
This is a rough guide, not an admissions rating. Opportunities without a star can still be valuable.
AI-assisted research may be used; publication is editor reviewed.
371 verified published opportunities
National Student Production Awards is an organizer-run high-school competition or award program in film, television, journalism.
National Young Composers Challenge is an organizer-run high-school competition or award program in music, composition.
National YoungArts Week is a named high-school recognition published by YoungArts; students should record only the result they actually received.
Nature Education Volunteer is a named high-school participation pathway published by National Park Service; current availability and local rules must be checked.
NCFL Grand National Tournament is an organizer-run high-school competition or award program in speech, debate.
NCTE's Achievement Awards in Writing is a school-nominated program for current high-school sophomores and juniors. Each student writes fiction or nonfiction in response to the annual prompt, with a maximum themed submission of 10 pages, and is evaluated for content, purpose, audience, language, structure, voice, and conventions. Schools may nominate 5–16 students depending on enrollment in grades 10–12. The prompt appears in summer, nominations open in fall, entries close February 15, and results arrive in mid-May; the 2027 prompt is “The Meaning of Literacy Today.”
NCTE Essay Award is a named high-school participation pathway published by National Council of Teachers of English, with details that vary by current cycle and local organizer.
NCTE High School Poetry Award is a named high-school participation pathway published by National Council of Teachers of English, with details that vary by current cycle and local organizer.
NCTE Student Writing Award is a named high-school participation pathway published by National Council of Teachers of English, with details that vary by current cycle and local organizer.
NCTE Writing Portfolio is a named high-school participation pathway published by National Council of Teachers of English, with details that vary by current cycle and local organizer.
NCWIT Aspirations in Computing Award is an organizer-run high-school competition or award program in computer science, leadership.
Net Generation is a named high-school participation pathway published by U.S. Tennis Association; current availability and local rules must be checked.
