Rules and eligibility

General rules

  1. Entry to The Competition is free and open to students studying in UK.
  2. Competitors can only enter one project into The Competition, either as an individual or as part of a team.
  3. Entrants must be aged between 11 and 18 when the project is entered, and in full-time state funded secondary education or who are home educated or who enter as part of a community group.
  4. Young people who attend independent or private schools, independent colleges or independent sixth forms are not eligible to enter The Big Bang Competition 2025 or showcase projects in the Big Bang Project Gallery. However, to support state-funded schools - joint entries can be submitted from teams comprising an equal number of independent school/partner state school students, via the state school entry.
  5. An entrant may take part in The Competition if they are aged 19 whilst in full-time state funded secondary education or training when the project is entered.
  6. Projects will be entered into one of three categories according to the entrant(s)’s school year in the academic year 2024/25:

Category

England & Wales

Northern Ireland

Scotland

Junior

Years 7-9

Years 8-10

Years S1-S3

Intermediate

Years 10-11

Years 11-12

Years S4-S5

Senior

Years 12-13

Years 13-14

Year S6

 

  1. Entry into The Competition is through the online entry only. Online entry will open in the Autumn term 2024 and close Wednesday 26 March 2025 at 5pm.
  2. We will only consider projects that have been submitted into The Competition; projects that have not been submitted will not be reviewed by judges.
  3. Plagiarism is prohibited. The project entry must be the original work of the entrant(s) only.
  4. It is the responsibility of the entrant(s) to inform EngineeringUK of any change to their contact details. Failure to do so may result in the entrant not receiving notification of results or other correspondence.
  5. The judges’ decisions are final and no appeals will be heard or correspondence, relating to result determination, entered into.
  6. EngineeringUK reserves the right to revise these rules and regulations at any time. Should it be necessary to do so, The Competition organisers (EngineeringUK) will make every effort to communicate any changes to interested parties as quickly as possible.
  7. There will be one winner in each age category (Junior, Intermediate, Senior) and an overall winner in each stream, Science, Engineering or Technology.
  8. Runners-up may also be allocated within each age category and stream.
  9. There will be one winner for each special award. Special awards may have other rules / criteria which are different to the core Big Bang Competition prizes and will only be awarded where these criteria have been met.
  10. The winners will be announced at The Competition Awards Ceremony at The Big Bang Fair.
  11. A full list of prize winners will be published on The Competition website and in any other publications selected by the organisers.
  12. Entrants should submit a written entry and/or a short video.
  13. Video entries must be up to 3 minutes long and a file size no larger than 300MB. Judges will not review videos past the 3-minute mark.
  14. For written entries, entrants must keep to the following word count:
  • Project overview: 150 words
  • Project concept: 300 words
  • Project process: 400 words
  • Project outline: 400 words
  • Next steps and reflections: 350 words

Project work conduct rules

  1. Any projects involving interaction with humans or use of hazardous substances or devices must be in keeping with national health and safety guidelines and those of the entrant’s educational institution.

Team-specific rules

  1. Projects can be completed by teams of any size.
  2. If not all team members are able to attend judging, then those who do attend must represent the whole team and inform the judges which area of the projects they focused on themselves.
  3. All team members must be eligible to enter The Competition even if all members are not able to attend judging or the Award Ceremony.
  4. If not all team members are able to attend the Award Ceremony for any reason, then the school or college has responsibility for appropriate allocation of any prizes awarded.
  5. Where teams have members spread across age categories, the entire team will be allocated based on the age category appropriate to the highest year group

Research and evaluation

Please note that by taking part in the Competition, competitors will be invited to take part in an evaluation, for more information please see the research and evaluation terms and conditions.

Intellectual property

Intellectual property of the entries remains the property of the entrant. By taking part in the Competition the competitor agrees to allow EngineeringUK to use their entry online, on public display, in marketing and in the media to promote The Competition free of charge and with no time limit.

The competitor also agrees to  EngineeringUK sharing their entry with Competition judges as part of the Competition (Judges are required to sign a non-disclosure agreement before judging commences.)

Data privacy

  • For information about how we handle your and the competitors information please refer to our privacy policy.

General

EngineeringUK may suspend, cancel or amend The Competition and/or review and revise these terms and conditions at any time without giving prior notice.

Nothing in these Terms shall exclude or place limits on EngineeringUK’s liability for any death or personal injury caused by EngineeringUK’s negligence or for any other liability which cannot be excluded or limited by law.
To the fullest extent permitted by law EngineeringUK exclude all liability for loss or damage arising out of or in connection with competitor’s participation in the Competition. This exclusion covers, but is not limited to, liability for:

  • any direct loss;
  • any loss of profit;
  • any loss of revenue, anticipate savings or goodwill; or
  • any indirect or consequential loss.
  • To the fullest extent permitted by law, we exclude all representations and warranties relating to the Competition and the content on it.

Viruses and bugs

  • EngineeringUK does not guarantee that the Competition sites will be free from viruses, bugs or other harmful code or programs. It is your and the competitors responsibility to ensure that the equipment and devices you and the competitor use to access the Competition are installed with up to date and sufficient anti-virus software.
  • You must not intentionally introduce viruses, bugs or other harmful code or programs to the Competition websites
  • You must not attempt to hack or attack or attempt to gain unauthorised access to the Competition websites, any part of it or any software or equipment connected to it. EngineeringUK may take legal action against you and we may disclose your details to law enforcement agencies where EngineeringUK believe this is necessary or if EngineeringUK are required to disclose them by law. EngineeringUK may take any other action as EngineeringUK consider is necessary.