Here are April's extracurricular opportunities, events, competitions and grants for NZ intermediate and high-school students.
click the drop-down arrow below for more details about each item
NEW OPPORTUNITIES
Royal Astronomical Society of NZ Conference 2025 (Youth scholarships) Years 11, 12 and 13 Free Individual| Tags: astronomy, science
RASNZ promotes astronomy to senior secondary students in New Zealand’s schools through a special scholarship scheme called SWAPA (Students With A Passion for Astronomy).
10 senior secondary school students who have achieved academic excellence and who have displayed a clear passion for astronomy will be selected to participate in the annual RASNZ conference. This year's conference is taking place in Whakatāne.
The scholarships will pay for their conference registration, meals, the conference banquet, travel to and from the conference venue (by air, train, bus or car) and accommodation at or near the conference venue with the other SWAPA students.
Who? Students Years 11 - 13.
When?
Applications are open now and close 4 April.
The conference takes place from 9 - 11 May.
Girlboss Edge 10-day Accelerator 2025 Years 7 - 13 girls Free Individual| Tags: leadership, social impact, innovation, sustainability, STEM
Girlboss Edge: Sustainability is a fully-funded 10-day GirlBoss Accelerator, taking place over the Term 1 school holidays (1 - 2 hours per day).
Passionate young women with a heart for at least one of the following are encouraged to apply: Sustainability, Decarbonisation, Science, Engineering, Technology, Maths, Energy Justice & Access, Policy, Climate Action, Social Impact or Leadership. No prior experience or knowledge is required.
Who? Young women Years 7 - 13.
When?
Registration is open now and will remain open until 1 April.
The programme takes place from 11 April - 20 April.
Where? Online.
NZ Society of Authors - Youth Mentor Programme Ages 15 - 18 Free Individual| Tags: writing
The aims of the NZSA Youth Mentor programme, supported by Creative New Zealand, are to nurture, encourage, inspire and develop emerging writers with the support of established writers through the mentoring process. The highly-successful mentoring programme has been run since 1999.
There are four 9 hour mentorships available nationwide. Students will be matched with an experienced published New Zealand writer. Student applicants should have a writing project they want to develop. This could be working on a short story collection; collecting together a themed group of poems; or developing the first draft of a long form piece of writing.
Who? Students Years 8 - 11.
When? Applications are open now and close 6 April.
Where? Nationwide.
Olympiad in Informatics (Computer Science) 2025 Years 7 - 13 Free Individual| Tags: programming, coding, competition
The IOI (International Olympiad in Informatics) is the foremost high school programming contest in the world, requiring students to use programming to solve problems.
Each year, around August, it is hosted by a different country. New Zealand first sent a team in 2006. The NZIC online programming contest series, run by the New Zealand Olympiad in Informatics, is continuing in 2025.
There will be 3 rounds. In each round, students choose a time during the week of that round to solve a selection of programming problems. The difficulty ranges from entry-level implementation problems to more challenging algorithmic problems.
While there are no prizes for these upcoming contests, contestants who do well are often invited to NZOI's January training camp.
Who? Students Years 7 - 13.
When? Registrations remain open up until each of the round dates.
Round 1: 7 April - 13 April.
Round 2: 23 June - 29 June.
Round 3: 11 August - 17 August.
Where? Nationwide.
Future Problem Solving Olympiad - Competitive Global Issues Years 1 - 13 Individual or Group | Tags: global issues, social justice, competitions
FPS is an international, research-based programme for students Years 1-13. It combines problem solving strategies, critical and creative thinking, and effective communication. FPS has been offered to New Zealand students for over 30 years.
There are four programme components in Future Problem Solving: Global Issues, Creative Writing, Storytelling and Community Projects.
Students compete to win a place in a national competition with the winners of each division being invited to an extended International Conference held in the USA each year.
Participation in FPS is via school, and there are fees involved. If you are interested, check whether your school intends to participate this year.
Who? Students Years 1 - 13.
When? Each of the four components take place on different dates.
Competitive Global Issues: 11 April.
Community Projects: 9 May.
Creative Writing: 23 May.
Storytelling: 27 June.
Where? Nationwide.
TOI Wearable Arts Contest (part of Showquest 2025) All years Individual or Group| Tags: fashion, wearable arts
TOI is run in collaboration with World of Wearable Art (WOW). It is an opportunity for students across Aotearoa to express their creativity by creating an imaginative wearable art garment that tells a story, either solo or in groups.
Students exhibit their creations at Showquest regional events, which run in May/June throughout the country.
Prizes include a trip to the WOW show in Wellington, Bernina sewing machines, WOW prize packages and more.
Who? All students.
When?
Registration is open now and will remain open until 4 April.
Events run from 1 May to 26 June.
Where? Events take place in up to 13 regions across NZ: Northland, Auckland, Waikato, Bay of Plenty, Rotorua, Hawke's Bay, Manawatū, Wellington, Nelson, Canterbury, Otago and Southland.
NEW ACADEMIC/WRITING COMPETITIONS
NZ Poetry Society International Poetry Competition Ages 17 and under Individual | Tags: poetry-writing
The New Zealand Poetry Society Te Rōpū Toikupu o Aotearoa has been running an annual poetry competition since 1987.
It is particularly targeted towards young and emerging poets, and poets of all levels are invited to participate. A poet can enter as many poems as they wish.
All entries are eligible to be published in NZPS's annual poetry anthology.
Who? Aspiring and emerging poets aged 17 or younger.
When? Entries are open now and will close 31 May.
Sargeson Prize (Short story competition) Ages 16-18 Free Individual | Tags: short story writing, competitions
First offered in 2019, the Sargeson Prize (named for celebrated writer Frank Sargeson) is New Zealand’s biggest short story prize, sponsored by the University of Waikato.
Entries must be original pieces of work, under 3000 words. The prizes for the Secondary Schools Division are:
First Prize: $2,000
Second Prize: $1,000
Third Prize: $500
The winning story will also be published by Newsroom in its literary section 'ReadingRoom'. In addition, the winning author will be offered a fully paid one-week live-in summer residency at the University of Waikato, to be taken up in January or February of the following year.
Who? Aspiring and emerging writers aged between 16 - 18 years old.
When? Entries are open on 1 April and will close 30 June.
CAM Kiwi Competitions 2025 (English, Mathematics, Science, and Spelling Bee) Years 5 - 10 Individual | Tags: academic competitions
The annual CAM Kiwi English, Mathematics and Science competitions are skills-based and closely align with the New Zealand Curriculum. Students must be in years 5-10 to participate. The tests are designed by New Zealand teachers for New Zealand students.
Participation in CAM competitions is via school, and there are fees involved. If you are interested, check whether your school intends to participate this year.
Who? Students Years 5 - 10.
When?
Registrations close 9 May.
Competitions take place 9 June - 18 July.
Where? Nationwide.
NZ Economics Competition Years 11 - 13 Free Individual| Tags: academic competitions, Economics
The New Zealand Economics Competition began in 1997, and since then it has become the biggest and most prestigious national competition of its kind for secondary students.
In 2024, over 2,000 students from around 57 schools throughout New Zealand entered the competition. The 50-minute examination tests classroom theory and general knowledge of current economic issues.
After the results are finalised, there is an award event ceremony to celebrate the highest achievers.
Participation in this competition is via school. If you are interested, check whether your school intends to participate this year.
Who? Students Years 11 - 13.
When?
Registration is open now and will remain open until 5 May.
The examination takes place 18 June.
Where? Nationwide, online.
Problem Challenge 2025 (Mathematics) Years 7 - 8 Individual| Tags: academic competitions, Mathematics
Problem Challenge is a mathematics problem solving competition aimed primarily at children in Years 7 and 8 (or gifted Year 6 students). It has been offered to schools throughout New Zealand for the past 34 years.
Children participating in the competition attempt to answer five questions in 30 minutes on each of five problem sheets, which are done about a month apart. They do the problems individually.
Students who do well in Problem Challenge are invited to enter a final competition in October.
Participation in this competition is via school, and there is a small fee involved. If you are interested, check whether your school intends to participate this year.
Who? Students Years 7 and 8.
When?
Registration is open now and will remain open until 31 March.
The exams take place between 3 April and 21 August.
Where? Nationwide, online.
Da Vinci Decathlon Years 8 - 11 Group| Tags: team-based competitions, academic
The da Vinci Decathlon is an academic competition designed to challenge and stimulate the minds of school students. Students compete in teams of eight across 10 disciplines: engineering, mathematics, code breaking, art and poetry, science, English, ideation, creative producers, cartography and legacy.
The theme this year is sustainability.
There is a cost to enter, and schools must provide an accompanying teacher on the day.
Who? Students Years 8 - 11.
When? 6 & 8 May.
Where? Christ's College, Christchurch.
More info (scroll down to the NZ tab)
FROM LAST MONTH'S NEWSLETTER
iNVENTIONATOR 2025 (Virtual) Years 6 - 9 Free Individual or group | Tags: innovation, team-based, design-thinking
iNVENTIONATOR is an online, four-day event where students work in teams formed from various schools across Aotearoa to solve real-life problems. Powered by Tātai Aho Rau and funded by the Ministry of Education.
Attendance is digital, through a virtual meeting space. On the leadup to the event, students will have 6 online resources/challenges to work through, each taking 1-2 hours to complete. These can be done individually, or with parent/teacher support.
Following the event there is a celebration evening.
Registrations are open now and close 28 March 2025 or until capacity is reached (80 students).
Who? Gifted learners, Years 6 - 9.
When? Takes place 12 - 15 May 2025.
Where? Online.
click the drop-down arrow below to open the next item
Play it Strange Junior Songwriting Competition 2025 Years 9 - 11 Free Individual | Tags: songwriting
Play it Strange is a NZ organisation which encourages young songwriters to write, record and perform their own songs.
Enter the competition by submitting your details, a recording of your song and the lyric sheet. The recording and performance quality of the entry is not taken into account in the judging process.
This year's competition will be judged by a panel of judges. All finalists will have their song recorded in a professional recording studio and go on to the 2025 Junior Songwriting Competition digital album. The winner will receive a 1:1 mentor session with one of our competition judges and a $500 Rockshop gift card.
Who? Aspiring songwriters Years 9 - 11.
When? Submissions are open now and close 30 April 2025.
Where? NZ, nationwide.
New Zealand Secondary Schools Case Competition Years 10 - 13 Free Group | Tags: team-based, business, problem-solving
The New Zealand Secondary Schools Case Competition is a team-based business case solving challenge. The competition is designed to test and grow students' creativity and problem-solving skills.
The competition is split into two rounds. In the pool round, teams are given a business case and have a week to record a presentation and submit it to industry professionals for feedback.
In the second round, successful teams will present their team's case live to a panel of judges, either online or in-person at Massey Business School.
There are prizes for the winning teams, both cash and in-kind.
Registrations are open now.
Who? Groups of Years 10 - 13 students (groups of 4 preferred).
When? Takes place July (date TBC)
Where? Online or in-person at Massey Business School.
Kids Lit quiz 2025 Years 6 - 9 Free Group | Tags: literature, competition
Kids Lit quiz is an annual literature competition for students under 14. The competition is global, but was founded and born in NZ.
The Canterbury regional heat takes place in April. The winning teams participate in Nationals, and the winning team from there goes on to the Global final.
Teams of four students work together to answer questions on children's literature, which vary from year-to-year. This would suit a student who has done a fair bit of reading, but by no means do students need to be literature experts to compete. The vibe is competitive but fun.
To enter a team for the Canterbury Heat, contact Emma Price: ladyreganofcornwall@gmail.com.
Who? Years 6 - 9 students (must be under 14 years old, as at 1 July) with an interest in young persons' literature.
When? The Canterbury Heat is being held on 1 April 2025, nationals in June and the World Final in July.
Where? Turanga Central Library.
NZCT Chamber Music Contest Years 7 - 13 Group | Tags: performance music, competition
The NZCT Chamber Music Contest is the largest and longest running chamber music event of its kind in the country and each year provides the opportunity for thousands of secondary school students to perform together and enjoy the thrill of making music. Groups of 3 - 8 students can enter either the Instrumental Performance category, or the Original Composition category, or both.
The contest is made up of three parts, starting with the District Rounds happening across 14 centres throughout the country, progressing through to the three Regional Finals from which eight ensembles are then chosen to proceed to the National Finals.
Who? Groups of students from Years 7 - 13.
Where? Christchurch (District and Regional Rounds) and Auckland (Final).
When? Registrations are open now and close 4 April 2025.
Canterbury district rounds take place 26-28 May 2025.
Regional rounds take place 14 June 2025.
National Finals take place 2 August 2025.
The purpose of this EC newsletter is to connect students with the many, and often free, EC opportunities which might touch upon a student's areas of interest. If you have any queries, please contact us at jacob@trajectory.co.nz.