Here are May'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
OnScreen National Short Filmmaking Challenge Years 7 - 13 Free Individual or Group| Tags: filmmaking, screenwriting, creative arts
OnScreen is a challenge for kiwi students to create an original short film, documentary or music video of up to 7 minutes.
OnScreen is free to enter and open to all intermediate and high school students across Aotearoa. Its goal is to facilitate students learning new skills, trying new things and taking on creative leadership. Students are encouraged to run their production like a real film set and learn how to be a Director, Producer, Screenwriter, Cameraperson, Audio Technician, Editor, Lighting Technician, Performer and Animator.
The total prize pool is over $12,000, with various categories and age divisions.
Registrations are open now, and filmmaking tools, workshops and mentoring is available for students as soon as they register.
Who? Students Years 7 - 13.
When? Registrations are now open and close on 3 September. The final deadline for films is 17 September.
Where? Nationwide.
Commonwealth Youth - Heads of Government Meeting 2025 Years 11 - 13 Individual | Tags: global politics, international law
Student Heads of Government Meeting is Commonwealth Youth’s annual flagship event. It provides an opportunity for NZ high school students to immerse themselves in international relations and develop a greater understanding of world issues. The two-day event is rife with debate, discussion, and personal development.
During SCHOGM, students from across Aotearoa New Zealand will meet at a conference and represent a Commonwealth country, acting as their Head of Government or Foreign Minister. The conference is designed for students to steer through political crises, and grapple with grave concerns facing today's Commonwealth countries.
The fees are $200 per attending delegate, and $110 per attending chaperone (i.e. teacher/parent).
Who? Students Years 11 - 13.
When? Entries close 1 May. The event takes place 3 - 4 July.
Where? Te Papa Museum, Wellington.
Hokonui Fashion Design Awards 2025 All students Free Individual or Group| Tags: fashion
The Hokonui Fashion Design Awards are an opportunity for Kiwi amateur fashion designers, from primary school age all the way up, to showcase their creativity and talent.
2025 marks the 37th anniversary of the Hokonui Fashion Design Awards - a significant achievement as the longest running fashion design awards of their type in New Zealand. Over the previous years the judging panel has included Karen Walker, Nic Blanchet, Francis Hooper, Trelise Cooper, Kate Sylvester, Liz Findlay, Doris Du Pont and Margi Robertson (of NOM*d).
There are a wide variety of awards for different categories and age divisions.
Who? All students Years 1 - 13.
When? Entries close 23 May. The awards take place 25 - 26 July.
Where? Participation is available to students nationwide. The awards take place in Gore.
Robocup Jr Ages 8 - 18 Group| Tags: robotics, coding, competition
Robocup Jr is a robotics competition for New Zealand school aged students. The regional competitions are in-person and take place around the country throughout May - June. The nationals take place in July.
Support is available for teams learning the ropes, including a 'kick off' session.
There are four different branches of competition: Robocup Rescue, Robocup Theatre, Robocup Soccer and Robocup Online. These are best suited for teams of 2 - 4 students.
Who? Students ages 8 - 18
When? Registrations are open now. The Christchurch regionals take place 15 June. Contact jessica@ministryofinspiration.org to register a team, or for more info.
Where? Nationwide.
Girlboss: We the Women Hackfest Years 12 - 13 girls Free Individual| Tags: leadership, young women
We the Women is a revolutionary 2 day in-person hackfest for women aged 17 - 25.
You will hear from inspirational speakers and join other amazing women to collaborate on a project to solve real world problems in UN Global Goal #5 - Gender Equality.
You will gain CV Worthy experience whilst creating positive impact (win:win!)
You will join a hugely diverse group of women to share, learn, laugh, and build a network to change the world with.
Girlboss is giving away full ride scholarships (worth $590) which covers your participation fee (this does not cover transport to Auckland, accommodation expenses, etc.
Who? Young women years 12 - 13.
When? Applications open on 28 April. The event takes place over 12 - 13 July.
Where? Spark HQ, Auckland.
NEW ACADEMIC/WRITING COMPETITIONS
NZ Engineering Science Competition Years 12 - 13 Free Individual| Tags: academic competitions, Physics, Mathematics
The annual New Zealand Engineering Science competition is a problem solving event for teams of 3-4 senior secondary students who study either Maths, Physics. or both.
It is a fun and challenging competition is for teams of three or four Year 12 or 13 students who are interested in Mathematics and Science.
The Pullan prize for first place comes with $1,000 for each team member (and $500 for their supervising teacher). Two runner-up teams will be identified, with each team member getting $500 (plus $500 for the supervising teacher).
Who? Students Years 12 - 13.
When? Registrations open on 1 June. The competition takes place 2 August.
Where? Nationwide, online.
New Zealand Maths Olympiad Years 11 - 13 Free Individual| Tags: academic competitions, Mathematics
The New Zealand Mathematical Olympiad (NZMO) consists of two rounds:
Round One: A take home exam (a set of 8 problems), starting in June and remaining open for two weeks. Participation in Round One is open to any New Zealand student. There is no need to pre-register.
Round Two: A three-hour supervised exam in August or September. Participation in the Round Two is by invitation only, based on the results of Round One.
The results of both rounds will be used to select about 25 students to participate the following year in:
January NZMOC Training Camp, to be held in January 2026.
Female and Non-Binary Camp, to be held in April 2026.
The training camp is also the first step in the selection process to choose the team of six students to represent New Zealand at the International Mathematical Olympiad, (IMO). Only students who attend this camp are eligible for team selection.
Who? Students Years 11 - 13.
When? Round One opens in June and remains open for 2 weeks. There is no need to pre-register
Where? Nationwide, online.
NZ Physics and Mathematics Competition 2025 Years 9 - 13 Free Individual| Tags: academic competitions, Physics, Mathematics
The NZPMC is an academic competition that tests students' ability in physics and mathematics. The competition will be a perfect opportunity for passionate students who wish to be challenged and learn about Physics and Maths at the same time.
The competition is split into the Junior division (Years 9-11) and the Senior division (Years 12-13).
The competition is run across two rounds.
Round 1 takes place online on the NZPMC exam platform (there is a small fee of $9.99, but exemptions apply) on 7 June.
High-achieving students from Round 1 will be invited to Round 2, their in-person finals. For the first time in 2025, Round 2 will be held in four locations: Auckland, Wellington, Canterbury and Otago (all on 26 July).
Who? Students Years 9 - 13.
When? Registrations are open now (early registrations are encouraged, as there are workshops available). Round 1 of the competition takes place 7 June.
Where? Nationwide (Round 1). In-person in Auckland, Wellington, Canterbury and Otago (Round 2).
FROM LAST MONTH'S NEWSLETTER
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 1 June - 15 June.
Where? Online or in-person at Massey Business School.
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.
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.