1. ELIGIBILITY & PARTICIPATION

• This category is open to students in grades 6–11.
• Participants will be evaluated and ranked separately in the following grade groups:
  → Group 1: Grades 6–8
  → Group 2: Grades 9–11
• The participation fee for this category is 20 €. 
  

2. EXAM FORMAT & TASK TYPES

• No prior coding or AI prompt engineering experience is required to participate in this category. The competition focuses on participants’ ability to design, refine, and use effective prompts for AI tools.
• Participants must use English for all prompts, interactions and submissions. The use of other languages is not supported.
• The use of digital or printed dictionaries, books or translation tools during the exam is not allowed.
• Participants will work with different types of information and real-world tasks, including data, statistics, tables, charts, graphs, written requirements, and existing prompts. The tasks may require participants to work in both directions: from given information to an effective prompt and from a given prompt to the expected result.
• Depending on the task, participants may be asked to:
  - Create a prompt from given information — for example, participants may be given a table containing student results and asked to create a prompt that instructs an AI tool to analyze the data and identify the highest-performing students.
  - Turn requirements into a prompt — for example, participants may be given specific requirements for a report, such as its length, structure, target audience and required information and asked to create a prompt that produces an output meeting all these requirements.
  - Work with charts or graphs — for example, participants may be given a chart showing changes in sales, population, temperature or other data and asked to create a prompt that instructs an AI tool to analyze the chart and provide the required conclusions.
  - Improve or reconstruct an existing prompt — participants may be given a prompt that produces an incomplete or incorrect result, together with a set of requirements and asked to modify or reconstruct the prompt so that the AI produces the desired output.
  - Determine the intended output from a prompt — participants may be given an existing prompt and asked to identify, describe or structure the result that the prompt is intended to produce.
  - Solve a task using an effective prompt — participants may be given a real-world problem with hidden conditions or constraints and asked to create a prompt that reliably produces the required result.
• Tasks may include incomplete information, unnecessary data, conflicting requirements or other challenges designed to test whether participants can create prompts that work reliably rather than only for a single example. 
  

3. COMPETITION STRUCTURE

• This category consists of 2 rounds:
  → Final Round (online)
  → Grand Final (onsite) – Europe or USA
• The Final Round is the main competitive stage in which participants complete specialized tasks designed to assess their logical thinking, creativity, problem-solving abilities and ability to develop effective prompts using AI tools.
• The online Final Round plays an important role in qualification for the Grand Finals in Europe or the USA.
• The Grand Final is the final stage of the competition, where qualified participants compete for the highest rankings and awards.
  

4. EXAM PROCEDURE & SUBMISSION

• Participants will take the exam through the Coding Olympiad Exam Platform.
• Exam duration: 60 minutes
• Participants will be given a specific time limit for each task based on its complexity and will be expected to complete each task successfully within the allocated time.
• Participants may review, test and refine their prompts during the allocated time before submitting their final result.
• Participants should carefully manage their time. Once they have completed a task, they must click the “SUBMIT” button to officially submit their result and end the task. The submission time will be recorded and considered in the evaluation.
• Once the allocated time for a task has ended, no further changes or submissions will be permitted.
  
• Two cameras and screen sharing are mandatory during the exam. The required camera angles and positioning will be announced in the Exam Guidelines before the exam. Failure to comply with any of these three requirements will result in a 10-point deduction per requirement, with a maximum total deduction of 30 points.

5. EVALUATION & RANKING

• The evaluation and ranking will be based on the following criteria, in order of priority:
  - Accuracy and Compliance of the Generated Result
  - Completion Time
• Participants will be evaluated based on their ability to understand the given information, identify the required outcome, construct clear and effective prompts, include appropriate instructions and constraints and produce results that match the specified requirements within the given time limit. 
  

6. MEDALS, CERTIFICATES & DISCOUNT AWARDS

Participants who successfully complete the assigned tasks will be evaluated and ranked based on the criteria above and awarded as follows:

• The top 3 participants in each grade group will receive:
  - A physical Gold Medal (Gold 1, Gold 2 or Gold 3) & a Certificate of Achievement
  - Eligibility for discounts on the Grand Final in Europe or the USA:
     → 1st place: 75% discount
     → 2nd place: 50% discount
     → 3rd place: 25% discount
• Top 10%: Digital Gold Medal Certificate & Certificate of Achievement
• Next 20%: Digital Silver Medal Certificate & Certificate of Achievement
• Next 30%: Digital Bronze Medal Certificate & Certificate of Achievement
• Next 20%: Digital Honorable Mention Certificate & Certificate of Achievement
• Participants who do not successfully complete the assigned tasks will receive a Digital Participation Certificate. 
  

Participants who do not successfully complete the assigned tasks will receive a Digital Participation Certificate.

7. GRAND FINAL QUALIFICATION AND DISCOUNT AWARDS

• Students in grades 6–11 who successfully complete the assigned tasks in the Final Round will qualify for participation in the Orlando Grand Final (USA, February), Lisbon Grand Final (Portugal, June) and New York Grand Final (USA, July), subject to the applicable Grand Final participation requirements and available places.
• The top 3 participants in each grade group, based on the results of the Final Round, will receive discounts on participation in one Grand Final of their choice: Orlando, Lisbon or New York.
  → 1st places: 75% discount
  → 2nd places: 50% discount
  → 3rd places: 25% discount