young males and females sitting at a table working on papers

Schools Geology Challenge

Our annual competition for A level students to showcase their interest in geology

The Schools Geology Challenge is now open for 2027!

Complete the online entry form

Enter your team today!

What is the Schools Geology Challenge?

The Schools Geology Challenge is a competition where students showcase their interest in geology, learn more about the way geoscience impacts our lives, and put their teamwork and presentation skills to the test! 

Why take part?

The competition gives pupils the chance to explore a geoscience topic for themselves, and present it in an interesting way. Those who make it to the Finals will be able to meet peers with an interest in Geology, professionals who currently work in geoscience careers, and gain valuable problem-solving skills whilst learning about the ways geology weaves into our everyday lives. Of course, there are also some amazing prizes up for grabs:

First prize includes:

  • The coveted Schools Geology Challenge Trophy
  • £500 to use towards geoscience education at school
  • One year Student Membership with the Geological Society
  • A winners's certificate
The two runners-up will each receive:
  • £200 to use towards geoscience education at school and a certificate.
Five young women stand smiling with small geological samples in their hands. Behind them is a statue and a green velvet curtain, creating an academic atmosphere.

Who can enter?

Participants don’t have to study geology to enter – the competition is open to any interested students who are currently studying geology, geography or science A levels (England/Wales/Northern Ireland), or Advanced Highers (Scotland).

Feel free to download this helpful PowerPoint presentation which will help teachers to easily explain/promote the competition to students.

Thinking of entering?

You'll want to have a read of these documents which provide all of the details you'll need to know: 

Competition Brief
Competition Rules
Competition Terms & Conditions

How does the competition work?

The competition runs in two stages: the Qualifiers and the Final.

In order to enter the competition, students need to make a submission to the Qualifiers via our online entry form. Their submission should fit the competition brief, and be uploaded via the online form. Only ONE entry per team is permitted. Entries will be marked by a panel of judges.

The 10 highest-scoring entries will be invited to the Final, where they will complete a problem-solving challenge in their teams. The Final takes place in-person at Burlington House, located along London's iconic Piccadilly. Reimbursement for travel costs of up to £700 will be made available.

For full details on how to enter, please see the competition rules.

Enter your team!

Qualifiers:

For the Qualifiers, we would like you to:

1. Choose a geoscience topic.

2. Present that topic for an online audience.

3. Submit your entry via the online entry form

Submissions will be judged according to: scientific content and accuracy (50%), how effectively the topic is communicated to the audience (25%), creativity (25%)

For more detailed information, please check out the competition brief.

Entry to the Qualifiers closes on Wednesday 20 January 2027

Finals:

The Finals will involve a problem solving activity about geology and its real world applications. The activity will be explained at the Finals, but students will be testing their analytic and teamwork skills, and presenting to a panel of judges.

See Finals Terms & Conditions for important information regarding attendance and participation at the Finals.

The Finals will take place on Thursday 18 March 2027

 

 

 

Also known as ‘geoscience’ or ‘Earth science’, geology is the study of the structure, evolution and dynamics of the Earth and its natural resources. Geology investigates the processes that have shaped the Earth through its 4500 million year history and uses the rocks, minerals and fossils to unravel that history. It is concerned with the real world beyond the laboratory and has direct relevance to the needs of society. Geology tells us about the composition, structure, processes, and history of all planets - even those in outer space!

Five young women stand smiling with small geological samples in their hands. Behind them is a statue and a green velvet curtain, creating an academic atmosphere.

For the schools geology challenge my Y12 pupils produced a video all about how the geology of Sheffield made it the perfect place to make steel. They researched all the information and filmed it themselves and I was really impressed with their creativity and editing skills. This qualified us for the Finals at Burlington House, which they were all really excited to attend. The Geological Society covered our train travel and also provided us with delicious refreshments. The Finals required them to consider the best source of water for a new theme park, a task they had to complete by themselves. Great preparation for university study and certainly something for them all to talk about on their UCAS forms and at any university interviews that they might have in the future. They couldn't believe that they had won the competition and the amazing trophy now has pride of place in our school trophy cabinet. I wanted to make sure that the prize money got the girls something geologically worthwhile for themselves rather than just disappear into the school budget so we came up with the idea of a trip to Edinburgh to visit the Dynamic Earth museum which was somewhere the girls had never been to and I hadn't visited since an ESTA conference many years ago. The girls (and myself) really enjoyed the museum and learnt a lot.

James Speed, teacher at Sheffield High School for Girls

Need inspiration?

Check out some of our previous competition entries below!

Please note that previous entries to the qualifiers allowed for 6 minute videos, from the 2027 competition onwards video entries are limited to 5 minutes.

Why not take a look at our Scientific Themes for further inspiration?

The Finals of the 2026 competition took place at Burlington House on 19 March. In this year’s final challenge, teams were tasked creating a proposal for a tunnelling project to provide a new theme park with water. The fictional ‘Burlingtopia’ aspired to be a world-class theme park in the UK, but before it could be granted a license to operate, it needed to safely and sustainably construct a utilities tunnel to bring water from a source to the park to sustain the supply. The students needed to evaluate the sustainability of different water sources, the cost and time of using their chosen tunnelling method and prepare an ESG strategy for the local area.

Our 2026 winners

We are delighted to announce that the winners of the 2026 Schools Geology Challenge were Sheffield High School for Girls! The team presented an impressive project proposal, taking home a prized trophy, a stunning blue agate, and £500 to put towards supporting geoscience education in their school. Runners up this year were Caistor Grammar School and West Kirby Grammar School, who won £200 each.

coloured pencils in a pot and various notepads on a table

Teacher Resource Packs

Fancy tackling the finalists' problem-solving conundrum? Download our Teacher Resource Packs from previous years using the links below to run the activity in your classroom!

Need help?

If you have any questions about the competition or would like to sign up to updates, please fill out our online form

You can also keep updated on further competitions and education news from the Geological Society by signing up to our Schools Affiliates Scheme.

And just for fun .....