Competitions and awards are a fantastic way to show employers just what you can do. Whether it's a chance to get an innovative business idea off the ground, study abroad or secure funding for the internship of a lifetime, it's a great way to stand out from the crowd.
Below you will find a selection of various challenges and awards. These are listed in alphabetical order so please be sure to check each item for specific dates and deadlines.
Included here are hackathons, which can be excellent opportunities to try out and develop skills, network, and in some cases, win prizes! Employers value hackathon experience on a CV because participating demonstrates that you can work under pressure/think creatively/collaborate. Examples of websites that advertise hackathons and competitions include Devpost, Kaggle, Major League Hacking and Eventbrite. Check the listings below for highlighted Hackathons .
If you wish to search for further awards or scholarships, please log into , click on 'Find a vacancy' and filter the Vacancy type by 'Studentships, scholarships & awards'.
Competitions, Surveys and Awards
- Bright SCIdea Challenge
- CFA Institute Investing Simulator Challenge
- Design for Tomorrow
- Global Sustainability Challenge
- 51³Ô¹ÏÍø Award
- MIT-51³Ô¹ÏÍø Seed Fund
- targetjobs Undergraduate of the Year Awards
- TCS Sustainathon
- The Barcelona Build
The provides support for students at university (UK and International) to develop an innovative science-based idea into a business plan and to compete for a £5,000 prize.
supports entrants in the competition by delivering free, exclusive training. Teams with the strongest business plan are invited to deliver their pitch to an expert panel of experienced, successful senior business people and innovators.
Participants will:
- Attend free, exclusive, accredited online business training workshops.
- Enhance their CVs and network with industry experts.
- Have the opportunity to pitch their idea at the final on Tuesday 23 March 2027 in Belgrave Square, London.
For more information and to enter before the deadline on Wednesday 11 November 2026, head to the webpage.
x Investing Simulator Challenge gives you the chance to experience what it’s like to work in a real investment role, no prior experience required.
Compete against students around the world in this exciting challenge, rise to the top of the leaderboard, and earn your place in the global final, with the opportunity to win* a CFA Program scholarship.
What you’ll receive:
- Build your resume with a certificate of participation from CFA Institute X AmplifyME
- Gain hands-on, practical experience and discover your potential
- If you finish in the top 300 students across all of the sessions you'll be invited to the final round on Tuesday 17th November 2026
Head to the official website for more information and to register!
Design for Tomorrow is a sustainability-focused design competition that brings together university students and recent graduates to develop future-focused solutions to real-world sustainability challenges.
The competition is free to join and open to all university students and recent graduates (within one year of graduation) in the UK. The winning team will get an industry visit and a £300 cash prize!
For more information, and to register before Monday 19 October, see the .
Want to earn an official extra from 51³Ô¹ÏÍø on your graduation transcript? Do you want recognition for your employer-friendly attributes? Then the 51³Ô¹ÏÍø Award is for you.
Open to all current students (and designed with input from the Careers Service), the 51³Ô¹ÏÍø Award gives you a completely private online portfolio to use as a diary or journal. The interactive journal lets you identify your best evidence to enhance your CV and, if you wish, to back up your claim to the assessors (one page of writing). The assessors give written, individual feedback. Multiple assessment periods are offered.
Why? College wants you to develop and rehearse the reflective self-awareness that employers seek from graduates and College is willing to recognise it, formally.
Simply register by with your College username and password, click on ‘guidance’ to watch the promo video and read the [pdf], which contains all the information you need to start working towards the 51³Ô¹ÏÍø Award. Once you've registered, you’ll hear from the Award team about upcoming workshops and further guidance to support your progress.
It is free, has immediate benefits, runs all year and could enhance your official transcript.
Find out more here at the 51³Ô¹ÏÍø Award webpage.
The MIT-51³Ô¹ÏÍø Seed Fund aims to help kick-start early-stage projects between two of the world's foremost universities that lead to high-impact research, discovery science and the deployment of frontier technologies. The 2025 call is open for research collaborations in any discipline across all departments and research groups at each institution.
The deadline for the current round of the Seed Fund is Thursday 3 December (23.59 Boston, USA time). For more information, and to apply, head to the MIT-51³Ô¹ÏÍø Seed Fund webpage.
The Undergraduate of the Year Awards is an annual competition aimed at finding the best undergraduates in the UK. There are 12 awards, each partnered by an employer who provides a fantastic prize for the winner, which could include a paid internship, a trip abroad or other exclusive opportunities.
Applications for the 2027 awards are now open! Please see the website for more information.
This year, are embracing Goal 11 of the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs): Sustainable Cities and Communities. The theme of this year's event focuses on creating a future where cities and communities are inclusive, safe, resilient, and sustainable.
TCS are inviting university students across the UK & Ireland to join us for a sprint engagement to come up with creative and innovative sustainability solutions to real-world challenges posed by our customers.
To participate
- Form a team of minimum two up to six people.
- Click participate and fill out the registration form (Annexure A) by Monday 12 October.
- Challenges will be live for you to select from Monday 12 October.
- Develop your digitally enabled solutions in ppt format.
- Submit your solution by Tuesday 10 November.
Teams will need to focus on digitally enabled solutions as part of their proposals. To help with this, we will have expert contributors in sustainability, technology, and corporate functions such as communications and marketing, to assist you.
Students will have the opportunity to join webinars, master classes and drop-in sessions with mentors and experts throughout the sprint engagement.
The TCS Sustainathon 2026 will culminate with the final judging event taking place in-person at TCS’ Innovation Hub (PacePort) in London on the Friday 27 November 2026, where the finale will take place and the winning team and runners-up will be announced.
For more information, visit the website.
is running a hackathon open to current students and early-career engineers. The event is free to enter and involves building a small end-to-end web app using at least one AI coding tool.
Format
- Stage 1: Fully remote - briefs released 9 October, submissions due 16 October
- Stage 2: Live final in Barcelona - 24 October (travel fully covered)
Prizes
- 1st - €3,000
- 2nd - €1,500
- 3rd - €750
For more information, visit the website.