Halloween Coding Competition

We are so excited about this year’s Halloween competition! This competition is open to all Primary and Secondary pupils.
Prizes are only available to pupils in the UK and Ireland.

This year’s challenge: Code a Halloween themed project that includes or mentions an monster.

Closing date: Midnight on Friday the 8th of November 2024

Submit Entries

Halloween Competition 2024

Below are our FAQs but if you have any other questions you can contact us by emailing competitions@dresscode.org.uk

We cannot wait to see what your pupils come up with.

Have fun and happy Halloween!

FAQs

• Is it free to enter?

  Yes, the competition is free to enter.

• Is this a girls only competition?

  No. While dressCode clubs and competitions primarily focus on closing the gender gap and clubs and competitions for girls, we are also helping raise the profile of Computing Science in schools. Competitions are a great way to help get pupils engaged in coding and to help inspire them into Computing Science.

• Who can take part?

  The competition is only open to all Primary and Secondary schools. However, only those schools in the UK and Ireland are eligible for winning a prize.

• Are you able to provide feedback for entries?

  Unfortunately not. Previous competitions have had a significant number of entries and dressCode is run by three teachers, we would love to give feedback to everyone, but it’s just not possible. Rest assured that every entry will be considered and judged fairly.

• Can we enter as a team?

  For this competition, we accept both individual and two pupils working together.
  
  If you are submitting an entry completed in a pair, please ensure that both pupils' names are provided. This will allow us to send the correct number of prizes if their entry is successful.

• I'm not sure what tool to use for my project?

  There are so many amazing free coding tools out there. This competition is open so you can use any tool. Here are some of our favourites:

  • Scratch

  • Repl.it

  • Microsoft MakeCode

  • Thunkable

• Do I have to make a game?

  No. There must be code used to make your ideas come to life. This could be an animation, a story, a joke, a game, a card, a poster, an adventure game, a fact page, a website, an app….anything you like! It is completely up to you but it must include this years theme.
  This years theme is: code a Halloween themed project that includes or mentions an monster.

• Can I include more than just a monster in my project?

  Yes! Be as creative as possible. You can find out more about the judging criteria below.

• What is the judging criteria?

  Only entries that have a skeleton featured somewhere in the entry will be accepted. We encourage you to be creative and add extra items.

  The judges will be looking for creative, eye catching entries that stand out. There must be code used to make your ideas come to life. This could be an animation, a story, a joke, a game, a card, a poster, an adventure game, a fact page….anything you like! It is completely up to you.

• How do I submit entries?

  All entries must be submitted using the form above. Entries must be include teachers official school email or entries will not be included in the competition.

• I'm getting an error sending links on the form?

  Not to worry. Just send the pupil’s name and year group to competitions@dresscode.org.uk with the link to the pupils project.

• Can pupils submit more than one entry?

  No. We are only accepting one entry per pupil. If we receive multiple entries from an individual pupil we will take the first submission as the entry from the competition.

• What are the prizes?

  We have lots of cool tech gadgets to give away such as Sphero minis, Makey Makey kits, Raspberry Pi 400, Divoom Pixel Art and Tobbie the Self - Guided AI Robot. We are unable to let pupils pick which prize they would like as the prizes that are sent out depend on the availability of products.

• When will the winners be announced?

  We are a small team who all work full time as well but we will contact the teacher associated with the winning entries by the end of January.

• Our school will not allow us to submit pupils first and second names can I still enter?

  Yes. We understand the security concerns around pupil data. We only need a way for the teacher to identify a winning pupil we do not require and do not ask for pupils full names. Entries can include pupils first name and then a unique identifier so that you will be able to identify between pupils with the same first name. For example, Max 1 and Max 2 would be acceptable.
  
  We will never share pupils data we only collect this so we can inform you if that individual pupil has won a prize, please see our privacy policy.
  

• Can I submit multiple entries at once?

  Yes make a copy of entry sheet and send over completed for to competitions@dresscode.org.uk