Frequently asked questions

Coolest Projects is the world’s leading technology showcase for young people. Young creators make a digital technology project they’re proud of and submit it to a showcase to share it with the world, receive helpful feedback from mentors and get certificates and fun digital swag.

Coolest Projects is an annual worldwide, online event. It’s open to all young digital tech creators up to age 18, from anywhere in the world, and it’s completely free! In-person Coolest Projects events also run in some countries.

Coolest Projects will be back in 2024! Registration for the Coolest Projects online showcase opens on 14 February 2024. Sign up to email updates to be the first to hear about registration.

Creators entering the online showcase submit a link to a Scratch project they’ve made, or take a short video of any other type of project. Start saving the cool projects you’ve made now, ready to enter!

Young creators in the UK and Ireland can also submit projects to two in-person events. Coolest Projects Ireland will be in Dublin on 13 April 2024 and we'll announce the dates and venue for Coolest Projects UK very soon!

Almost anything you like! Coolest Projects is a showcase for digital making, so your project must use code, computers, or digital technology in some way, but your project can be about anything you like. It could be a solution to a problem in your community like an app to help you recycle. Or it could be something made just for fun, like a platformer game.

Examples of digital technology projects include those made in Scratch, using a micro:bit, using an app emulator, or coded using Python. Explore the six submission categories to find out more and get some ideas.

We won’t accept projects that depict graphic violence, harm, or use bad language. See our Community Guidelines below.

We are unable to accept projects that include:

• Bad language such as swearing
• Graphic depictions of violence in games featuring a war setting
• Violence towards people and animals, including:
• Scenes that depict physical abuse such as hitting, throwing objects, or other forms of physical punishment
• Scenes that depict or promote deliberate harm
• Any other realistic act of violence
• Suggestive or mature content, such as nudity or exposure
• Shocking or graphic content
• Discrimination of any kind, including discrimination against race, religion, sexuality, gender, or national origin
• Scams, projects that request money, collect personal data, or are intended for commercial use
• Projects duplicated directly from the original with no attempts to remix or edit
• Non-digital projects (such as crafts, drawings, science projects, or projects made with basic LEGO only)

Take a look at the showcase gallery to get some ideas about what you can create!

Projects should be presented in English (written English for Scratch projects, and spoken or written English for video submissions). You can ask someone to present or translate for you, or you can use subtitles. If you need help translating your project, email [email protected] and we’ll see if we can help you.

If you’ve entered the online showcase, your project will appear in the online showcase gallery for the world to see! Our team then reviews every project and gives personalised feedback. Projects are shortlisted and we invite special VIP judges to pick some favourite projects to highlight.

Judges review projects based on the criteria of Coolness, Complexity, Presentation and Communication, and Design and Usability. For the Presentation and Communication scores, they will take into account that Scratch projects will be presented differently to projects in all other categories.

At in-person events, judges talk to every participant about their project, give feedback and choose some favourites to highlight on event day.

Every participant will receive a personalised certificate, feedback on their project and fun digital swag to celebrate their brilliant creations!

If there’s not an in-person Coolest Projects event near you, you can still join in the fun: the Coolest Projects online showcase is open to any young creator aged up to 18, from anywhere in the world. We also work with brilliant partner organisations around the world to bring in-person Coolest Projects events to their countries and communities. Sign up to the Coolest Projects newsletter to be the first to know about any in-person event in your country.