Register your students to The Big Challenge experience!
Benelux
Contest
The contest
The Big Challenge is a European English language contest for primary and secondary school students, enabling them to make progress in the language while having fun at the same time.
The main aim of the contest is to encourage the learning of English through a fun and educational activity, and to support the teaching of English in schools.
A great motivational tool, the contest is taken by over 600 000 students every year in Europe.
From primary to secondary school
Multiple-choice questionnaire
45-minute test
At the school
No losers, everyone wins!
Test Formats
The contest is available in a choice of two formats.
The Online format on a computer, laptop or tablet. Each student needs to have access to one of those devices, headphones for the audio questions and to the internet.
The flexible format is on paper. You have access to the same contest questions beforehand, so you can print out the questions and the answer sheets, or project them in the classroom. The answer sheets are then uploaded in your account.
Both formats take place at school. You can organise as many sessions as you need so everyone can take part.
The Content of the Test
Test questions cover vocabulary, grammar, pronunciation and civilization.
In order to perfectly match the school curriculum, a specific questionnaire is drawn up for each level.
For each level, the students have 45 minutes to complete the test.
The Assessment
The assessment is carried out centrally by The Big Challenge.
The questionnaires have 3 levels of difficulty: easy, intermediate and difficult questions. The most difficult questions earn the most points. For each wrong answer, a quarter of the points awarded are deducted.
After the contest the school receives a list of its students results and each student receives a certificate showing the number of point obtained and their ranking (school, region, country).
Conditions for Participating
The Big Challenge contest is open to all students from primary to secondary school. Registration is made by the school’s coordinating teacher.
The Big Challenge is financed solely by the students’ participation fees. These fees cover the organisation of the event, the development of training app and the events that take place during the year, such as the CLASS Challenge. The registration fees need to be transferred by the coordinating teacher or another school instance, not by individual parents.
The Training
On The Big Challenge PLAY app, students can practise their English with a range of games (Quiz, YesNo…). The content covers the entire syllabus and language skills in a fun and educational way.
They will also find the exam papers on the app, so they can practise under real conditions in preparation for the test.
Prizes
Every participant is rewarded with a diploma and a poster, regardless of their result. On top of that we send additional prizes to each school, enough for about half participating students.
The best-placed students receive the prestigious awards given to the top finishers at regional and national level. The best students in each level at your school also get a beautiful medal, as long as enough participants are registered.
The Organisation
Organising The Big Challenge is really simple: all you have to do is register the number of students you want to participate for each level via this form. No names are necessary.
For the online format, we will send you the contest access details before the event. For the flexible format, you will receive the necessary information for downloading the contest material in advance.
We then draw up the scores and rankings and send the prizes to the schools. All that’s left is for you to celebrate your students’ success together!
Resources
Find all the information you need to organise the contest in your school. Share it with your students, their parents and your colleagues.
What they say
Pictures of the Big Challenge
GO!Lyceum Aalst
Aalst, Belgium
The whole fifth form took part in the contest; the first Big Challenge for us! We decided to hand out their prizes together with their final school report. The last day of the schoolyear always being a bit hectic, we still managed to take pictures of some pupils ...
VOX PELT level 3: the winners!
VOX PELT Niels, our winner from the school!
Ruben from Onze-Lieve-Vrouw Presentatie, Sint-Niklaas - Belgium, is the regional champion 2024. Congratulations Ruben!
2WIWE from Onze-Lieve-Vrouw Presentatie, Sint-Niklaas - Belgium, scored high in level 4. Well done!
2Greek/Latin from Onze-Lieve-Vrouw Presentatie, Sint-Niklaas - Belgium, scored high in level 4. Well done!
Eemsdeltacollege Appingedam
My students are hard at work right now! I can't wait for the results! Go V2A!
Kandinsky College Nijmegen
Can't believe the pupils are so competitive and engaged.
Frequently asked questions
What is THE BIG CHALLENGE?
The Big Challenge is a major national English language contest for all students from primary to secondary school, held in the spring of each year.
It is also the app The Big Challenge PLAY, including Class Activities that are useful tools for the Teachers, and virtual events throughout the year such as the CLASS Challenge.
It's a fantastic motivational tool that helps students make great progress in English.
Several hundred thousand students take part in the event every year in all of Europe.
When is the competition taking place?
The next Big Challenge will take place in schools across the Benelux region between 27 March and 29 April 2024.
How do I register my students?
Registration is very simple. It's done online on this page.
You can register your students from September.
Will my students be able to practise?
Of course they can.
Your students can also practise their English on The Big Challenge PLAY, our practice application. With a comprehensive range of games covering a wide range of English learning skills, The Big Challenge PLAY is the ideal tool for preparing for the contest.
You can use the exam papers from previous years.
How much does it cost to take part?
The registration fee is 10€ per student. Included is the full access to the app The Big Challenge Play, the Class Activities and the CLASS Challenge as well as the contest itself. Everyone gets a prize and lots of extra prizes are sent to each school.
The contest is financed solely by entry fees, and organisational costs have risen sharply in recent years (cost of paper, fuel, labour, etc.), which is why we have had to rethink our pricing structure. In the past, the contest and the Class Activities were separate and had separate fees; this year, the registration fee contains all elements of The Big Challenge for a truly engaging experience throughout the entire school year.
Do my students need to be registered to use the training application?
No, you don't need to be registered for the contest to use The Big Challenge PLAY training application.