• For the Secondary category, eligible participants must have Computing as an optional subject at MATSEC level (at school or studying it with a private tutor). This category is open to State, Church and Independent schools/institutions.
• For the Post Secondary category, eligible participants must have Computing and/or IT at Intermediate or Advanced level, or any other IT-related qualification at MQF Levels 4 and/or 5.
• For the Open category, eligible participants must be 18 years of age or older and currently living in the Maltese Islands. This category primarily aims to attract undergraduate students pursuing a Bachelor’s/Master’s degree in the IT field, software developers, and educators teaching IT-related subjects.
• Students who register for the Secondary category (Years 9, 10 and 11) must be confirmed by their school teacher OR private tutor. School teachers can confirm up to FIVE students per school, and private tutors up to TWO students. Selection of the students is left in the discretion of the school/teacher/tutor.
• There is no registration quota for post-secondary, and open categories.
• Registration is done through this website.
• Registration deadline for is Friday, 6^th June 2025.

Secondary & Post-Secondary categories:

• For the Secondary category participants are to use Python programming language only.
• For the Post-Secondary category participants are to use JAVA programming language only.
• The Qualifiers round will be held online via Zoom. A session link will be provided to all participants prior to the contest.
• Participants are expected to:
  • switch on their webcam at all times, and
  • immediately accept an invite from the invigilator to share their screen when prompted.
• The Final round will be held at ICE Malta (NOT ONLINE).
• Exemptions to participate online during the Final Round will be considered on a case-by-case basis. In such cases, a 10-minute online VIVA session will be conducted after the Final Round if the candidate ranks among the top five candidates.
• Participants can use any programming IDE they prefer. However, for the Final round, the pre-installed programming IDEs on our computers are Thonny (for Python) and BlueJ (for Java) only. Participants are welcome to use their own device and preferred IDE.
• It is important that the work of Post-Secondary category participants (both for the qualifers and final round) can be deployed through the BlueJ IDE. Candidates must ensure that their work is accessible through the BlueJ IDE.

Open category:

• Participants are to use any programming language/s of preference.
• Contest sessions will be held at ICE Malta.
• During the session, participants:
  • are encouraged to maintain healthy habits and take short breaks.
  • must undergo a 10-minute viva session and expected to answer the judges’ queries/concerns.

Generic R&R:

• Being an open-book competition; participants can reference any online/offline resources they deem fit.
• Only one solution per task must be submitted to the judges.
• A judging panel will give points to the work presented to them according to established criteria.
• The task specifics and an assessment rubric will be given during the contest. Therefore, participants will be aware of what the judges are expecting from them.
• Any case of code copying / plagiarism, including direct copying from AI generative tools, will result in the disqualification of the concerned participant/s from the contest.
• Any code taken from online sources must be referenced by including the URL as a comment in the source code.
• Any decision by judges will be final.

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Check How to install Zoom app.
Note: there is no need to sign up on Zoom. From the Zoom app, you can click on the ‘Join a Meeting’ option and insert the meeting link that we will provide.

Secondary & Post-Secondary categories:

• The challenge includes a qualifications round and the top 10 participants will pass to the final round.
• Participants are presented with a task during the qualifiers round and another a task for the final round.
• The qualifiers task includes a 2-hour timeframe, whereas the final task has a 3-hour timeframe.
• Participants are to carry out the tasks on an individual basis.
• Participants must submit only ONE solution to the judges.

Open category:

• Individual participants are given an 8-hour time frame to solve the given task.
• Participants must submit only ONE solution to the judges.
• A guidebook outlining the task to better prepare the participants for this competition is available here.

The tasks provided during the contest comply with the content covered in the respective syllabus as follows:

Secondary Category:

• Input Statements
• Output statements ; including formatting of output, such as the use of F-String
• Assignment expressions
• Sequential execution
• Conditional execution and branching (If-Elif-Else)
• Looping constructs (For/While Loops, including Nested Loops)
• Tuples, Lists and Dictionaries data structures
• String functions
• Random Module
• User-Defined Functions
• Basic Graphical-User Interface

Post-Secondary Category:

• Input Statements using the Scanner class
• Output statements
• Assignment expressions
• Sequential execution
• Conditional execution and branching (If-Else & Switch Constructs)
• Looping constructs (For, Do & While Loops, including Nested Loops)
• 1D / 2D Arrays
• Object-Oriented Programming (Encapsulation, Message passing, Inheritance, Information Hiding, & Polymorphism)
• The use of Static, Abstract Classes & Recursion
• Exception Handling (Use of “throws” and the “try-catch” block)
• Stacks (LIFO structure, static and dynamic structure, Push and Pop algorithms and traversing of stack)
• Lists (Linear, Circular, Double Linked & Queues)
• Binary Trees
• Hash Tables
• Multidimensional Arrays and Vector lists
• Sorting (Insertion, Selection, Bubble, Quick, Merge algorithms)
• Searching (Linear & Binary Algorithms)
• Files (Text, Random and Object Files)
• Serialization (Interface, single instances, & vector/array lists)

Open Category:

• There is no set level of programming. Participants are expected to rise to the challenge
• A guidebook outlining the task to better prepare participants for this competition is available here.

Participants are encouraged to enjoy this challenge for the sake of the experience, learning and fun. However:

Secondary & Post-Secondary category:

• Winners and two runners-up will be awarded:
  • a place in code.sprint hall of fame 🌟
  • an awarding blockchain certificate 📜
  • a €400 sponsorship for further studies in programming at ICE Malta 📚💻🎓
  • other prizes as follows:
    • €500 cash prize for the winner and a trophy 🏆💰
    • €300 cash prize for the runner up and a medal 🥈💰
    • €200 cash prize for the second runner up and a medal 🥉💰
• All finalists will be given a blockchained finalist certificate and a €50 voucher from a local tech store as a token of our appreciation for your hard work and dedication.
• All other participants will be given a blockchain certificate of participation.

Additionally, the schools of the top three participants from each category will receive a hard copy certificate.
The 1st place winner’s school will also receive a trophy 🏆, while the 2nd and 3rd place schools will receive a medal 🥈🥉, respectively

We encourage all under/post graduate students, candidates studying IT related commercially certified courses, software developers, and educators to participate in this challenge for the opportunity to gain valuable experience, knowledge, and have fun. However:

• The winner and two runners-up will be presented with:
  • a place in code.sprint hall of fame 🌟
  • an awarding blockchain certificate 📜 
  • €3000 cash prize for the winner and trophy 🏆💰
  • €1500 cash prize for the runner up and medal 🥈💰
  • €500 cash prize for the second runner up and medal 🥉💰
• All other participants will be given a blockchain certificate of participation.

• Right to cancel or modify: code.sprint reserves the right to cancel, suspend or modify the challenge if any problem prevents the challenge from running as planned.
• Release: All participants agree to release and hold code.sprint harmless from and against any claim associated with the challenge/event.
• Limitation of liability: code.sprint is not responsible and cannot be held liable for technical errors or other things that may prevent the challenge from running as planned.
• Right to substitute: code.sprint reserves the right to substitute the awarding prizes with another prize if the advertised prize is not available.
• Permission to take screenshots of online sessions: code.sprint reserves the right to take screenshots during online contest session/s which will be used as evidence for accreditation purposes only.
• Permission to store participants’ work: code.sprint reserves the right to store the work submitted by the participants for up to 10 years for accreditation purposes.
• Disqualification: You may be disqualified from code.sprint contest and forfeit any prizes you may be eligible to receive if the organizer reasonably believes that you have attempted to undermine the legitimate operation of the contest according to the Contest Rules & Regulations. You may report violation of these terms by another contestant by contacting us.