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Cambridge Upper Secondary

Science Competition
Teacher Guide

Contents
Welcome ....................................... 2
Overview ....................................... 3
What is your role?........................ 4
Marking the projects .................... 7
Prizes ........................................... 11
Administration ............................. 12
Terms and conditions................ 15
 Welcome to the Cambridge Upper Secondary Science
Competition

Cambridge Assessment International Education is committed to helping schools develop varied

and engaging educational programmes that help prepare students for life.

The Cambridge Upper Secondary Science Competition is an extra-curricular activity for

Cambridge IGCSE™ and Cambridge O Level students, designed to be fun and inspiring. It
encourages students to engage in real-world science and apply what they learn in the
classroom. It also supports the development of the Cambridge learner attributes. This team
competition is based on the way scientists work together in the real world. Science is a shared
activity, often meaning that scientists in different places come together to work on a single
problem. This involves true collaboration, not simply cooperation. This kind of teamwork also
involves reflection on how to operate most effectively as a team. Scientists also need to
communicate the outcomes of their work clearly to their peers.

The Cambridge Upper Secondary Science Competition rewards not just the science investigated
but also the way in which the team works together, and the way they present their work to
others. It supports creative and innovative practical science, encouraging the scientific method
and the ‘free thinking’ that science depends on, as well as wider issues such as sustainability.
Those all-important learning habits for life which we encapsulate in the attributes of the
Cambridge learner – confident, responsible, reflective, innovative and engaged – are all
supported and developed in this competition.

I hope you encourage and support students in your school to take part. It should have
tremendous educational value as well as be enjoyable.

Tristian Stobie
Director, Curriculum & Qualifications Development

Cambridge Upper Secondary Science Competition – Teacher Guide 2

 Overview
Who is the competition for?

The Cambridge Upper Secondary Science Competition is a team project for students studying
the following Cambridge IGCSE and Cambridge O Level science syllabuses:
Cambridge IGCSE Cambridge O Level
Agriculture 0600 Agriculture 5038
Biology 0610/0970 Biology 5090
Chemistry 0620/0971 Chemistry 5070
Combined Science 0653 Combined Science 5129
Coordinated Sciences 0654/0973 Environmental Management 5014
Environmental Management 0680 Physics 5054
Marine Science 0697
Physical Science 0652
Physics 0625/0972

What do students do?

Teams of three to six students work on a science project that includes a planned investigation, a
presentation and a reflection on the teamwork. Teams complete the project work either outside
the normal curriculum time or using some designated class time, at the discretion of the school,
over 20–25 hours. The competition is voluntary and does not need to include all students in a
class or group. By taking part in the competition, each team will:
• discuss and choose a topic for investigation which interests them and has local or global
significance, or considers sustainability
• carry out the investigation and record their work, describing the problem or hypothesis
they addressed, the planning process, what they did, the outcomes and the conclusions
of their investigation
• reflect on how team members worked together at all stages of the investigation
• present the work to other students in school.

How is it assessed?

The investigation, presentation and teamwork are marked by you, the teacher. You will award
each team a Gold, Silver, Bronze or Participation certificate. You will submit Gold investigations
to us to be judged for Best in Country and Best in Region awards. Best in Country awards will be
made only where entries are received from 10 or more schools in a country.

At the end of each year, judges will review the Best in Region winners, including the
presentations and teamwork evidence, and award Best in World to the best team.

There are two entry periods for the competition in each calendar year to enable all schools to
enter at a time to suit their school calendar.

Cambridge Upper Secondary Science Competition – Teacher Guide 3

 What is your role during the competition?
Supporting teams
You support your teams as they plan, implement, record and present their investigations.
Students will have a Team Guide, which explains how the competition works and what they
need to do. As their teacher, you are also there to provide guidance where required but allow the
students to do the work themselves.

You will find the Science Competition Support Pack on the School Support Hub. If you have
any questions that cannot be answered using these resources, you can email our Customer
Services team at info@cambridgeinternational.org and your message will be sent to the
person who can best answer it.

Topic
The topic the team investigate can be on any area that the team members are interested in, and
which provides them with an opportunity for appropriate investigation. Teams are encouraged
and are awarded marks for selecting topics that have local or global significance, or a
sustainability focus. It may be helpful for teams to look at the United Nations Sustainable
Development Goals for inspiration.

Whatever topic is chosen, we encourage teams to support sustainability as they carry out their
investigations. They are encouraged to consider environmental impact in the design of their
investigation. For example, using the minimum amount of chemicals in experiments, considering
waste disposal, considering the impact of travel for fieldwork and similar.

Students may need help in formulating a scientific question or hypothesis. For example:

• Testing the effect on something of changing a variable, while controlling all other
variables
‘What is the effect of … (variable X) … on … (variable Y)?’
• Comparing how different things behave under the same conditions
‘What is the best … (material/method/object/device) … to … (perform a task/meet a
need)?’
• Seeking patterns in data that has been collected
‘What does … (data about object/living thing/situation) … tell us about how it …
(behaves)?’
• Observing something over time
‘How does … (object/living thing/situation) … change over … (an hour/day/week)?’.

Cambridge Upper Secondary Science Competition – Teacher Guide 4

 Some ideas for suitable topics are shown in the table. You can find example investigations
based on some of these topics in the Support Pack on the School Support Hub.

Topic Comments

Using sugar cane This topic has direct local significance to the team’s location in
waste to make paper Mauritius as well as a sustainability focus in recycling waste and
creating a circular economy.
The effect of acid This topic has direct local significance to the team’s location in
concentration on Indonesia, where a high percentage of tourists suffer from
microorganism gastrointestinal infections. It also considers the environment,
growth in foods investigating less polluting chemicals, and has global relevance with
the need for cheap and healthy food preservation methods.
Use of solar tubes to This topic has direct relevance to the team’s location, in an area of high
reduce energy usage sunshine hours. It also has a wider global application to energy-efficient
in school buildings and a sustainability focus in the reduction of energy usage.
Detection of The team investigating this topic are located in an area of the world
adulterants in well- where milk adulteration is a significant problem. More generally, food
known milk brands adulteration is a problem in many areas of the world and has
implications for health and for pollution.
How does the diet of This topic is of relevance to the team’s local school system. They
our school year analysed the nutritional content of children’s diets across age groups,
compare with the diet and how this links to whether children eat school lunches and have
of school children choice in what to eat. It relates to UN Sustainable Development Goal 3
aged 7? on health.
How can a common This topic takes a common experiment in the school curriculum, the
school practical rate of reaction of marble chips in hydrochloric acid, as a starting point.
experiment be done It assesses its environmental impact across the world in terms of the
more sustainably? raw materials used and looks at how this could be reduced.
Which locally grown This topic takes a commonly used science fair demonstration, known to
fruits work best for work well with strawberries, and investigates which locally grown and
DNA extraction? inexpensive fruit can be used to extract DNA.

Planning
Check that each team’s topic and plans are appropriate. Provide advice and guidance if they are
not suitable (for instance they may need impractical materials or require students to go off -site
against school policy).

An important aspect for teams to consider is safety, whether that means for laboratory
experiments or investigations outside school or on the internet.

If a team wishes to interview or involve people in their experiment, instruct your students on
privacy issues:

• If people are involved, their names must not be used in the report – names should be
changed or anonymised so that no one can be identified.
• If photographs of people are used students must obtain prior written consent.
Consider copyright: if branded goods are used as part of the investigation, they should be
anonymised e.g., ‘Coca-Cola’ becomes ‘brand X’.

Cambridge Upper Secondary Science Competition – Teacher Guide 5

 Implementation and results
Support your teams to implement their plans and record their results clearly and accurately. With
regard to safety, you have the same duty of care towards your learners in competition activities,
as in teaching Cambridge qualifications. Make sure teams who leave school premises follow
school rules and the appropriate permissions are obtained.

Interpretation and evaluation

The conclusions drawn from results of experiments should be precise. Support your teams to
show any analytic data clearly. The skills of analysis and evaluation are important skills for
students to develop and working in a team often produces wider thinking around the
experimental results.

Evaluation of the experiment should be accurate – it does not matter if the experiment did not go
perfectly as long as lessons are learned and recorded.

When teams are writing their reports you may wish to remind them that investigations submitted
to us will be checked for plagiarism. Please make sure no names or other personal details of the
student or school are included in the document uploaded. Any photos included should not show
the students’ faces. Please include only the centre number and team number.

Teamwork
You should observe and be conscious of how the team is working together. Support teams to
make sure each team member is contributing and that students are respectful of one another.

There are two aspects of teamwork which you will assess:

• how well the team members work together, sharing tasks and decisions appropriately,
and engaging all members
• how well the team reflects on the way they worked together.
The reflections made by each team about their teamwork must be written, and no more than 500
words in length. These must be written as a team rather than individually. You do not have to
send these reflections to us with the investigation report. However, you must make sure a record
of the team’s reflection is kept as we will ask you to send this to us for any teams that win a Best
in Region award. It will be used in judging for the Best in World award.

Presentation
Teams must present their investigation to others. The presentation could be to other teams
taking part in the competition, to other students, or to teachers and parents. You may determine
the format and audience that best enables your teams to communicate their work to others and
that fits with your school calendar.

The presentation can be in the form of a poster, demonstration, talk, slide show, video, web
page or any other suitable format. Some schools use a science fair or similar event to showcase
teams’ investigations. Teams can be given a time limit for their presentations.

You must make sure evidence of the presentation is kept, as it is used for judging for the Best in
World award. The record may be a video, a PowerPoint presentation, a web page, or whatever
format best captures the way that the team has communicated their investigation to others.

Cambridge Upper Secondary Science Competition – Teacher Guide 6

 Marking the projects
Use the mark scheme on page 8 to mark the investigation, teamwork and presentation for each
team. The mark scheme is also provided in the Support Pack as a separate Word document for
your use. It is a ‘best fit’ mark scheme. You decide which level best describes the characteristics
of each team.

The mark scheme is divided into six skills: four investigation skills (topic, planning,
implementation and results, interpretation and evaluation), and the skills of teamwork and
presentation.

• Each skill has three levels of attainment.

• For each level of attainment there is a range of two marks, giving a total of six marks
available for each skill.
You are looking for the set of skill descriptions that best represent the work. The skill
descriptions may not all be met, or some may not be met completely; overall, the work should be
closer to the set of skill descriptions chosen than to the set below. You will then need to decide
which mark in the level to award, depending on how well the team has met the description.

If there are two or more teachers marking, it is good practice for each teacher to mark a sample
of the same projects and cross-check the marks awarded; differences can be resolved through
discussion. If you are the only teacher marking, it is good practice to share some of your marking
with a colleague to make sure it is standardised. You can find Gold examples in the Support
Pack on the School Support Hub.

Investigation skills:
• Skill 1 – Topic
The best topics are original or innovative, excite or motivate the team, and need little
direction from the teacher. Teams selecting topics that have local or global significance,
or a sustainability focus, can reach the higher levels of the mark scheme.
• Skill 2 – Planning
The best plan considers all aspects of implementation: resources available, how the work
will be split among team members, practical considerations, and time required for
different activities. It includes consideration of safety and sustainability, and, if necessary,
copyright and privacy.
• Skill 3 – Implementation and results
Those that implement their plan best will show manual/organisational skill, good
behaviour in the laboratory or field, an appreciation of experimental limitations, and
consideration of safety at all times. Results should be presented clearly and accurately.
• Skill 4 – Interpretation and evaluation
Clear and accurate presentation of observations, data and text are key. This should
include the quality of analysis and/or interpretation related to a wider context, and how
well the experimental design worked.

Teamwork and presentation skills:

• Skill 5 – Teamwork
Ideally, team members work collaboratively, engage in discussion to work out the best
approach to the project and divide the work equally. When they reflect on the team’s
work, they are able to identify what worked well and what worked less well.
• Skill 6 – Presentation
Regardless of the format, the best presentations are clear, concise, suited to the
audience and cover all aspects of the investigation, i.e. skills 1–4 only.
Cambridge Upper Secondary Science Competition – Teacher Guide 7
 Mark scheme
Project title

Team number

• Start from the top level for each skill and read down until you find the set of statements
that describes the response best.
• In practice, projects will not always match one set of statements precisely. A judgement
may need to be made between two sets of statements.
• A project should show evidence of most, but not necessarily all, of the qualities described
in a statement. The project should be closer to that statement than to the statement
below.
• You will need to decide between the two marks in the level, depending on how well the
statements have been met.

Investigation skills Skill description Mark Mark

awarded

1 – Topic • The research question is clear and concise. 5–6

• The problem is of local or global interest or has a
sustainability f ocus.
• The topic has a clear research question/problem. 3–4
• The research question/problem needed some
teacher direction to be f ormulated.
• The topic has a research question/problem 1–2
directed by the teacher.
• No creditable response. 0

2 – Planning • The research problem is f ully addressed . 5–6

• The planning f or the project considers saf ety, and
sustainability (where appropriate).
• Copyright and privacy issues are f ully included
(where appropriate).
• The main aspects of the research problem are 3–4
addressed.
• The planning f or the project considers some
aspects of saf ety, and sustainability (where
appropriate).
• Copyright and privacy issues are considered
(where appropriate) with lack of detail.
• The research problem is addressed in part. 1–2
• The team needs teacher guidance to plan f or
saf ety, and sustainability (where appropriate).
• Copyright and privacy are considered (where
appropriate) superf icially.
• No creditable response. 0

Cambridge Upper Secondary Science Competition – Teacher Guide 8

 3 – Implementation • The practical or investigative work is implemented 5–6
and results saf ely, competently and successf ully.
• Sources of error are considered.
• The experimental work is improved as necessary
to optimise the results obtained .
• The results are clear, presented accurately and in
an appropriate f ormat.
• The practical work is implemented saf ely and 3–4
successf ully.
• Sources of error are not considered .
• The results are clear, presented accurately.
• The practical work is implemented with some lack 1–2
of skill.
• The team requires teacher guidance on saf ety
issues.
• The results are included.
• No creditable response. 0

4 – Interpretation and • Interpretation and analysis are thorough and 5–6

evaluation accurate.
• Conclusions lead directly f rom the results of
experiments.
• The investigation is evaluated f ully, sensibly and
thoughtf ully.
• Interpretation and analysis have some omissions 3–4
or lack clarity.
• Conclusions made f rom experimental results
have some omissions.
• The investigation is evaluated but not in depth.
• Interpretation and analysis are unclear or 1–2
incomplete.
• Evaluation of the investigation is incomplete.
• Incorrect conclusions are made f rom
experimental results.
• No creditable response. 0

Cambridge Upper Secondary Science Competition – Teacher Guide 9

 Teamwork and Skill description Mark Mark
presentation skills awarded
5 – Teamwork • All members of the team are f ully engaged and 5–6
work collaboratively.
• Ref lections on teamwork are accurate and
honest.
• The ref lections respect dif ferent perspectives of
team members.
• Some members of the team are not f ully 3–4
engaged with the project.
• Ref lections on teamwork are mostly accurate.
• General lack of team engagement – cooperation 1–2
not collaboration.
• Ref lections on teamwork are incomplete or
inaccurate.
• No creditable response. 0

6 – Presentation • Clear and comprehensive communication of 5–6

investigation outcomes, with appropriate
background context.
• Investigation outcomes communicated well; a 3–4
lack of clarity in some areas.
• Investigation outcomes communicated well in a 1–2
f ew areas only.
• No creditable response. 0

TOTAL 36

Award

Gold 27–36

Silver 17–26

Bronze 7–16

Participation 1–6

Cambridge Upper Secondary Science Competition – Teacher Guide 10

 Prizes
Each team member should receive a certificate based on the marks you award. The certificate
templates are included in the competition Support Pack, available on the School Support Hub.
Once you have completed marking and standardisation, you may print certificates and distribute
to the teams. In recognition of the teams’ work and achievement, we encourage you to hold an
award ceremony or hand out the certificates in assembly or at a school prize-giving.

Best in Country, Best in Region and Best in World awards

You are asked to submit any Gold investigations to us for judging for the Best in Country and
Best in Region awards. This is the work covered by Skills 1–4 in the mark scheme. If you have
completed an Intention to Enter form, we will remind you to submit any Gold certificate
investigations before the final submission deadline.

When you upload your Gold investigations through the School Support Hub you must use a
separate entry form for each team. You will be asked to enter the marks for each skill on the
Investigation Upload form, including the marks for teamwork and presentation. We will check
any Gold investigations for plagiarism.

Best in Country awards will be made only where entries are received from 10 or more schools in
a country in one entry period. It is intended that Best in Region awards are made in all regions in
each entry period. If fewer than 10 schools from a region enter, the region may be combined
with another region and a joint award made. Best in Country winners are also eligible to win a
Best in Region award. The winning teams will receive a certificate in recognition of their
achievement. Their projects may also be featured on our website and in promotional materials.
Some teams may be contacted to be interviewed by a member of Cambridge.

At the end of the year, the winners of the Best in Region awards are put forward to be judged for
the Best in World award. Judges will consider which team has demonstrated the most innovation
and aptitude. The winning team will receive a certificate, be interviewed by a member of the
Cambridge team and be featured on our website and in promotional materials. The school will
also receive a plaque to display.

The judges for this competition include expert scientists from the University of Cambridge and
Cambridge University Press & Assessment. They will be looking for:
• 20 or more marks scored on the investigation skills (Skills 1–4)
• a topic of significance to the team
• a topic relevant to the local community, a wider global issue or with a sustainability focus
• data that is reported accurately and clearly
• experimental design that is efficient and safe
• analysis that is accurate and recognises the full implications of the results and
conclusions
• a project that shows creativity and innovation in its subject matter, planning, execution or
reporting.

For Best in World, they will also be looking for:

• a presentation that conveys the key aspects of the investigation clearly and engagingly
• a team that shows a thoughtful reflection on the way they have worked together.

Cambridge Upper Secondary Science Competition – Teacher Guide 11

 Administration
We ask schools to appoint a contact for the competition who can make sure the administrative
tasks are completed.

Task First entry Second entry Notes

period period

Tell us that By end By end • Complete the Intention to Enter form on

you intend to March September the School Support Hub.
enter teams • You will receive an email acknowledging
for the that we have received your form.
competition • You may enter teams in the competition if
you have not completed an Intention to
Enter form, but it helps us to have an idea
of the number of teams entering. It also
enables us to send you reminders of
competition deadlines.
Teams carry January – July – October • If it is more convenient for your school to
out their April run the competition at other times of year
competition then you may do so and enter in the next
work entry period. For example, if you wish to
complete the projects in December you
can enter in the first entry period of the
next year; if you wish to complete the
projects in May you can enter in the
second entry period.
• Students will need to complete their
investigations by an earlier date to allow
time for presentation, reflection and
marking.
Mark the By end April By end • Make sure you give yourself time after
investigations October marking to identify any Gold investigations
for submission to us.

Cambridge Upper Secondary Science Competition – Teacher Guide 12

 Print and present As As • Once you have marked all your teams’
certificates appropriate appropriate projects, you can print and present the
to your to your certificates found in the competition
school school Support Pack on the School Support Hub.
• We encourage you to present certificates
at a school event such as an assembly or
formal prize-giving.
For Gold projects only
Submit Gold Deadline Deadline For each Gold investigation:
investigations to 30 April 31 October • Complete the Investigation Upload form
us on the School Support Hub, including the
marks for each skill.
• Submit the investigation as a single Word
or PDF document. A Word document is
preferred.
• Make sure no names or other personal
details of the student or school are
included in the document uploaded.
Please include only the centre number
and team number.
• You should make each student aware that
Cambridge may use their projects for
marketing purposes. You should also
share the Cambridge Privacy Notice with
them.

You will receive an email acknowledging

receipt of each investigation.
Cambridge May November Winners will be notified directly.
announces Best
in Country and
Best in Region
award winners
Cambridge December Winners will be notified directly.
announces Best
in World award
winner

Cambridge Upper Secondary Science Competition – Teacher Guide 13

 Glossary of defined terms

Term Definition
Best in Country The Award made to the Team judged to have done the best
Project in their country. This award will be made in any country
where Entries are received from 10 or more schools in that
country in the same Entry Period.
Best in Region The Award made to the Team judged to have done the best
Project in their Region. Regions may be combined at the
discretion of Cambridge, if too few entries are received from a
Region to warrant an award being made.
Best in World The Award made to the Team judged to have done the best
Project in the world in a calendar year. This award is open to
Best in Region winners only.
Cambridge International Cambridge Assessment International Education.
Competition The Cambridge Upper Secondary Science Competition.
Entrant The school that submits an Entry, on behalf of its Students.
Entry The Gold standard work submitted for judging by Cambridge
International.
Entry Period A period of time when Entries can be submitted for judging.
There are two Entry Periods in each calendar year:
Entry Period 1: January – April
Entry Period 2: July – October.
Intention to Enter form The form found on the School Support Hub where a School
Contact can inform Cambridge of their intention to take part in
the Competition.
Investigation A Team’s written report on the Project.
Investigation Upload form The form found on the School Support Hub where the School
Contact can upload the Investigation produced by each Team for
each Entry to the Competition.
Presentation A Team’s Presentation of their work to an audience.
Project A Team’s work for the Competition, comprising an Investigation,
a Teamwork Reflection and a Presentation.
Region An area of the world as defined by Cambridge International and
being one of: Europe; Middle East & North Africa; Sub-Saharan
Africa; North America; Latin America; South Asia; East Asia;
Southeast Asia & Pacific; Pakistan.
School Contact The person who undertakes the administrative responsibility for
running the Competition in a school.
Student A member of a Team who must be studying for a Cambridge
IGCSE or O Level science qualification as defined in the terms
and conditions.
Support Pack The downloadable pack found on the School Support Hub and
containing: Teacher Guide, mark scheme, Team Guide, example
Projects, factsheet, promotional presentation.
Teacher A member of the school’s teaching staff who supervises the
Teams undertaking their Projects.
Team A group of 3–6 Students who undertake a Project.
Teamwork Reflection A Team’s reflection on how they have worked as a Team. This
may be written or oral.

Cambridge Upper Secondary Science Competition – Teacher Guide 14

 Terms and conditions
1 General

1.1 The Competition is organised and promoted by Cambridge International.

1.2 Project requirements, mark scheme and judging criteria (as set out in this Teacher Guide)
and Competition timelines (including submission deadlines and announcements of
Competition winners) will be reviewed annually by Cambridge International and are subject
to change.

1.3 Each Entrant must make sure all Students taking part in the Competition are aware of and
agree to these terms and conditions and freely consent to their work and personal data
being submitted to Cambridge International as part of the Competition.

1.4 Employees and contractors of the University of Cambridge and their immediate family
members are not eligible to enter the Competition as a Team member. Only Cambridge
International Schools, or Cambridge Associate Centres, may be Entrants to the
competition.

1.5 By submitting an Entry in accordance with the procedure set out herein, the Entrant
confirms they have read and agreed to these terms and conditions and have obtained the
permission of each relevant Student to enter the Student’s work in the Competition.

1.6 Cambridge International will only accept one Entry per Team of Students, and each
Student may only sit on one Team per Competition. If an Entrant is discovered to have
submitted more than one Entry per Team of Students or allowed any Student(s) to sit on
more than one Team, the affected Entries will be deleted at Cambridge International’s sole
discretion.

1.7 Each Entry must consist of Teams containing a minimum of three (3) and maximum of six
(6) Cambridge Students usually between the ages of 14 and 16, attending the school of
the Entrant and studying, at the time of submission of the Entry: Cambridge IGCSE
Agriculture 0600, Cambridge IGCSE Biology 0610/0970, Cambridge IGCSE Chemistry
0620/0971, Cambridge IGCSE Environmental Management 0680, Cambridge IGCSE
Marine Science 0697, Cambridge IGCSE Physical Science 0652, Cambridge IGCSE
Physics 0625/0972, Cambridge IGCSE Combined Science 0653, Cambridge IGCSE
Coordinated Sciences 0654/0973, Cambridge O Level Agriculture 5038, Cambridge O
Level Biology 5090, Cambridge O Level Chemistry 5070, Cambridge O Level
Environmental Management 5014, Cambridge O Level Physics 5054, Cambridge O Level
Combined Science 5129.

1.8 No Student or person failing to comply with the criteria in clause 1.6 is permitted to join a
Team Entry.

2 How to enter

2.1 The Competition is open from 5 January of each calendar year and all Entries should be
received by Cambridge International by close of business on 30 April or 31 October of
each calendar year.

2.2 Each Entry must be submitted electronically to Cambridge International using the
Investigation Upload form on the School Support Hub.

2.3 Each Entry should be made in accordance with the requirements of clause 1 (General) of
these terms and conditions. The Entrants shall be provided with support material on the

Cambridge Upper Secondary Science Competition – Teacher Guide 15

 School Support Hub, including a Teacher Guide and Team Guide, which contain guidance
for the Competition and a mark scheme for Teachers. Entrants must make sure they mark
their Entries’ Projects accurately in accordance with the mark scheme.

2.4 Each Team making an Entry will be required to produce a written report of their work (the
Investigation), a Presentation and a Team Reflection. Together these form the ‘Project’.
Only one Project may be entered per Entry. Project requirements and topic guidelines are
set out in this Teacher Guide and in the Team Guide.

2.5 The Entrants must make sure all Projects are marked ahead of the final submission date
of 30 April (for Entry Period 1) or 31 October (for Entry Period 2) of each calendar year.

2.6 Any Entrant with a Project awarded a ‘Gold’ grade (being a mark of 27/36 or above,
internally marked by a Teacher of the Team in accordance with the mark scheme in the
Teacher Guide) can be submitted to Cambridge International for consideration for the
annual global winner of the Competition. Cambridge International will also select country
and regional winners in each Entry Period. All Gold Investigations must be submitted
electronically using the Investigation Upload form on the School Support Hub before 30
April (for Entry Period 1) or 31 October (for Entry Period 2) of each calendar year. At this
stage of judging there is no requirement to submit the Presentation or Team Reflection.

2.7 Any Entries where the Project does not meet the required standard for Gold should not be
submitted to Cambridge International unless a School has no Gold Projects, in which case
the highest marked Investigation should be submitted.

2.8 Cambridge International will acknowledge receipt of the submissions of Gold

Investigations within 10 working days of receipt.

2.9 Cambridge International reserves the right to reject any Entry at any time if it has
reasonable grounds to believe the Entrant has breached any of these terms and
conditions.

2.10 The decision of Cambridge International to accept or reject an Entry is final, and
Cambridge International will not enter into any further correspondence regarding their
decision.

3 Format for Entries

3.1 The Investigations for Gold Projects must be submitted using the Investigation Upload
form with the marks for each skill entered in the form. A separate form must be used for
each Entry.

3.2 Investigations submitted to Cambridge International in accordance with clause 2.6 in the
‘How to enter’ section of this document must conform to the following specifications:

• file format: Word document (.doc or .docx) or PDF document (.pdf) containing the
Investigation

• file size: maximum of 25 MB

• file name: set out in the format [centre number]_Team [team

number]_[year]_[entry period number] e.g. AB123_Team1_2023_1

3.3 If an Entrant is responsible for submitting more than one Gold Investigation, please make
sure each Investigation is submitted using a separate form.

3.4 All resources used in the creation of the Investigation, including any visual material, must

Cambridge Upper Secondary Science Competition – Teacher Guide 16

 be the original creations of that Team. Investigations must not contain any third-party
copyright materials and/or registered trademarks/logos from well-known brands. Any
breach of this clause may result in an Entry being rejected.

4 General requirements

4.1 All Entries shall be marked internally by an appropriate science Teacher of the Entrant.

4.2 All Projects must be the original work of each Team.

4.3 No Projects may be used in whole or in part fulfilment of any Student’s assessment
requirements for any Cambridge qualifications.

4.4 Projects must not:

• include offensive or obscene language

• use excessive/gratuitous violence or sexual images

• show disrespect of personal, political or spiritual values, or contain offensive material

or remarks about race, gender or religious beliefs.

4.5 Investigations must not have been previously submitted or published in any media.

4.6 The Investigation submitted must not have been entered for any other competition prior to
submission for the Cambridge Upper Secondary Science Competition.

5 Judging and prizes

Competition categories

5.1 Cambridge International will award a country winner (Best in Country) for any country
where 10 or more schools enter the Competition in a single-Entry Period, chosen from the
Gold Investigations submitted before the deadlines outlined above.

5.2 Cambridge International will award up to a total of nine regional winners (Best in Region)
from each Entry point, chosen from the Gold Investigations submitted before the deadlines
outlined above. Country winners are eligible to also win Best in Region. If there are fewer
than 10 schools entering from a Region, the Region will be combined with another for a
joint award.

5.3 From the regional winners from both Entry Periods, one Team shall be declared the overall
global winner (Best in World). Cambridge International will ask each regional winner to
submit evidence of their Presentation prior to selecting the global winner and reserves the
right to contact the Entrant(s) for additional information before selecting the overall global
winner.

5.4 The nine Regions are: North America; Latin America; Europe (including UK); Sub-Saharan
Africa; Middle East and North Africa; South Asia; Pakistan; East Asia; and Southeast Asia
and Pacific.

How the judging is conducted

5.5 The Competition judges (the ‘Panel’) judging the Entries will be selected by Cambridge
International. The Panel’s decision is final and not open to appeal.

5.6 The Panel will select one winner for each country with 10 or more schools entering in an
Entry Period. All country winners will be notified by email on or before 1 July and 1

Cambridge Upper Secondary Science Competition – Teacher Guide 17

 December each year.

5.7 The Panel will select one winner for each Region in each Entry Period. All regional winners
will be notified by email on or before 1 July and 1 December each year.

5.8 The Panel will choose the overall global winning Team at the end of the year. They will ask
regional winners to provide evidence of their Presentation and teamwork in order to select
the global winner. The global winner will be notified by 20 December each year.

Prizes

5.9 Best in Country and Best in Region winners will receive a certificate for each Team
member. Their projects may also be featured on our website and in promotional materials.
Some teams may be contacted to be interviewed by a member of Cambridge.

5.10 The overall global winner will receive:

• a certificate for each member of the Team

• a plaque of recognition for the school

• the opportunity to be interviewed by a member of the Cambridge team and be featured

on our website and in promotional materials.

5.11 Prizes are granted at Cambridge International’s sole discretion and may be subject to
change at any time without notice. No cash or other alternative prizes may be requested
by any winning Entrant.

6 Miscellaneous

6.1 Investigations and Presentation evidence may be published on Cambridge International

websites (to include but not limited to the Cambridge International public website, the
School Support Hub and Cambridge International social media channels) as exemplar
material or for use and viewing by other Cambridge Students.

6.2 The regional winning Investigations may be translated into other languages.

6.3 The Team of Students retain the copyright in their Investigation, Reflection and
Presentation submitted to Cambridge International but by submitting an Entry, the Entrant
for and on behalf of their Students grants Cambridge International a non-exclusive,
transferable, sub-licensable, royalty-free worldwide licence in perpetuity to reproduce the
Investigation and Presentation or any part thereof, in any medium and language, for
assessment, educational, training and/or promotional purposes relating to Cambridge
International’s activities or to those related activities of which Cambridge International
approves. Such licence shall become effective from the date of submission of the
Investigation and Presentation to Cambridge International.

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Cambridge Upper Secondary Science Competition – Teacher Guide 18