13 Business Competitions for High School Students in the UK
- Stephen Turban
- 1 hour ago
- 9 min read
If you're a high school student interested in building your first business, business competitions can provide a great starting point. Whether you have an innovative social enterprise idea, an investment strategy, or a tech solution, these platforms offer an opportunity to showcase your talent.
Participating in these competitions can help you develop important skills like strategic thinking, market analysis, and leadership. They can also strengthen your university applications, personal statements, and applications for future internship opportunities. Many of these competitions offer workshops, mentorship from business professionals, and networking with other students who share similar interests. Whether you're pitching start-up ideas or simulating investment strategies, you'll be able to apply what you've learned in the classroom to practical challenges.
Below is a list of 15 business competitions for high school students in the UK, selected for their credibility and accessibility, to help you turn your ideas into a successful venture.
If you are interested in summer programs in the UK, check out our blog here.
Location: Online
Cost: Free to enter | Awards include 50–100% scholarships for Immerse Education programs (residential or online) for Scholar’s Laureate winners | A £500 award for in-person programs and a £250 award for online programs are provided to Academic Distinction winners
Dates: July and August
Application Deadline: December 22
Eligibility: Students aged 13–18 worldwide
The Immerse Education Essay Competition is a prestigious, global contest inviting you to submit a 500-word academic essay on one of over twenty university-level subject questions or an open topic. Outstanding entrants are recognized in tiers, such as Scholar’s Laureate, who receive full or partial scholarships for Immerse Education's university and career preparation programs, as well as publication opportunities and verified credentials. The goal is to reward originality, depth of thought, and academic excellence, while also providing high-achieving runners-up with tailored academic prizes and access to exclusive Scholars' Salons led by world-class tutors.
Location: Global competition culminating at the Limitless World Summit
Cost: Free resources for students and educators | $100,000 prize pool, including Grand Prizes for 1st ($12,000), 2nd ($8,000), and 3rd ($4,500) places in both the business and social innovation tracks, as well as various topical prizes
Dates: September 17–April 24
Application Deadline: January 15
Eligibility: Teams of 2-4 high school students aged 14-18 with one adult advisor aged 21 or older | Concepts must not have generated more than $100,000 in total revenue before the submission deadline | Concepts that reached the Summit in prior years cannot be resubmitted
The Diamond Challenge is an international entrepreneurship competition that allows you to turn your interests into sustainable business or social enterprise ideas. Sponsored by Horn Entrepreneurship at the University of Delaware, the program offers free resources and an exclusive network to help young minds bring their ideas to life. Teams of 2-4 students, guided by an adult advisor, compete across three rounds: Concept Development, Submission, and Pitching, culminating in the Limitless World Summit. You’ll choose between a Business Innovation track (focused on revenue/profit) or a Social Innovation track (focused on positive impact) and select either a live or virtual pitch format. The competition provides a unique experience, constructive criticism, and a portion of the $100,000 award fund to support the growth of your business or funding of higher education goals.
Location: Virtual
Cost: No cost | Winners are awarded cash prizes
Dates: Exact dates to be announced
Application Deadline: Varies yearly
Eligibility: High school students around the world
The Blue Ocean Student Entrepreneur Competition is one of the most prestigious virtual pitch competitions in the world, aiming to train you for entrepreneurship. It encourages you to think about an urgent issue or an unexplored market and come up with a "blue ocean" business concept—a business that seeks both differentiation and low cost to create a blue ocean strategy and establish a new market space. Aside from earning first-hand experience and enhancing college applications, you compete for thousands of dollars in cash rewards for your school and yourself.
Location: Online
Cost: Free to enter | Participants may receive awards, scholarships, and opportunities for mentorship and entrepreneurship
Dates: Multi-phase annually
Application Deadline: Not specified
Eligibility: Students aged 13 - 18
The Conrad Challenge is a global multi-phase innovation and entrepreneurship competition that allows you to combine STEM, business, and problem-solving. Teams select a critical world issue and create an innovative solution to be demonstrated through an innovation brief, a business plan, and a prototype for their solution. By design, the Conrad Challenge emphasises creativity, teamwork, and marketability when assessing solutions, rather than the traditional science fair approach that evaluates solutions based on the scientific method.
Location: Online
Cost: Free to enter
Dates: June 30–April 25
Application Deadline: September 12
Eligibility: High school students in grades 9–12, working in teams of 4–6 with a teacher advisor
The Wharton Global High School Investment Competition is a free experiential challenge in which you can participate through the Wharton Global Youth Program at the University of Pennsylvania. Over the course of 10 weeks, you and your team will act as financial analysts as you create an investment strategy to meet the goals of a client case. Using the Wharton Investment Simulator (WInS), you and your team will manage a virtual portfolio of $500,000 as you study industries and create written reports about your reasoning. The goal is not solely maximum returns, but to craft and execute a coherent, long-term investment strategy aligned with client needs.
Location: Online
Cost: $25 registration fee
Dates: December 12–May 29
Application Deadline: February 20
Eligibility: High school students (U.S. and international), participating in teams of one or two members
The Young Investors Society Global Stock Pitch Competition is the flagship event of YIS, designed for high school students who want to apply real-world financial analysis skills in a competitive setting. You’ll research and analyze a publicly traded company to develop your best “buy” or “sell” recommendation, then submit a written stock pitch report, a PowerPoint presentation, and a recorded video of your pitch. Finalists present their analysis before a panel of professionals at the Global Youth Investment Summit in New York, gaining firsthand experience in investment decision-making and communication.
Location: Multiple local/regional rounds leading to a national event
Cost: There is no information available
Dates: February 27–April 8
Application Deadline: March 13
Eligibility: High school students enrolled in a registered Virtual Enterprises (VE) firm
The Virtual Enterprises International National Business Plan Competition (NBPC) challenges you to develop and pitch original business ventures in a simulated corporate environment. To participate, you must be part of a registered VE firm and advance through local and regional qualifying rounds. Each team (3–6 presenters) submits a 20-page written business plan and an oral presentation, evaluated by industry professionals on creativity, feasibility, and professionalism. Top-performing teams compete in live national rounds in New York City, culminating in a championship among the final eight firms.
Location: Online
Cost: Free to enter
Dates: May 12–August 12
Application Deadline: July 10
Eligibility: Entrepreneurs aged 13 and above (teams or individuals)
The Citizen Entrepreneurship Competition (CEC) is an international, yearly ideas competition held in cooperation with the Stiftung Entrepreneurship with the goal of enabling entrepreneurs, particularly young people, to contribute towards a more peaceful and sustainable world through solutions for the 17 UN Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). The process typically proceeds through a short-pitch submission (Phase 1), followed by completion of online entrepreneurship training modules and an Entrepreneurial Design Canvas (EDC) (Phase 2), and then public voting and expert jury evaluation (Phase 3). They especially prefer concepts that are not yet a functioning business, stimulating innovative solutions for contemporary global problems.
Location: Online
Cost: Free to enter
Dates: February 20
Application Deadline: December 12
Eligibility: Two tracks: Imagination League (ages 5-12) and Impact League (ages 13-24)
The World Series of Innovation (WSI) is a global competition that challenges you to develop solutions to the world’s most pressing challenges, helping you become a problem-solver, thinker, and leader. The competition is divided into two tracks: the Imagination League for ages 5 to 12, and the Impact League for ages 13 to 24, who tackle more complex challenges. You can compete solo or form teams of up to four members to showcase your ideas and make a tangible impact on issues that matter. They offer prizes up to $1,500.
Location: Online
Cost: $20 USD per student | Rewards of upto $1,000 and an additional $1,000 worth of benefits and prizes are provided
Dates: Vary early
Application Deadline: Varies
Eligibility: High school students across grades 8-12
The Young Tycoons Business Challenge, presented by Learn with Leaders in collaboration with Harvard Young Leaders (HYPL), is a globally recognized, high-impact business plan competition specifically designed for aspiring high school entrepreneurs. This competition, held entirely online, employs a "pitch-learn-pitch" format to help you develop an entrepreneurial idea and build key industry-ready skills such as innovative thinking and effective communication. They offer over $2,000 in total rewards and benefits, along with participation certificates co-signed by competition partners.
Location: Online
Cost: Free for schools to register | Awards for competition winners include features and cash prizes that can be reinvested in the business and school
Dates: The program is an annual challenge with three steps: Step 1 (Business Idea) typically takes 4-6 hours; Step 2 (Business Plan) takes about 20-25 hours; Step 3 (Run The Business) takes 2-3 months
Application Deadline: Not explicitly stated
Eligibility: Open to all primary and secondary schools globally
The School Enterprise Challenge is a global, step-by-step program designed to engage you in business creation and entrepreneurial learning. The program is structured into three phases: Step 1 (Business Idea), Step 2 (Business Plan), and Step 3 (Run The Business). This challenge aims to strengthen essential life skills, including problem-solving, financial literacy, and critical thinking, and offers annual competitions with awards and cash prizes to encourage continuous learning and reinvestment in the school and business.
Location: Online
Cost: Free | Winners receive a paid internship with the data and innovation team at the Bank of England
Dates: August
Application Deadline: March 31
Eligibility: Students in the UK, aged 16 and over
The Bank of England's Innovation Competition is an annual competition open to students aged 16 and above in the UK. The 2025 competition asked competitors to develop a five-minute video suggesting how the Prudential Regulation Authority (PRA) could use Generative Artificial Intelligence (GenAI) to provide more effective supervision. This competition serves as a stepping stone for career development, as previous winners have proceeded to the Bank's graduate scheme. It actively invites applications from female-identifying students and underrepresented groups to enhance diversity in STEM.
Location: Online
Cost/Stipend: 10,000 yen per team (non-refundable)
Dates: Preliminary Round – April 12 | Final Round – May 17
Application Deadline: March 21 (Japan Time)
Eligibility: High school students aged 14–18, participating in teams of 3–8 members
The Global Youth Entrepreneurship Challenge (GYEC) is a 12-hour online business idea competition open to high school students worldwide. You’ll form a team of 3–8 peers and work together to solve a problem through an innovative, science- or technology-based business idea. During the challenge, your team will receive a prompt at 8:00 AM and have 12 hours to submit both a two-page written proposal and a three-minute video pitch in English. Submissions are judged on creativity, feasibility, marketing, and communication. The competition begins with a Preliminary Round, where teams compete nationally. Selected teams advance to represent their country in the Global Final Round. Past challenges have focused on pressing global issues, including environmental sustainability, education, and social welfare. All participants receive a certificate and feedback, while top teams earn trophies and special recognition.
One other option—the Lumiere Research Scholar Program
If you’re interested in pursuing independent research, consider applying to one of the Lumiere Research Scholar Programs, selective online high school programs for students founded with researchers at Harvard and Oxford. Last year, we had over 4,000 students apply for 500 spots in the program! You can find the application form here, check out students’ reviews of the program here and here.
Also check out the Lumiere Research Inclusion Foundation, a non-profit research program for talented, low-income students. Last year, we had 150 students on full need-based financial aid!
Stephen is one of the founders of Lumiere and a Harvard College graduate. He founded Lumiere as a PhD student at Harvard Business School. Lumiere is a selective research program where students work 1-1 with a research mentor to develop an independent research paper.
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