Bebras Cyprus 2026-2027 — 7th Primary & 17th Gymnasium Pancyprian Informatics Challenge

No code, no prior knowledge, no entry fee, and a three-week window: the widest-reach informatics competition in Cyprus opens on 4 December 2026. The Cyprus Computer Society (CCS) and the Association of Computer Science Teachers (SYKAP) announced on 20 October 2026 the 7th Pancyprian BEBRAS Informatics Challenge for primary school students (grades Δ´, Ε´ and ΣΤ´ — years 4, 5 and 6) and the 17th Pancyprian BEBRAS Informatics Challenge for Gymnasium students, running with the approval of the Ministry of Education, Sport and Youth. What competitors actually do. Bebras is a computational-thinking contest, not a programming one. Each round is a set of short, self-contained interactive tasks — logic, algorithms, pattern-finding, data representation, sequencing — dressed up as puzzles rather than code. No programming language is required and no prior knowledge is assumed, which is the entire point: it is designed to find aptitude that the curriculum has not yet reached.

• 15–20 tasks of mixed difficulty per round.
• 75 minutes per round.
• Available in Greek and English.

Two rounds, two very different settings.

• Round one — 4 December to 23 December 2026, online. Open for the full window and sat unsupervised: students can complete it from school or from home, anywhere with an internet connection.
• Round two — in schools, under teacher supervision, in cities across the island, for those who qualify. The 2026–27 date has not yet been published; in the previous edition the second round was held on 7 March 2026.

Who it is for. Primary students in years 4–6 and Gymnasium students — roughly ages 9 to 15 — at both public and private schools in Cyprus. Registration is through bebras.org.cy; in the 2025–26 edition participation was free and the registration deadline fell the day before round one opened, so teachers should not leave it to the first week of December. Why it is worth noticing. Bebras is the quiet feeder at the bottom of the island's competitive-informatics pipeline. It runs in more than 60 countries, started in Lithuania in 2004, came to Cyprus for Gymnasium students in 2012, and was extended to primary schools in 2020. The students who place well here are, a few years later, the ones turning up in the Cyprus Olympiad in Informatics and on the national teams that have lately been collecting medals at the Balkan, Junior Balkan, European Girls' and International Informatics Olympiads. It costs a school nothing but an afternoon and a browser. One scheduling note. The 23rd World-Wide Bebras Week runs 9–13 November 2026 internationally, with an extension week to 20 November. Cyprus does not use that window — the national rounds are the December dates above. Organisers and supporters. Organised by CCS with SYKAP, under the approval of the Ministry of Education, Sport and Youth. Recent editions have been supported by ECOMMBX, XM, ICDL and the Pancyprian Confederation of Organised Parents. Format note: round one is fully online and unsupervised, which is why this is listed as an online event; the second round is held in person in schools. Start and end times for the first round reflect the published opening and closing dates rather than scheduled clock times — the 75-minute limit applies per attempt, inside the three-week window. Listed as solo because Bebras is sat and ranked individually.

Event website