The Global Climate Tech Challenge is run by Saïd Business School at the University of Oxford, with the Financial Times as media partner. It asks high-school students and teachers anywhere in the world to use technology against the climate crisis. Student teams pitch an original solution to one of five challenge areas: air pollution, extreme weather events, food security, biodiversity, or water scarcity.
Teachers enter a separate track, submitting lesson plans that bring the same themes into their school curriculum. Entries are judged remotely, finalists are announced in September 2026, and the finals are held in person at Oxford in October 2026. The competition grew out of the Climate Change Challenge launched in 2023; the last edition drew about 1,600 entries from 75 countries, assessed by 38 judges.
Benefits & funding
- Entry is completely free.
- All finalists receive an all-expenses-paid trip to Oxford to present at the finals.
- The winning student team receives a full scholarship, all expenses paid, to a youth summer school in Oxford in 2027. For scale, Oxford Saïd’s two-week Future Climate Tech Innovators Summer School for 15–18-year-olds was priced at £8,995 for its 2026 edition.
- The winning teacher attends an Executive Education programme at Oxford Saïd in 2027, all expenses paid.
- Every student and teacher whose submission is approved receives a certificate of participation from Saïd Business School.
Eligibility
- Open to high-school students and teachers worldwide; no nationality or country restriction.
- Student track: teams of 3–5 students aged 15–18. Individual student entries are not accepted. A team may combine students from one school or several, in the same country or in different ones.
- Teacher track: individual high-school teachers only. Team entries are not accepted, and no age limit applies to this track.
- Every entry must address one of the five challenge areas.
Can you apply?
Here's who can apply
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Education required
High School
Appears to have an age limit “aged 15”
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Application process
- 1Pick a track — student team or individual teacher — and one of the five challenge areas.
- 2Student teams prepare a ten-page presentation saved as a PDF (ideally under 10 MB), a video of up to three minutes, and a consent form for each student signed by a parent or guardian.
- 3Teachers prepare a series of lesson plans intended for their school’s curriculum, saved as a PDF (ideally under 10 MB).
- 4Submit through the official entry portal by 17 August 2026, 11:59pm GMT.
- 5Finalists are announced in September 2026 and travel to Oxford for the finals in October 2026.
Program timeline
Entries open
1 December 2025
Submission deadline (11:59pm GMT)
17 August 2026
Finalists announced
September 2026
Global finals at Oxford
October 2026
Winners take up the summer school place (students) or the Executive Education programme (teachers)
2027