For schools · Competitions

Give your best students a national stage.

Praecip runs an annual calendar of academic and sporting competitions open to schools across Uganda, essay, debate, mathematics, science and sport. Free to enter for claimed schools, regionally fair, and every result feeds your profile.

The six competitions

Six contests, one calendar.

The Praecip Essay Prize

S2 – S6 · O & A-Level

A national essay competition on a set theme each year, judged by a panel of teachers and editors. English and Luganda categories. Shortlisted essays are published on Praecip.

Inter-School Debate Cup

S3 – S6

Regional rounds in Buganda, Western, Eastern and Northern, building to a national final. Motions cover education, civics and current affairs. British-Parliamentary format.

Mathematics Challenge

P6 – S4

A two-paper olympiad-style contest for primary and lower-secondary, with separate UNEB and Cambridge streams. Sat in schools under invigilation, marked centrally.

Young Scientists Fair

S1 – S5

A project competition, students design, build and present a working investigation. Judged on method and clarity, not budget. Winning projects tour partner schools.

Schools Sports Series

All secondary

A coordinated fixtures calendar across football, netball, athletics and rugby, with a results table that feeds the Praecip school profiles. Term-by-term standings.

Headteachers' Quiz

Staff teams

A lighter end-of-year general-knowledge contest between staff teams, a fundraiser for the bursary fund and a fixture in the schools-community calendar.

The year, by term

When everything happens.

The calendar tracks the UNEB three-term year. Exact dates and entry deadlines go out to registered schools at the start of each term.

Term 1

Feb – Apr

Essay Prize opens · Mathematics Challenge sat · Sports Series round one

Term 2

May – Aug

Debate Cup regional rounds · Young Scientists Fair · Sports Series round two

Term 3

Sep – Nov

Debate & Essay national finals · Sports finals · Headteachers' Quiz · Awards evening

How we run it

Fair, free, and worth winning.

Competitions only build a community if every school can take part on the same terms. These are the three rules the programme is built on.

I.
A platform, not a fee.
Entry is free for claimed schools. Competitions exist to surface talent and give schools something to be proud of, not to be a revenue line.
II.
Results feed the profile.
Wins, finalists and sports standings attach to your Praecip profile under a source-labelled "Co-curricular" section, visible to every family comparing you.
III.
Regionally fair.
Rounds run in all four regions before any national final, so a strong rural school is never priced out of reach by a trip to Kampala.

For sponsors & partners

Put your name on a category.

Businesses, foundations and universities can sponsor a competition category, covering prizes, travel for finalists from far regions, and the awards evening. Sponsors are credited across the programme and on every result that feeds a school profile.

Talk about sponsorship

Prize fund
Cash and equipment prizes for category winners and their schools.
Finalist travel
Covers transport and lodging so finalists from distant districts can attend.
Awards evening
The end-of-year ceremony where category winners are announced.