Every year we hold our annual Rockstar Young Geologists’ Competition and not only is this great fun to be a part of but you can win some fantastic geological prizes. It’s open to anyone under the age of 18 whether you are a Rockwatch member or not! We have a number of competition categories (ages and media) you can enter.
It’s a fantastic activity to do during the school summer holiday period when you have more time to find out about a geology topic that interests you. It’s your chance to show off your knowledge and skills without the pressure that goes hand in hand with school work – this is all for fun!
Win Fabulous Prizes
- Everyone who enters the competition receives a small gift.
- All category winners each receive £150 worth of geological equipment, specimens, books, videos, or art materials.
- Second placed entrants receive £125 worth of prizes.
- Third placed entrants receive £100 worth of prizes.
- Plus the young geologist voted overall Rockstar Winner wins an additional £150 prize!
- The Rockstar Young Writer Winner receives £150 plus Student membership of the Geologists’ Association (GA) and your article may be published in the GA magazine (this would look great on your CV when applying for university or a job!).
- All winners have your work featured in our magazine and on our websites.
Key Competition Dates and Details
31st August – Deadline for entries
26 September – Winners will be notified by this date
Competition Categories
There are a number of competition categories you can enter including:
- Rockstar 8 years and under
- Rockstar 8 and under (movie/sound)
- Rockstar 9-12 years
- Rockstar 9-12 (movie/sound)
- Rockstar 13-16 years
- Rockstar 13-16 (movie/sound)
- Rockstar Young Writer (16-18 years)
If you are entering a movie/sound category your entry should be a maximum of 5 minutes long. See the tips page for further advice.
What are Judges Looking for?
There are six criteria when judging each competition entry which are:
- originality
- geological content
- geological accuracy
- presentation
- artistic/literary merit
- inventiveness and knowledge (age-related)
Help on Getting Started
Read our hints and tips for advice on how to get started on any category of competition entry.
Watch the Rockstars Competition Showcase 2024 movie to see what entrants created. And for more inspiration see what other Rockstars have produced on our You Tube channel!
Competition Sponsors
The Rockstars Young Geologists’ Competition has been generously sponsored by Anglo American Foundation for more than a decade. They provide the wonderful prizes and most years have hosted a fabulous prize-giving ceremony in London for all our prize winners.
Last year former Rockwater, Catherine Clark, who now is a professional geologist working for Anglo American, gave a wonderful talk about her job to prize winners. You can read more about this here.