The 2024 Scratch Competition will launch today, Friday the 10^th November, one week before Science Week. Run by the Irish Computer Society (ICS) and supported by Lero, the Science Foundation Ireland Research Centre for Software, the Scratch Competition promotes computing and software development at both primary and secondary school levels.

Since the inception of the Scratch competition in 2010, coding has become one of the essential skills for the future. Scratch is a visual programming language that encourages children to develop essential coding skills through fun and interactive learning. It challenges students to create stories, games and animations using software.  ‘’It is key that we promote the adoption of the computer sciences across all stages of our education system, to meet the growing need for skilled, professional, and ethical IT and technology specialists in our society. The Annual Scratch Competition encourages innovation while giving young students a taste of a future career in the technology sector.’’ Lucy Hayes, Partnership Development Manager, ICS

Schools all over Ireland are now invited to register and take part in the 2024 competition. The Scratch National Final will take place in May of 2024 at the University of Limerick. The closing date for entries and deadline for project submissions is 20^th March 2024.Last year’s Finals were also held at the University of Limerick on May 10^th 2023, bringing together the top scoring teams from all over the country. School students aged six and up across five age categories were invited to demonstrate their Scratch projects to the judges. In the below video we look back at the amazing day that we had, hear from our judges and the children taking part about their projects and how much the Scratch Programme means to them.