Contests

Contests are listed under Activities. A contest's page shows the deadline and, when they apply, the entry fee, theme and eligibility, as well as the judges and prizes. Read it all before you start.

Entering a contest

1. Log in (or create a free account first).
2. Open the contest and press Register. You'll see You're registered ✓.
3. Fill in the Submit your entry form and press Submit entry. Some fields have a character limit; a counter shows how much room is left.
4. You'll see Submission received with the date and time, and a copy of your entry is emailed to you. Keep that email.

Changing your entry

Until the deadline, you can come back, change your entry and press Update submission. Each update replaces the one before, and you get a new email copy. The time we keep is the time of your last save.

Unregister takes you off the contest but doesn't remove an entry you've already sent. If you want it withdrawn, tell us through the Contact page.

Deadlines are in West Africa Time (WAT)

• WAT is UTC+1 all year. It's the same as Cameroon and Nigeria time.
• Entries are accepted until the end of the minute shown. A deadline of 11:59 pm WAT means you can still save at 11:59 and 59 seconds.
• A deadline shown as end of day (11:59 pm WAT) runs to the end of that day in WAT.
• If you live outside West Africa, work out the deadline in your own time. For example, 11:59 pm WAT is 10:59 pm in London in winter (GMT) and 6:59 pm in New York in summer (EDT).
• Don't leave it to the last minute. A slow connection can make a save arrive after the deadline, and late saves are refused.

After the contest closes

Once the deadline passes, or the organisers close the contest, you can't send or change an entry. The contest page then shows “Submissions closed on …” (or “Submissions are closed.”). If you entered, it also shows when your entry was received and that it's with the judges.

How judging works

• The judges are listed on the contest page under Meet the Judges, with the Chief Judge marked.
• Judges see entries without names, labelled only Entry 1, Entry 2 and so on, and not in the order they were sent. They judge the work, not the person.
• Each judge scores each entry. Their scores and notes are private: only that judge and the Chief Judge see them.
• Places are decided by the average of the judges' scores.
• When results are ready, they appear on the contest page under Results, with each place's average score and prize.

A question or a problem with your entry

Send us a message from the Contact page. Include the contest's name and the email address you entered with. We can see the exact time your last save reached us. If you think a save was refused unfairly, say what time (and time zone) you pressed the button.