Question 1

What is free and what can be purchased?

Accepted Answer

The first contest in a school year (for 2025, it was the November contest) is free for all grades. If you have received a code for your school for specific contest(s), your students can participate in those contests for free.

Parents and School Coordinators can pay for additional contest participation by going to the 𝐂𝐨𝐧𝐭𝐞𝐬𝐭 𝐑𝐞𝐠𝐢𝐬𝐭𝐫𝐚𝐭𝐢𝐨𝐧 tab in their dashboard and checkout the items they want to purchase. Parents have to checkout for each child they have added and school coordinators can make a single payment for the entire school.

Those facing financial hardships can request for a fee waiver by reaching out to our admin email- admin@northstartests.com

Question 2

Which contests are free?

Accepted Answer

Participation in North Star Contests is free for all students in the K/1 level for the entire North Star Cup year (October – June). For all other levels (grades 2 to 8), only participation in the first  contest of the school year is free.

For certain countries, participation is completely free for all levels. Currently (in 2025) these countries are Ghana, Mali, Kenya, Senegal, and South Africa.

Question 3

We want to participate in the contest but we missed the first one. Is our first contest still free?

Accepted Answer

No, for grades 2 to 8, only the first contest (conducted in November, 2025) is free. If you want to get a trial contest, please write to admin@northstartests.com

Question 4

Why is the fee charged for participating in the contest?

Accepted Answer

Registration fees cover the cost of test administration, software maintenance, content creation and translation. All prize money is funded exclusively by external sponsors and is awarded as a merit-based scholarship.

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