Question 1

How does one participate in the contests?

Accepted Answer

Basically to participate in North Star contest you will need :

A Contest Coordinator to run the contest (usually a teacher, librarian, parent or tutoring center director). In case the school doesn't participate, a parent can act as Contest Coordinator.

A place to write the contest (usually a school, home, library, tutoring center)

A device with internet access (computers are preferred but tablets and smartphones are also possible)

A valid Access Code is usually obtained by the Coordinator over email after they register and add a child/student from the dashboard. Each child will have their own access code.

To participate in the contests each student must come to northstartests.com on one of the Contest Days (typically a Tuesday or Wednesday). To start the contest, the student must login with their individual Access Code and click on the big START THE CONTEST button which appears in their dashboard on Contest Days. Afterwards, they can check their results and generate certificates by signing in using the Access Code.

Question 2

Do students need to register for each contest separately?

Accepted Answer

No. Registration happens only once for the parents or school coordinators and they can add any number of students using their accounts. Once they add a student, the student can attend all the contests for the year using the same access code. However, to attend paid contests, parents or school coordinators must complete payments or obtain a fee waiver from contest admin. Students can also be transferred from one grade to another at the end of the school year.

Question 3

How can I check if my school is already registered?

Accepted Answer

Parents are informed by the school about participation in the contest. If the parent has not received any notification about participation from school, they can create an account and sign up for the tests. In case they later find out about school's participation, they can get a refund for the payment by sending us an email at admin@northstartests.com that the child will participate via school.

Question 4

How bulk CSV/Excel upload works for schools?

Accepted Answer

Schools can add students from a roster by uploading an Excel or CSV file. School coordinators must wait for few hours for the bulk upload to get processed as it requires manual review from organizers. It may take up to one business day for the process to complete or up to two business hours when a contest is active.

Question 5

Is it too late / too early to register for the next contest?

Accepted Answer

You can start registering for the North Star Cup’s contests for the current school year on July 1. Afterwards, you can still sign up at any point during the year before the last contest is over (mid of June). Yes, you can even sign up on contest days. Please note, once you have a North Star Cup valid Access Code, you are registered for all the remaining contests in that North Star Cup 𝐟𝐨𝐫 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐞𝐧𝐭𝐢𝐫𝐞 𝐬𝐜𝐡𝐨𝐨𝐥 𝐲𝐞𝐚𝐫.

It is easiest to register a student last-minute if the Coordinator registered at your school has School Wide Contest Access or it is for a free contest (𝐢𝐧 𝐍𝐨𝐯𝐞𝐦𝐛𝐞𝐫 𝐚𝐥𝐥 𝐥𝐞𝐯𝐞𝐥𝐬 𝐚𝐫𝐞 𝐟𝐫𝐞𝐞 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐚𝐥𝐥 𝐜𝐨𝐧𝐭𝐞𝐬𝐭𝐬 𝐢𝐧 𝐠𝐫𝐚𝐝𝐞𝐬 𝐊/1 𝐚𝐫𝐞 𝐟𝐫𝐞𝐞 𝐟𝐨𝐫 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐞𝐧𝐭𝐢𝐫𝐞 𝐬𝐜𝐡𝐨𝐨𝐥 𝐲𝐞𝐚𝐫) since the School Coordinator merely has to generate new Access Codes for the new students.

If a student wants to participate separately from a school, their parent simply make a purchase of Contest on our website which is valid for the entire school year.

Reach out to us at admin@northstartests.com for information tailored to your situation.

Getting Started & Prep