Then the Alan Turing Cryptography Competition is for you!

Now in its tenth year, the Alan Turing Cryptography Competition is aimed at secondary school children in the UK up to Year 11 (England and Wales), S4 (Scotland), Year 12 (Northern Ireland). You don't need to be a computer whizz or a mathematical genius — you just need to keep your wits about you and be good at solving problems!

The competition is organised by the Department of Mathematics at the University of Manchester.

Sounds great! How can I take part and what do I have to do?

The competition will start on Monday 16th January 2023, with problems being released on subsequent Monday afternoons at 4pm (UK time).

If you'd like some practice, puzzles from previous years are available in the archive.

If you would like to be notified about this and future Cryptography competitions, please sign up for an email reminder.

Who was Alan Turing?

In his relatively short life, Alan Turing — code-breaker, mathematician and founding father of computer science — made a unique impact on the history of computing, computer science, artificial intelligence, developmental biology, and the mathematical theory of computability.

Why is cryptography important?

Cryptographical techniques are used everywhere in modern everyday life. For example, Whatsapp and many similar programmes use encryption to prevent eavesdropping, many websites use encryption to process credit card payments securely, and banks use it so that people can safely do their internet banking at home.

MathsBombe 2023

MathsBombe is the sister competition to the Alan Turing Cryptography Competition. Aimed at A-level students and those taking Scottish Highers or those taking GCSE, the competition features a series of mathematical puzzles to solve. Visit the MathsBombe site for details.