5 Regions. 200 regional qualifiers.
12 global Winners.

HCGEC 2026 runs from February to March 2026, featuring two key rounds, the Regional Qualifiers held throughout 5 regions, followed by the Global Finals. To make it to the Global Finals, participants must first compete in their region and rank among the top 40 in their category.

  1. APAC (East Asia, Southeast Asia, and Oceania)

  2. Europe, Russia, and Central Asia

  3. Middle East, North Africa, Central and South Africa

  4. LATAM (South America, Central America, Mexico, and the islands of the Caribbean)

  5. North America

All deadlines are 23:59 (GMT+0) on dates specified below

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octoBER 1ST, 2025

Early Bird Registrations open

December 15th, 2025

Early Bird Registrations close

 

Early bird

  • Registrations are open to students aged 13-18

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December 2025

- January 2026

Dec 16th: Regular Registrations open 

Jan 30th: Prompts Announcement

 

REGULAR RegISTRATIONS

  • Regular registrations are open to students aged 13-18.

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February 2026

10th: Regular Registrations close

23rd: Regional Essay submission deadline

 

Regional Qualifier

  • Participants will have over 10 days after registrations close to craft and submit their essays. Essays should be submitted in a Word Document through the submission link that will be provided to registrants.

  • All participants will be invited to exclusive bootcamps during the competition by top professionals and professors!

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march 2026

10th : Global Finalists announced

19th: Global Essay submission deadline

31st: Global Winners announced

 

global round

  • Top 40 essays from each region - 10 argumentative, 10 creative, 10 journalistic and 10 Topical - will be invited to represent their region and qualify for the global final!

  • Each participant will receive 2 weeks to elaborate on their regional submission and submit their cumulative essay in a Word Document before the deadline

  • The top 12 submissions, of the final 200, will be recognized in the global final and will win awesome prizes.

  • This includes 3 essays from the creative selection, 3 from argumentative, 3 from journalism and 3 from topical.

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