Caribou Help / FAQ
Please look for your question among the >200 questions in our FAQ before emailing us. Caribou aims to be 100% self-service. This helps keep our services affordable.
To use this Help Tree, choose the appropriate category and subcategories. If you are unable to find your question, use the Contact Us form located in the leaves of this tree. Thank you for your help.
Help Tree → General Information → Contest Participation
Questions & Answers:
Who can participate?
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Who can participate?
Answer:
Any school-aged child can participate in Caribou Contests. We offer 7 levels from the K/1 level up to grades 11/12. The competition is online so you can participate from anywhere in the world!
In some countries, it is better to sign up through one of our local partners. To see how you can register, see our Registration Guide.
Do you have to live in Canada to participate?
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Do you have to live in Canada to participate?
Answer:
No, you don’t have to live in Canada. It is an international online competition: currently (in 2021) we have over 50,000 students participating in over 38 countries!
In some countries, it is better to sign up through one of our local partners. To see how you can register, see our Registration Guide. Or to see if there is a local Caribou Representative in your home country, see About Caribou – Our Team.
Can schools in the Southern Hemisphere participate (eg. Australia)?
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Can schools in the Southern Hemisphere participate (eg. Australia)?
Answer:
You can definitely participate in Caribou Contests in the Southern Hemisphere. The main difficulty is that the school year is different from the Northern Hemisphere. Here are our recommendations:
- Students should participate in level they were in upon the first October contest of the Cup
- Contests which fall in the summer holiday may be written at home, under the same conditions (no outside help, no communicating, no calculators, and under adult supervision if possible)
- Students should be sent home with a letter for parents explaining how to access the Contests at home and the student’s access code, as well as instructions for how to contact their Caribou Coordinator if any issues occur. If you would like, Contact Us and we will send you a template that can be used.
Bruce starts grade 2 mid-February. Near the end of the school year, he participates in the grade 2 October contest, then the grade 2 December contest. His teacher sends him home with a letter with instructions and his access code so that he can write the grade 2 January contest at home. In February he starts grade 3 at school, but Bruce is still in the grade 2 level for this Caribou Cup, so he writes the February, April, and May contests at the grade 2 level. In October, he starts the grade 3/4 level in the new Caribou Cup.
Eventually, we would like to create a separate Caribou Cup for the Southern Hemisphere, although it is not feasible right now.
How does one participate in the contests?
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How does one participate in the contests?
Answer:
Please see the Caribou Cup Participation page for a full explanation.
Basically to participate in any Caribou contest you will need :
- A Contest Coordinator to run the contest (usually a teacher, librarian, homeschooling parent or tutoring centre director)
- A place to write the contest (usually a school, homeschool, library, tutoring centre)
- A device with internet access (computers are preferred but tablets and smartphones are also possible)
- A valid Access Code (usually obtained by the Caribou Coordinator / via a purchase in the Online Shop)
It is also possible to participate without a School by registering with the Caribou Virtual School. To do so, when making a purchase in the Online Shop, you must check the box for "No School" rather than selecting a school in the list. You will receive your Access Code and participation instructions along with your purchase confirmation email.
In any case, to participate in the contests each student must come to cariboutests.com on one of the Contest Days (typically a Wednesday or Thursday) within their school’s Contest Time Window. To start the contest, the student must click on the big red START THE CONTEST which appears in the upper-right corner on Contest Days, then sign in with their individual Access Code. The Access Code does not need to be assigned before contest day, it will become associated with the student’s name when they sign in to write their first contest.
How can I check if my school is already registered?
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How can I check if my school is already registered?
Answer:
To see if your school has already registered with Caribou Contests, check out the Participating Schools page.
If your school is not registered, a teacher, librarian, or administrator can register as a Caribou Coordinator for free here.
Is it too late / too early to register for the next contest?
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Is it too late / too early to register for the next contest?
Answer:
You can start registering for the current Caribou Cup’s contests on July 1. Afterwards, you can still sign up at any point during the year before the last contest is over (start of May). Yes, you can even sign up on a contest days. Please note, once you have a Caribou Cup valid Access Code, you are registered for all the remaining contests in that Caribou Cup.
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 (October all levels or all contests in grades K/1 or grade 2) since the Coordinator merely has to generate new Access Codes for the new students.
If a student wants to participate separately from a school, they simply make a purchase of Contest Participation in our Online Shop.
See our Registration Guide for information tailored to your situation.
Can I start participating after the first contest?
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Can I start participating after the first contest?
Answer:
Yes, each contest is separate. For every contest there is a separate ranking, and you can download certificates for individual contests from your Student or Coordinator account. The first contest is in October, but you can definitely start to participate later in the year. The only difference to keep in mind is that while the October contest is free, the other 5 (November, January, February, April, May) are not.
Additionally, missing a contest could affect your ranking in the Caribou Cup, which takes into account your best 5 out of 6 contest scores.
When is the next contest?
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When is the next contest?
Answer:
The countdown at the top of our website header counts down until the next contest. To see all contest dates for the current Caribou Cup, you can click on the Upcoming icon on our homepage, or on Contests > Upcoming in the main menu. For general information about the contests, dates, registration, and so on, please visit the Caribou Cup Participation page.
To receive updates about upcoming contests, please consider the following options :
- Follow us on Instagram
- Follow us on Twitter
- Join our Email Subscriber List (renewed every year) if you are a Parent/Student or by enabling “Allow Caribou to Contact Me” in your account settings if you are a Coordinator
- Check the Caribou News on the Homepage
I do not receive email reminders for the contests, but I would like to.
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I do not receive email reminders for the contests, but I would like to.
Answer:
Here are a few ways to receive updates:
- Follow us on Facebook
- Follow us on Instagram
- Follow us on Twitter
- Join our Email Subscriber List (for Parents and Students). Reminders are sent two weeks before each contest. Please note this subscription must be renewed every year.
- For Coordinators: in “Edit My Account” enable “Allow Caribou to Contact Me” to receive email reminders 2 weeks before each contest and a couple days before each contest.
- Check the Caribou News on the Homepage
We send a reminder to all subscribers a couple weeks before each contest containing important reminders and information about the Interactive and History questions if applicable. Often a second reminder is sent a couple days beforehand.
Your Caribou Coordinator (teacher) also receives these updates and can pass the information on to their students.
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