Da Vinci Decathlon - Tuesday 12 March

What is the Da Vinci Decathlon?

The da Vinci Decathlon is an academic global competition designed to challenge and stimulate the minds of school students.

Students compete in teams of eight across 10 disciplines:

• Engineering
• Mathematics
• Code breaking
• Art and poetry
• Science
• English
• Ideation
• Creative producers
• Cartography
• Legacy

Why Da Vinci? 

Leonardo da Vinci (1452-1519) was one of the world’s greatest thinkers and polymaths and has inspired this competition. da Vinci demonstrated an ability to perceive the interconnected nature of knowledge and embraced learning with a lifelong passion and determination to uncover the unknown. The Decathlon competition places emphasis on higher order thinking skills, problem solving and creativity through transdisciplinary tasks. 

The Competition

The da Vinci Decathlon began in 2002 as an exciting offshoot of the very successful da Vinci Program for gifted and talented students at Knox Grammar School in Sydney, Australia. The first event in the UK took place in 2014, and since 2019 Ampleforth College has hosted this annual event. 

The Decathlon is designed to celebrate the academic gifts of students by providing a stimulating and challenging competition run in the spirit of an Olympic Decathlon.

Over 16,000 students compete nationally and internationally in this exciting competition that fosters the 21st Century skills of collaboration, creativity, problem-solving and communication. 

The aim of the competition is to empower students to stretch and challenge their skills and knowledge and to work collaboratively as a team to solve complex problems and tackle sophisticated tasks.

Teamwork is key to this challenge. A successful team will be one that works together, maximising each members talents to the best of their ability. 

Da Vinci Decathlon: Ampleforth College - Tuesday 12 March 2024 

The da Vinci Decathlon at Ampleforth College will take place on Tuesday 12 March 2024 from 8.30am - 5pm, and is aimed at Junior (Year 7 & 8) and Intermediate (Year 9 &10) levels. The winners are those who fare the best across the board, with the  overall winner being eligible to take part in the international competition in September 2024 in Oxford alongside teams from across the world.

The day is high octane, visual, frenetic, and remarkable, with students coming away from it feeling that they have achieved a great deal, and been stretched more than they thought would be possible. 

If your school would like to take part, please contact Jayne Potter by emailing jayne.potter@ampleforth.org.uk or click here to register. Accommodation is available for participating schools, subject to availability.