Bebras Past Papers with Answers - Practise Online

The Bebras Challenge (Bebras International Challenge on Informatics and Computational Thinking) is an annual contest that introduces students aged about 6 to 18 to computer science ideas through short logic puzzles. It is not a mathematics olympiad and needs no programming knowledge: each task describes an everyday situation and asks students to reason about sequences, patterns, rules, graphs, sorting or encoding. Each member country translates the shared tasks and runs the challenge for its own students, mostly online in November.

Bebras past papers are a good way to build logical thinking and step-by-step reasoning, skills that also help in mathematics and coding. This guide explains the Bebras age groups and levels, the rounds, the Bebras exam format and how to prepare.

Overview

Bebras started in Lithuania in 2004, at the initiative of Professor Valentina Dagienė of Vilnius University. "Bebras" is the Lithuanian word for beaver. The contest first spread through Europe and now has member countries on every continent.

Bebras is a community rather than a single company. Each year, representatives of the member countries meet at an international Bebras Task Workshop to propose, review and agree on a shared pool of tasks. Every country then picks tasks from the pool, translates them and organizes its own challenge. The official first round in most countries takes place during International Bebras Week in November.

National organizers include USA Bebras in the United States, UK Bebras run with the Raspberry Pi Foundation, the Australian Maths Trust in Australia, and Edmicro (through the onluyen.vn platform) in Vietnam.

Because Bebras uses logic puzzles, schools often group it with maths contests, but its real subject is informatics and computational thinking. After each task, official versions usually explain the computer science idea behind it.

Bebras levels and grades

These names follow the international age groups used, for example, by USA Bebras. Countries are free to set their own names and grade bands. The UK uses different group names (its "Juniors" are younger than the international Juniors), Australia uses its own primary and secondary groups, and Vietnam labels the six levels "Level 1" to "Level 6" for Grades 1-2 up to 11-12. When using a paper from another country, match it by age, not by group name.

Rounds

The international community does not run a world final. Everything after Round 1 is organized nationally, and some countries, such as Australia, instead offer two separate challenges in one year.

Bebras exam format and scoring

A typical Bebras challenge has about 15 tasks divided into three groups (easy, medium and hard) and lasts 45 to 60 minutes. Answers are multiple choice or interactive, and in most countries the work is marked automatically by an online system.

In Vietnam, for example, each paper has:

There are 15 multiple-choice questions in 60 minutes, with a maximum of 135 points. Other countries use their own scoring, so check whether wrong answers lose points where you take part.

When is Bebras held

The main challenge runs once a year, mostly in October or November around International Bebras Week. In Vietnam, Round 1 has been held online in October and Round 2 in person in November. Registration is usually done by schools or individuals through the national Bebras organizer a few weeks before the challenge.

How to prepare with Bebras past papers

• Read the whole story first. Each task is a short scenario with rules. Most mistakes come from missing one rule, not from hard calculation.
• Draw it out. Sketch the network, table or sequence on paper. Turning words into a diagram is exactly the skill Bebras tests.
• Try small cases. If a task asks about a long process, play it out for two or three steps to see the pattern.
• Manage time by difficulty. Hard tasks are worth more, but easy tasks are quicker. Secure the easy and medium tasks before spending long on one hard task.
• Read the explanation afterwards. The "this is informatics" notes connect each task to a real computer science idea and make the next similar task easier.

On Edupiad you can practise the Bebras papers we have online with a timer, automatic marking and a review of each question. We do not have every year or every level, and some interactive tasks from the original online versions cannot be reproduced exactly.

Frequently asked questions

Is Bebras a math competition?

No. Bebras is an informatics and computational thinking challenge. It uses logic puzzles and needs no programming, which is why it is often listed alongside maths contests.

What age is Bebras for?

Students from about 6 to 18, in six age groups from Kits to Seniors. Each country sets its own grade bands.

Do I need to know coding for Bebras?

No. Tasks only require careful reading and logical reasoning. They are designed to introduce computer science ideas without prior knowledge.

How many questions are in the Bebras challenge?

Usually about 15, split into easy, medium and hard, in 45 to 60 minutes. The exact number depends on the country and age group.

When is Bebras Week?

Bebras Week is held in November. Some countries, such as Vietnam, run their first round a little earlier, in October.

Sources

• Bebras International
• USA Bebras Computing Challenge
• UK Bebras Challenge
• Bebras - Australian Maths Trust
• Bebras Vietnam (Edmicro)
• Bebras - Wikipedia