The Alan Turing Cryptography Competition

Do you like breaking codes and solving ciphers? 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 S4 (Scotland). 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.

Whilst in previous years we ran a central competition with entry restricted to teams from UK schools, we now simply provide the puzzles for students anywhere in the world to try, or for teachers to use as a resource for running their own competition within their school.

How can I take part and what do I have to do?

The current version of the Alan Turing Cryptography Competition opened on Monday 15th January 2024 at 4pm (UK time).

Prior to the competition opening, puzzles from previous years will be made available for practice.

Certificates

Virtual certificates are now available for competitors who have taken part! If you want to download or print out your certificate, please do so before the solutions are released on Monday 18th March, as certificates will not be available once the answers are posted.