All competitions in the UK are run by the UKCA with the help of our many organisers from all over the country. We have organised over 60 competitions in the UK and have also helped run competitions over in Ireland to help their community grow. Our delegates have over 300 combined competitions of experience with many more to come.

Make sure to follow our social media pages to keep up to date with the latest content and media!

Due to current circumstances regarding COVID-19, multiple precautions will be taken during the competition. The following restrictions will be in effect:

• If you show any signs of illness or have been exposed to anyone with COVID-19 in the past week, please do not attend the competition.
• Hand sanitizer will be available during the competition.
• We would highly encourage every person within the venue to wear a mask as often as possible.

Please be aware, that the situation may change and government restrictions and recommendations may change as well. As a result, the competition may be affected or cancelled at any time. Any changes will be communicated by email. If the event is cancelled, we will issue full refunds on the registration fees.

Frequently Asked Questions

Q: How do I register?
A: First you need to make sure you have created a WCA account. You can do this by going to the sign-up page and creating an account. Once you have created the account and confirmed your email address, follow the menu bar to the Register page and follow the instructions fully and carefully.

Q: Why am I not on the registration list yet?
A: Please make sure that you have followed the instructions listed on the Register page. You could also be on the waiting list. The competitor limit can be found on the General Info page, and you can see the number on accepted competitors on the Competitors page also on the menu. If you have done everything correctly and the competition is not full then just be patient. We have to manually approve registrations and the organisers aren't available all the time. If you believe you have followed the steps correctly but still are not on the registration list after 2-3 days, then feel free to email us at the contact link on the General Info page. If the competition is full, you may check the Waiting List tab to see what position you are on the waiting list.

Q: I am no longer able to attend, what do I do?
A: The first thing you need to do is tell us as soon as you know via the contact link on the General Info page. Competitions generally fill up quite quickly and letting us know that you can't attend means we can add someone from the waiting list.

Q: If I do not attend do I get a refund?
A: If you inform us you are no longer attending before the limit date for refunds on the General Info page then you will receive a 75% refund. If this time has passed then you will receive no refund.

Q: How fast do I have to be to compete?
A: We recommend that you check out the Events and Schedule tabs - if you can make the time limit for the events you want to compete in, then you're fast enough! Loads of people come to competitions just to beat their own personal bests, and meet likeminded people, with no intention of winning or even making it past the first round.

Q: Are there different age categories?
A: All competitors compete on the same level and all ages are welcome. In general most are aged 10-20 but we have plenty of regulars who are older or younger than this!

Q: Do I use my own cubes to compete?
A: Yes! We do not provide cubes for competitors, so make sure to bring your favourite cubes for all events you are competing in and look after them, you don't want them to go missing.

Q: Am I allowed to bring a guest?
A: Yes, you are allowed to bring as many guests as you please. Space in the venue may be restricted during busy times so please be sensible.

Q: Can I come only to spectate?
A: Yes! However, the venue is usually quite busy during the morning, so if you are just coming to spectate please come in the afternoon.

Q: I'm a parent, what can I do to get involved?
A: If you're looking for something to do then you can certainly help out with the running and judging! We pretty much always need help with this and they are really easy procedures to follow. You can come to the introduction to competing where we go through all of it there, and there is a tutorial on the Important Information tab as well. Being a 'runner' is also great for step count and requires zero knowledge of cubing if you're worried about that!

Q: When do I arrive at the competition?
A: If you are a new competitor, we highly recommend that you show up for the introduction to competing which is held as the first thing on both days. Otherwise, we recommend you turn up at least 15 minutes before your first event, you can check when this is on the Schedule tab. This will give you enough time to register, find a seat, and warm-up.

Q: What do I do when I arrive?
A: The first thing you do when you arrive is find the registration desk if registration is open. If you arrive before registration opens, we will make an announcement as to when it does open. If there is nobody present at the registration desk then find a staff member and we will make sure to register you.

Q: When can I leave the competition?
A: You are more than welcome to leave whenever you want. If you have no more events left then you are not required to stay. If you need to leave before your last round of an event, you may do so, though it will be helpful to let an organiser that you do not intend on competing in it.

Q: How do I find results?
A: All the results will be found on this page a couple of days after the competition, once they have all been checked and uploaded. If you are looking for live results, in the Menu Bar at the top go to Results ≫ WCA Live.

New Competitors

If you are a new competitor, it is important that you are familiar with the Regulations. The regulations are very long and are quite a lot to take in so don't worry if you don't remember it all! Because of this, we have a video that explains the competing procedure which we recommend to watch before attending: Competing Tutorial. We will also be holding an introduction to competing which we recommend you attend as well.

New competitors must bring some form of ID to show at the competition to confirm the name, the country they wish to compete for, and the date of birth registered with. The usual items of ID that people bring are Passports, Birth Certificates, Driver's Licenses, etc. As long as it has your name, date of birth, and country, then it will be fine.

If you have any questions, we recommend that you check the FAQ in case it has been asked before. But you are more than welcome to contact us at the link on the General Info page. We also recommend you check out the UKCA tab to sign up to our mailing list for announcements of future competitions, among other things.

Information for All Competitors

• Please help judge! As a competitor, your judging assignments are the absolute minimum you should be doing to help out. As second rounds, third rounds and finals have no assigned judges, we really need people to help out whenever available for these. If you are directly asked to judge, please go and judge for the remainder of the round in progress. If you do not comply then we are within our rights to disqualify you from the competition as per Regulation 1e2. If you're a parent you can also get involved with running and juging, it's really easy!
• Please note that Carbon-Fiber puzzles are not permitted, and please make sure your cube complies with logo regulations!
• When you are competing and have handed in your puzzle, please make sure to be waiting in the designated area so that judges and runners do not have to come searching for you.
• Please DO NOT talk about the scrambles or your solutions whilst the round is in progress as per Regulation 2g3.
• During blindfolded events, please stay silent within the venue. These events require a high amount of concentration and any noise can be distracting. We will announce when the silence will begin and when you may talk within the venue again.
• No flash photography under any circumstance within the venue. It is extremely distracting for competitors.
• If you are a spectator, please stay 1.5m away from competitors at all times as per Regulation 7b. If you are filming someone competing, please stay out of the competitor area.
• Please treat the venue with respect, put all of your rubbish in bins, black bin bags, or take it home with you and keep your area tidy.
• There are thousands of puzzles at these events, make sure to keep yours together so you don't lose them! Keeping them in a bag and looking after it at all times is recommended. If you do lose a puzzle, please contact us at the link on the General Info page, it is likely that someone has handed it in to us.
• We will be taking videos and photographs of the competition and the environment for our social media pages and website. By attending the competition as a competitor or a guest, you are accepting that you may be filmed or photographed for these purposes.

Because we are doing fixed seating and have 40 timers available, only the first 40 people to register for either 4BLD or 5BLD will be able to compete. You may register for both of these events, and you will have a 1 hour cumulative time limit for both. This means you have 1 hour allocated for however many of the 6 available attempts that you wish to do. You can pick and choose the order you do these attempts.

Please only register for these events if you intend on competing. If you drop out on the day then we won't be able to add other people who might want to compete.

People on the competitor list:

1. Charlie Stark
2. Ryan Eckersley
3. Ashley Hatch
4. Oliver Wheat
5. Sam Spendla
6. Sean Moran
7. William Wright
8. Ashwyn Wadhawan
9. Jack Fidler
10. Harry Owen
11. Oliver Richards
12. Lichi Fang (方力驰)
13. Harry Savage
14. Mengfei Shen (沈梦非)
15. Adam Devere
16. Eli Jay
17. Thomas Bevan

This competition will be sponsored by Speedcubing.org!

They are kindly setting up a cube store to sell their puzzles throughout the event!

Here's what the owner, Daniel Evans, had to say:

I started speedcubing.org in its current form in 2019, I had previously sold cubes to my school cubing club and on a few market stalls in my local area. speedcubing.org has since grown to become one of the UKs largest speedcube stores aiming to provide the cubing community with high quality speedcubes at reasonable prices and with fast customer service. I am a competitive speedcuber so I understand the needs of speedcubers and can give recommendations accordingly, I strive to get new cubes in stock quickly and I try them for myself so I can develop an opinion on each one. I also have a range of helpful written instructions and videos on how to improve, and for those wanting extra support I do even offer speedcubing tuition

Venue

Main Leisure at Cheltenham building, opposite the road from the Prince of Wales stadium. The Sports Hall is accessed through the main entrance, past reception, straight on and then turn right. We also have a spectator area, if you can find the stairs up to them, which will provide some additional seating and might be a bit more chilled out.

The venue is about a 15-20 minute walk from the centre of Cheltenham, which is where the closest food outlets and hotels will be.

It is also next to Pitville Park, which is a lovely place for a stroll and has some children's play areas.

Travel

Car: Leisure at Cheltenham, Tommy Taylors Ln, Cheltenham GL50 4RN. The car park there is free to use and there is an overflow area round the back. If it is full then there is additional parking available at the Prince of Wales stadium across the road.
Train: The nearest station is Cheltenham Spa, which is about a 30-45 minute walk from the venue. For bus links from the station, you could either get the N bus straight from the Station to Pitville Gates for a 15 minute walk, or get the 93 from Glencairn Park Road to the Promenade, then the H from the high street directly to the Leisure Centre.
Plane: The nearest big airport is Birmingham Airport. There are frequent trains to Birmingham New Street and then to Cheltenham Spa.
Coach: There is a National Express stop at Royal Well, near the centre of town. I would say that the 444 National Express service from London Victoria/Heathrow is the best way to travel from London.
Bus: The H bus goes from the high street to "Recreation Centre" - right outside the venue (about 8 minutes).

Accommodation

The closest chain hotels are the Holiday Inn Express and Premier Inn in the centre of town. There is also the Premier Inn Central (West/A40), which is closer to the station, and the Travelodge, which may be cheaper and are both on the 94 bus route, which can take you into town and runs 24/7.

• Holiday Inn Express - Cheltenham Town Centre
• Premier Inn - Cheltenham Town Centre
• Premier Inn - Cheltenham Central (West/A40)
• Travelodge - Cheltenham

Each event is run in groups, depending on how many people are competing in the event depends on how many groups there are. We will call up groups two at a time, with the odd groups on the left stage and the even groups on the right stage. These groups will then complete their solves during the scheduled time for the round. We have software that automatically picks what groups you are in and who scrambles for each group.

We will expect you to judge/run a minimum of 1-2 groups of the events you are competing in. We would highly appreciate you judging more than this though and will be calling for more judges throughout the day when needed. The more judges we have available, the more streamlined and on-schedule the competition will be!

Click here to see what groups you are in!