Algorithms, an app, and a thinking test.

The USACO four-division ladder for competitive programming; the Congressional App Challenge for builders; the Australian CAT for pure computational thinking — three different shapes of computer-science competition for three different students.

3 competitions 1 published 1 archived 1 in audit

In This Department

Three shapes.

Published

Programming · Olympiad

USA Computing Olympiad

Bronze · Silver · Gold · Platinum.

Four contests per season. Twelve normalized contest pages on file; promotion thresholds documented since 2024.

USACO · Dec–Apr →

Congressional App Challenge

Any topic · any platform · any language.

A nationwide US contest run by Members of Congress. AI is permitted with disclosure. Winners are displayed in the Capitol.

US House · Oct deadline →

Audit

Computational Thinking

Australian CAT

60 minutes · 6 MC + 3 three-stage tasks.

No programming required — pure algorithmic and computational thinking. AU divisions for Years 5–12; SEEDASDAN delivery for Asia.

AMT · May →

An editor's note

USACO is the deepest ladder.

USACO has the most-developed pipeline in this department: a four-division promotion ladder (Bronze → Silver → Gold → Platinum), four contests per season, a thoroughly documented training site, and a real path to the IOI for top performers.

The Congressional App Challenge is the closest thing to a maker's competition. Solo or up to four students; any platform; AI permitted with disclosure. The judging is done by the Member of Congress for the relevant district, which means the rubric varies — focus on a clear product and a clear demo.

If you don't yet code

The Australian CAT is built for you. It asks no programming — only the ability to follow an algorithmic train of thought across multiple stages.

— The Editors