Science Educators’ Association of the Australian Capital Territory

Judging Process

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New Award for 2026 – all ages!

We are pleased to announce a new prize available to any project that describes, discusses or mentions the reduction of CO2 and/or greenhouse gases.

Nature relies on greenhouse gases to keep the Earth warm to support life. However, in cases where human activities can increase the amount of these gases, it can lead to global warming.

This additional prize money will be awarded across all year levels, no matter the topic, STEM category or complexity of your project, to those that are genuine about reducing these harmful gases.

The CO2 and Greenhouse Gas Reduction award will be made available each year thanks to a very generous donor.

The judges look forward to identifying these special prize winners!

 

 

 

Secondary Judging

STEM Categories

All Secondary projects must be submitted into one of the five STEM categories, whether it be a scientific investigation or a technological invention.

Age Level Categories

All projects will be submitted and judged by year or ability level within their STEM category as follows:

    • Junior Secondary: Years 7 -8
    • Intermediate Secondary: Years 9 – 10
    • Senior Secondary: Years 11 -12
    • Secondary Special Education: Years 7 – 12

Regional Fairs for Secondary

SEAACT has 2 separate regional fairs for our Year 7-12 entries that will allow for a more equitable fair that will have schools with the same demographic make-up and similar level of external support/mentorship enter into 2 distinct competitions.  This will allow for more fairness and a better representation of our territory win awards and being entered into the national ASTA iCubed Science Awards.

Primary Judging

STEM Categories

All Primary projects must be submitted into one of the five STEM categories, whether it be a scientific investigation or a technological invention.

Age Level Categories

All projects will be submitted and judged by year or ability level within their STEM category as follows:

  • Early Childhood: Preschool – Year 2
  • Middle Primary: Years 3 -4
  • Upper Primary: Years 5 – 6
  • Primary Special Education: Years P – 6

Awarding of Prizes

Secondary Prizes

Recognition Certificates

All Year 7-12 projects will be judged using either a scientific investigation or technological innovation (engineering) rubric.  Each student is awarded a certificate based on their level of attainment of specified criteria given in the scoring rubric:

  • High Distinction Certificate for every student who achieves a level 4 against the rubric.
  • Distinction Certificate for every student who achieves a level 3 against the rubric.
  • Credit Certificate for every student who achieves a level 2 against the rubric.
  • Certificates of Participation for all other student entries.
Sponsored Awards

Top projects from each of the STEM categories and age levels will be awarded:

  • First Place
  • Second Place
  • Highly Commended
  • Encouragement Award

Primary Prizes

All primary projects will be judged using an age-specific rubric. Top projects from each of the STEM categories and age levels will be awarded:

  • First Place
  • Second Place
  • Highly Commended
  • Participation Certificate

We recommend that students read the criteria before starting their project, and also at the end as a checklist that everything has been included. Teachers are welcome to use the rubrics as the basis of school assessment tasks.