Registration
The HIPPO runs in four stages: Preliminary Round, National Finals, Regional Qualifiers and World Finals. Candidates who do not qualify for either the Qualifiers or World Finals will be given a chance to participate in Play-Off Qualifiers (See point 4).
Please read carefully all the HIPPO Stages.
REGISTRATION DEADLINE: Sunday, 16 February 2025
REGISTRATION FEE: €25,00
REGISTER HERE
1 – Preliminary Round: Saturday, 8 March 2025 (Cyprus)
2 – National Finals Round: Saturday, 12 April 2025 (Cyprus)
Venues:
- NICOSIA
- OLYMPION GREEK PRIVATE SCHOOL
- TERRA SANTA COLLEGE
- LIMASSOL
- Linopetras Lyceum
- PAPHOS
- CP ENGLISH PRIVATE INSTITUTE
3 – Regional Qualifiers Round: Venice, Italy / Date: TBA
Students with the best ranking among those not qualified for the World Finals will be admitted to the Qualifiers. The number of students admitted to the Qualifiers per category and country will be proportional to the number of preliminary round participants in each category per country.
Initially, the top 10% of the students who do not qualify for the World Finals will be invited to participate in the Qualifiers and their names will be highlighted in yellow in the ranking list. If a student does not confirm their participation, the next student in the ranking list from the same country will be invited. The minimum percentage of achievement for a student to be invited to the qualifiers will be 70% of the first ranked student points. These candidates will be highlighted in orange in the ranking list.
Students invited to the Regional Qualifiers will be requested to pay a participation fee ranging from €100 to €180, depending on the location. The participation fee will cover the costs of insurance, merchandising (given to the participants upon arrival), participation in the organised activities and examination materials. Where applicable, a package including accommodation and participation fee will be proposed to the participants through an exclusive service provider. Participants who book accommodation through the service provider will not need to pay the participation fee. Students and accompanying teachers or parents will need to cover the costs of travel and accommodation. Travel arrangements will need to be made by the participants themselves, while Hippo will propose accommodation options. Consequently, participants will be able to choose between the two options.
Students and one accompanying teacher or parent are expected to arrive at the venue one day before the examination date. The examinations will take place on the morning after while the proclamation of winners will take place in the evening.
First place winners of each Hippo category and for any of the Regions will proceed to the World Finals.
4 – PLAY-OFF QUALIFIERS Round: 5-12 August 2025, Bucksmore Education’s Oxford International College Brighton, UK
HIPPO will organise PLAY-OFF QUALIFIERS in order to give additional participants the opportunity to reach HIPPO World Finals by offering an intensive five-day HIPPO English Language preparation course followed by a HIPPO Test to be taken on day 6.
PLAY-OFF QUALIFIERS are open to Hippo 2, Hippo 3, Hippo 4 and Hippo 5 students of both regular and special categories.
Students with the best ranking among those not qualified for the World Finals or for the Regional Qualifiers will be admitted to Play-Off Qualifiers. Students who qualify for the Qualifiers but do not participate or do not qualify for the World Finals are also eligible for the Play-Off Qualifiers.
Play-Off Qualifiers will be held in person. Online examinations will not be available and no exemptions will be made.
If a student does not confirm their participation within 10 days of the invitation to Play-Off Qualifiers, the next student in the ranking list from the same country will be invited. The minimum percentage of achievement for a student to be invited to the Qualifiers will be 70% of the first ranked student points.
Students invited to the Play-Off Qualifiers will be requested to pay a participation fee.
Students will need to make their own travel arrangements and cover the costs themselves. The participation fee will cover the costs of teaching, learning materials, half-board accommodation, insurance, merchandising (given to the participants upon arrival). Costs and other details are available in a separate document.
No accompanying teachers or parent are accepted. Students will be accommodated in a college open to students only, supervised by guardians 24/7.
The courses will be taught by Bucksmore Education Teachers, for a minimum of 15 and maximum of 20 hours in classes of 20 students. Students will be allocated to their class based on the category in which they participate and the entry test results. Lessons will be tailor-made and will include HIPPO mock examinations. Play-Off Qualifiers examinations will take place on the morning in the 6th day of their stay.
Winners of each HIPPO category and for any of the Region will proceed to the World Finals.
5 – Final Round: Italy, October 2025 (Exact location and dates will be announced soon)
All candidates can be accompanied by their English language teacher, or an English speaking teacher from their school.
Parents who wish to accompany their children need to make their own travel and accommodation arrangements as the hotels where the students are accommodated are books exclusively for the Contest participants.
Three-day-half-board accommodation will be provided for all the candidates and their teachers free of charge, while the costs of travel will be borne by the participants.
Finalists are expected to arrive the day before the examinations start; examinations will be held over two days while the proclamation of winners and awarding ceremony will be held on the evening of the second day of examinations.
The programme of the final round will be sent directly to the finalists who confirmed their participation one week before the event.
