NSRC 2026: Guide for Schools

Overview

At a glance

Overview

About the NSRC

The National Schools’ Research Conference (NSRC) gives secondary-school students somewhere serious to take original research. Selected students defend their work in a viva before two academics in their field, receive written feedback, and have their work published in the conference proceedings.

The conference is organised by four sixth-form students: Austin Huang and Alex Kolesnikov (Eton College), and Tatiana Vayanos and Philip Taxiarchis (Westminster School). It is an independent, student-run event. It is not organised by or affiliated with Eton College or Westminster School.

2026 is the first year of the conference. Twenty academics from sixteen universities, including Oxford, Cambridge, UCL, Edinburgh and Durham, have agreed to take part.

Overview

Key dates

All times are UK time. Many schools break for October half term in the week of 26 October, so we recommend preparing submissions before then.

Entering

Who can enter

• Age: students aged 13 to 18 in UK secondary education, at state or independent schools, sixth-form colleges or further education colleges.
• Teams: students may enter alone or in a team of up to three. Every team member must attend the conference and take part in the viva.
• Entries per school: there is no limit on how many students a school may enter. Places at the conference are limited and allocated by selection (see Selection and judging).
• Entries per student: each student may enter one project only, either alone or as a member of one team.
• Route: entries come through a school. A teacher registers the school and submits work on the students’ behalf.
• No teacher available: home-educated students, or students whose school cannot support an entry, should email nsrcteam@gmail.com and we will arrange an individual route.

Entering

What counts as research

A project must address a clear question, problem or hypothesis through a systematic process of investigation, analysis or argument. It must reach conclusions based on the evidence or reasoning it produces.

The work must be substantially complete. The question, the investigation and the conclusions all need to be there. A final polish is not required, and presentation is not what is being judged.

Existing work is welcome. Work written for an EPQ, another competition, a school project or with a mentor or supervisor is eligible. The intellectual ownership must be genuinely the student’s, and they must be able to defend it in person. Work already published elsewhere, for example in a journal, is also eligible: say where in the declarations form. If another publisher holds the copyright, we may include only an abstract in the proceedings.

Not eligible:

• a standard class exercise or practical write-up
• an unfinished proposal or plan for research not yet carried out
• a literature review that summarises existing sources without an original analytical contribution, method or argument

Entering

Subjects and categories

Research in any subject is welcome. When a teacher submits a project, they choose the category that fits it best:

The category helps us match each project to examiners in its field. It does not affect how the work is judged, and we may move a project to a better-suited panel. Work is judged on academic rigour, not on where it files itself.

Entering

How to register

Students do not register themselves. One teacher registers the school, then enters each student and submits their work. Registration and submission both close at 23:59 UK time on Sunday 1 November 2026.

1. Create a school account. Go to www.thensrc.org.uk and choose Teacher sign-up. Register with your institutional email address.
2. Wait for verification. Before an account can enter students, we check that the school exists and that the email address belongs to a member of its staff. This protects students and keeps entries genuine. It is usually quick, and we email you when it is done. If you cannot use a school email address, write to nsrcteam@gmail.com.
3. Add your students. For each entry, give the student’s name, year group, project title and category. For a team, add every member.
4. Upload the work. Upload each paper and its declarations form (see What to submit) by 23:59 on Sunday 1 November 2026.
5. Request a travel bursary if needed. Apply from the teacher portal (see Cost and travel bursaries).

The registering teacher is the school’s contact for the conference. By submitting an entry, they confirm that:

• to the best of their knowledge, the work is the student’s own
• the declarations form is complete and accurate
• the student and their parent or guardian know the work is being entered
• a member of staff will accompany the student on the day if they are selected

Each school has one account. If several teachers supervise projects, one of them registers the school and submits every entry.

Entering

What to submit

Each entry is one PDF of the full paper plus one declarations form. There is no separate abstract or summary to write.

The paper

• File type: PDF only.
• Length: no more than 5,000 words, excluding references, appendices and figure captions. Appropriate length varies by field. A strong mathematics paper may be a fraction of that, and conciseness is never penalised.
• Language: English.
• Structure: any structure suited to the field. Most papers include a title, a short abstract, an introduction setting out the question, the method or approach, the findings or argument, a conclusion that discusses limitations, and references.
• References: any consistent citation style.
• Figures, tables and appendices: allowed. Appendices should hold supporting material only. Examiners are not required to read them.
• File size: 20 MB maximum.

Anonymise the paper. Papers are judged blind, so examiners assess the work rather than the school. The PDF must not show:

• the student’s name, or any team member’s name
• the school’s name, logo or letterhead
• the teacher’s or supervisor’s name
• any link to a page that identifies the student or school

The portal records who wrote each paper, so nothing is lost by leaving names out. Anonymise acknowledgements as well, for example “my supervisor” rather than a name. Name the file with the project title only, for example “Urban heat islands in Leeds.pdf”.

The declarations form (see Appendix B) covers:

• sources, and confirmation that all quoted or borrowed material is referenced
• research ethics, for projects involving people, animals, personal data or hazards
• any use of AI tools
• for teams, a statement of each member’s individual contribution

A teacher may replace an uploaded file at any time before the deadline. Once uploaded, the entry shows as submitted in the teacher portal. If anything looks wrong, email us before the deadline.

Rules

Research ethics and safety

Research must have been carried out safely and ethically, under the supervision a school would normally require. Teachers should check this before submitting.

Research involving people (surveys, interviews, experiments or observations):

• participants gave informed consent and knew they could withdraw
• participants under 16 took part with a parent’s or guardian’s consent, or through the school’s normal safeguarding procedures
• participants cannot be identified in the paper
• personal data was kept securely and only for as long as needed
• no participant was put at risk of physical or psychological harm

Other research:

• Animals: no procedures that could cause pain, suffering or lasting harm to a vertebrate animal.
• Laboratory or field work: carried out under the school’s own risk assessment and supervision.
• Online data: collected lawfully, and without identifying private individuals.

Describe the ethical steps you took in the declarations form. A project without formal ethics approval is not ruled out, but the paper and form should explain how participants and data were protected. We may decline work that raises serious ethical or safety concerns.

Rules

Academic integrity and AI policy

Submitted work must be the student’s own. Ideas, words, data and images taken from others must be referenced. Plagiarism, invented data or results, or work written by someone else lead to disqualification.

AI tools may be used, but every use must be declared. The test is simple: the question, the thinking, the analysis and the argument must be the student’s.

The declarations form asks for each AI tool used, what it was used for, and roughly how much. Declared, appropriate use will not count against a student. Undeclared use that comes to light will lead to disqualification.

The viva is the real test of ownership. Examiners may ask how any part of the work was done, including how AI was used. A student who cannot explain their own work will not score well, however good the paper.

How we use AI. To help examiners prepare and to keep judging consistent, submitted papers may be read by an AI tool before judging. It is used only to summarise papers and flag questions for examiners. It never scores, ranks or selects work: every assessment and decision is made by academic examiners. Papers are processed only for this purpose and are never used to train AI models. The privacy notice explains this in full.

Judging

Selection and judging

Every submission is read and assessed against the published rubric. The strongest are invited to the conference. Selection is on the quality of the work. We also take account of the balance of subjects and the capacity of our examiner panels.

• Rubric: the paper and viva rubrics are published below, so students can see what is assessed before they finish their paper (see Judging rubric).
• Blind review: papers are judged without names or schools. This is why they must be anonymised.
• Age and stage: judges take each student’s age and stage of education into account when assessing the sophistication and independence of the work. A Year 9 student is not measured against a Year 13.
• Places: about 60 projects are selected for the conference, and every member of a selected team attends. There is no limit on entries per school, but places are allocated on the quality of the work.
• Results: teachers are emailed on Tuesday 10 November 2026 with the outcome for each entry and, for selected students, next steps for the day. Students who are not selected do not receive individual feedback.
• Finalists: eight students or teams are chosen to present their research to the whole conference in the afternoon. They are chosen on the day, once the vivas finish: half the decision is the initial review of the paper and half is viva performance. Finalists are announced at 13:00, before the lunch break, so every student should come ready to give their presentation again.

The organisers’ decisions on selection and prizes are final.

Judging

Judging rubric

Papers are scored out of 100 against the paper rubric during blind review. Students at the conference are scored out of 100 in the viva. Finalists are chosen on the day: half the decision is the paper score and half is the viva score.

Paper rubric — /100

Viva rubric — /100

Judging

The viva

Every student at the conference defends their work in a viva: a short presentation followed by questions from two academics who work in their field.

• Length: 20 minutes in total, covering the presentation and the questions.
• The presentation: the student explains their question, what they did, what they found, and its limitations. Slides are allowed: email them as a PDF to nsrcteam@gmail.com by Thursday 19 November 2026, together with the poster.
• The questions: examiners ask about methods, reasoning, conclusions and limitations, and how the work was done. Good answers show understanding and honest reflection. They do not need to be perfect.
• Age and stage: examiners take each student’s age and stage of education into account in the viva as well as in the paper.
• Teams: all members attend the viva together, and any member may answer. Examiners may direct questions to individual members.
• What to bring: any notes for the presentation. There is no need to bring a poster: email it to nsrcteam@gmail.com as a PDF sized A1 portrait (594 × 841 mm) by Thursday 19 November 2026, and we print it for the showcase.
• Access arrangements: students who normally receive access arrangements, such as extra time, a reader or rest breaks, should tell us when they confirm attendance.
• Written feedback: every student at the conference receives written feedback from their examiners after the day. It is sent by Friday 11 December 2026.

The day

The conference day

Thursday 26 November 2026 at venue and address to be confirmed. Selected students attend the whole day with a supervising teacher.

Times are provisional, and the final timetable is sent with the viva timetable on Friday 20 November 2026. Students who cannot arrive in time for the opening keynote may come later, as long as they register at least 30 minutes before their viva.

• Getting there: directions, nearest station, parking and drop-off to be confirmed.
• Lunch: not provided. Students buy their own from shops and cafés near the venue, with their supervising teacher, and return by 14:00, so bring money for lunch.
• Dress: business formal. That means a suit or jacket, worn either with a shirt and tie or with a smart shirt or blouse and tailored trousers or a knee-length skirt, and smart shoes.
• Guests: only selected students and their supervising teachers can attend. Parents and other students cannot.
• Accessibility: tell us about any access needs when you confirm attendance, so we can plan for them.

The day

Cost and travel bursaries

Entry is free. There is no fee to register, submit or attend.

Travel bursaries help students who would otherwise struggle to attend, especially those travelling from outside London or from schools with limited funds. We have secured £10,000 in philanthropic funding to support the event and student travel.

• How to apply: from the teacher portal, once your students have been selected, by Monday 16 November 2026.
• Travel: schools book their own travel. Bursaries cover the travel costs of selected students and their supervising teacher.
• Amounts: agreed with the school before the day.
• How it is paid: we reimburse the agreed amount after the conference, against receipts.
• Accommodation: for students travelling a long way, we book and pay for accommodation the night before the conference, for the students and their supervising teacher. Students qualify when the journey from school to the venue takes more than three hours by public transport. Request it when you confirm attendance.

If cost is the only thing stopping a selected student from attending, please tell us.

The day

Safeguarding and consent

• Supervision: every student attends with a supervising teacher from their own school. That teacher is responsible for their welfare throughout the day, and overnight where we provide accommodation. Staffing ratios follow each school’s own policy for off-site visits.
• Parental consent: a parent or guardian must complete a consent form for each selected student under 18. It covers attendance, emergency contacts, medical and dietary needs, photography, and publication in the proceedings. We send the form to teachers with the results.
• The vivas: two examiners are always present together, and the student’s supervising teacher may sit in if they wish.
• Risk assessment: the event follows a risk assessment approved by the host venue. It is available to schools on request for their own trip paperwork.
• Photography: students whose consent form does not allow photography will not appear in published images.
• Safeguarding lead: name and on-the-day phone number to be confirmed.

After the day

Publication and data protection

The proceedings. Work presented at the conference is published in the NSRC conference proceedings.

• Consent: students aged 16 or over give their own consent to publication. Students under 16 need a parent’s or guardian’s consent, given on the consent form.
• Anonymous publication: any student may choose to publish without their name.
• Opting out: a student may choose not to be published at all. This does not affect their place at the conference or their judging.
• Copyright: students keep the copyright in their work. By agreeing to publication, they give the NSRC permission to publish it in the proceedings.

How we handle submissions.

• Submitted papers are seen by the organisers, the examiners, and the AI tool described in the AI policy.
• We use personal details only to run the conference and contact schools about it. We never sell or share them for marketing.
• Medical, dietary and emergency-contact details from consent forms are deleted within one month of the conference. Papers that are not published are deleted by 31 January 2027. Teachers’ contact details are kept for one year so we can tell schools about the next conference, unless you ask us not to. To have your data deleted sooner, email nsrcteam@gmail.com and we will respond within one month.
• The full privacy notice is at www.thensrc.org.uk under Privacy and data.

After the day

Prizes and recognition

• Every student at the conference receives written feedback from their examiners and publication in the proceedings, if they choose.
• Scholarships from Lumiere Education: the top three projects each receive a scholarship to continue their research through Lumiere’s Individual Research Program or its Publication Extension Program, whichever they choose. First place receives a full scholarship, second place 50% of fees and third place 25% of fees.
• Finalists present their research to the full conference in the afternoon, and prizes are awarded at the close of the day.

Help

FAQ

Help

Contact

For any question not answered here, email nsrcteam@gmail.com. We aim to reply within two working days.

Website: www.thensrc.org.uk

Appendices

Appendix A: Teacher checklist

• Register the school at www.thensrc.org.uk with a school email address
• Receive the verification email
• Check each project is eligible (What counts as research)
• Check each paper is a PDF of no more than 5,000 words, excluding references, appendices and captions
• Check each paper is anonymised: no student, school or teacher names
• Check research involving people, animals or hazards was carried out safely and ethically
• Complete a declarations form for each entry, including AI use and team contributions
• Make sure each student and their parent or guardian know the work is being entered
• Add each student and upload their paper and form by 23:59 UK time, Sunday 1 November 2026
• Look out for results on Tuesday 10 November 2026
• If selected: confirm attendance, return consent forms, email each student’s poster and any slides as PDFs, request a travel bursary if needed, and arrange a supervising teacher

Appendices

Appendix B: Declarations form

One form per entry, uploaded with the paper. Copy this form into a document, complete it, and upload it as a PDF alongside the paper.