The competition will run from the 12tht of April till the 15th of June 2025. Winners will be announced in late June 2025.
1) Who is eligible to enter?
- Any student between ages 7 – 16 is eligible.
- The competition is open to students resident in Malta and Gozo only.
- Submissions can be of individuals or teams of not more than 5 students working together.
- For individual entries, submission must be done by parents or teachers, while team submissions have to be done by a teacher.
2) What versions of Minecraft are allowed?
You can use Minecraft Education, on any supported platform. Supported platforms include Windows PCs, ipads and Macs, as well as Chromebooks. For further details of supported systems and to download click here:
Download | Minecraft Education
Please note: Minecraft Education is available on the NEW 2in1 devices currently being deployed in Maltese schools (but not Learnpads)! All students with ilearn accounts have Minecraft access, and most church and independent schools also have access. Please look out for workshops to be announced soon where students can learn how to access and install the software on their device.
3) Can I use JAVA, mobile, or console versions of Minecraft?
Not for this competition. We may have future competitions that allow specific platforms to participate, but for this one you must use Minecraft Education. We are using features exclusive to the Education Edition, and this would be unfair for anyone not using this version. For example we will need you to export your world or send us code you have written, which is not supported in many versions.
4) What if I do not have Minecraft Education Edition?
Check with your school if you are eligible for a free Minecraft Education license. All schools using Microsoft 365 with an A3 license have Minecraft licenses included for free. State and church schools in Malta, as well as many independent schools should have free Minecraft accounts for all of their students, but individual schools may have different licenses.
5) My School does not have Minecraft licenses – can I buy Minecraft Education Edition?
YES- Minecraft Education Edition is available for private purchase here: Licensing | Minecraft Education
6) Prizes and awards: all decisions by the judging panel are final.
7) Privacy and GDPR:
Participation in this competition will require us to gather private information, such as emails and phone numbers for the purposes of contacting winners. Because of this, we will require parent, guardians legal representatives of any students under the age of 18 to enter the competition on their behalf. On the submission form you allow us to collect private data for the purposes of contacting you in relation to this competition, and for us to publicly share their competition entries, as well as their names and ages if they win. If you do not agree with these conditions you will not be allowed to enter the competition.
8) Form Submission:
The forms will have to be submitted by parents, legal guardians or teachers. Forms submitted without the explicit consent of parents, guardians or teachers will lead to immediate disqualification even in the event that the entry wins in a category.
9) Social Media
Prize winners may be featured in social media or other media posts or articles, and we will seek separate consent to use photos in these media.
10) Can participants submit multiple entries?
No
11) What can I do if i have a question, query or problem?
Please email us at info@headstart.technology with the subject: MINECRAFT 2025, but please also try and join the office hours chats we have till the competition ends.
The competition seeks to leverage Malta’s rich cultural heritage and its forward-thinking digital ambitions. Titled “Innovate Malta: Building the Digital Island of the Future,” the competition invites students to reimagine Malta as a digitally empowered and sustainable island.
When evaluating entries, we will focus on these areas: effort, attention to detail, creativity and depth of thought. We will award prizes in different age groups, and we have special prizes earmarked for students who do a little bit more, such as using coding and redstone in their world builds.
Category 1: (Ages 9 and Under): Discover Malta’s Heritage
Task: Recreate an iconic Maltese landmark in Minecraft. BONUS FOR: adding simple interactive elements such as basic redstone circuits.
Focus: Basic digital literacy and creative design; emphasizing digital preservation of cultural heritage.
What we are looking for: Recreate a famous Maltese landmark, but show how we can use technology and digital innovation to preserve and enhance the historic and cultural heritage for future generations – maybe by adding ‘virtual’ elements, custom tours or anything else you think would be fun and cool that is currently missing!
What to submit: An Export of your world and a PDF created using the ingame portfolio tool, where you take pictures and explain what you built. Upload all files as a zip file. Tutorials for portfolios are in the tutorial section (using the Book and Quill).
Check out the tutorials tab for instructions on how to export worlds. For more advanced players, remember that in Minecraft Education you can even add your own NPC and interact with them – check out the tutorials!
Category 2: (Ages 10–12): Smart Malta – Designing a Digital Island
What we are looking for:
Task: Develop a Minecraft version of Malta that integrates smart city features like renewable energy, efficient transport, and digital infrastructure.
BONUS FOR: adding interactive elements such as basic redstone circuits or using coding elements in the buildFocus: Sustainable urban planning and digital transformation; encouraging teamwork and critical planning.
What to submit: An Export of your world and a PDF created using the ingame portfolio tool, where you take pictures and explain what you built. Upload all files as a zip file. Tutorials for portfolios are in the tutorial section (using the Book and Quill).
Check out the tutorials tab for instructions on how to export worlds. For more advanced players, remember that in Minecraft Education you can even add your own NPC and interact with them – check out the tutorials!
Category 3: (Ages 13+): Innovate Malta – A Digital Future Challenge
What we are looking for:
Build your own version of Malta in the future! Show how technology, sustainability, and smart ideas can shape a better world. Use Minecraft redstone or code editor to create cool systems like eco-friendly cities, or new ways people can work and live in a digital future. Show us Malta the way YOU want it to be: what future do you want to live in? What problems we have today can YOU solve for Malta in the future? Pick a problem, big or small, and show us your creative solution for a better Malta.
What to submit: An Export of your world and a video of not more than 5 minutes where you talk about your solution and build. We want to hear from you on what motivated you to imagine future Malta in your build. Winners in this category will be invited to pitch their ideas … for real!
Check out the tutorials tab for instructions on how to export worlds. For more advanced players, remember that in Minecraft Education you can even add your own NPC and interact with them – check out the tutorials! You can also write sophisticated code – impress us!
Here you will find useful tutorial and HowTo Videos to help you.
Exporting your world:
Using the Book and Quill in Minecraft Education Edition:
Exporting your Code as a MKCD file:
Coding Tutorials
Want to add some NPCs to your story?
Check out this tab regularly for updates and news about the competition. We will also post dates for workshops and events related to the competition here.
IMPORTANT UPDATE 25/05/2025:
Due to overwhelming requests from teachers and individuals, we are extending the competition by 2 weeks, and closing date is now June 15th! Keep building!
We are also hosting 2 Webinars for educators only to provide comprehensive training on all aspects of Minecraft, both for the competition and the wider pedagogical use in the classroom:
Friday, May 30th at 17:30: https://tinyurl.com/mincraftwebinar
Monday, 2nd June at 16:00 https://tinyurl.com/mincraftwebinar
In addition to this, from now till the end of the competition, we will be hosting regular ‘office hour’ chats, where any educators or contestants with questions can log in and discuss. Please note we can’t help you with builds in particular, but we are happy to answer any questions about the competition or help with any game specific questions you may have
Saturday May 31st at 10:30 : https://tinyurl.com/competitionchat
Wednesday June 4th at 18:00: https://tinyurl.com/competitionchat
Saturday June 7th at 10:30: https://tinyurl.com/competitionchat
Wednesday June 12th at 18:00: https://tinyurl.com/competitionchat
Saturday June 14th at 10:30 https://tinyurl.com/competitionchat
