There are always lots of upcoming competitions up and down the UK! The WCA website will show all upcoming competitions that have been announced, while our Planning Calendar shows all competitions in the works. To stay updated you can subscribe to our mailing list (at the bottom of the page). Alternatively you can add our calendar to your Google calendar. We also announce all competitions on our social media - links on the Contact page.

When a competitions registration period is open, you can register on the competition page on the WCA website. You will not be added to the competitor list until you have paid so make sure to do so! If the competitor limit for the competition is full, you will be placed on a waiting list and alerted if you get place due to others dropping out. Please read all the information on the relevant WCA page for the competition. Links to the relevant page are included in the announcement of each competition over on our Home page.

Yes! We allow as many guests as you’d like at nearly all of our local competitions, but double check the guests policy on the WCA page of the competition you’re going to to be sure.

Yes, we welcome and encourage spectators! We allow free spectators at nearly all local competitions. There’s no need to book - you can just show up on the day and spend as long as you’d like with us. We find people still get an awesome experience even if they’re only spectating! We have a very friendly and welcoming community and we’re sure you’ll feel right at home. You are also welcome to have a go on our competition timers during lunchtimes and we often have cube stalls to spend pocket money at.

The UKCA is not affiliated with any clubs, however there are often meetups organised by individuals within the community. If you are interested in connecting with local cubers, we highly recommend joining the UKCA Parent Community Facebook Group or the UKCA Discord server.

Make sure to some sort of ID (birth certificate, passport, drivers licence, Young Scot Card) so we can confirm your date of birth and nationality. Make sure to also have watched this information video and read all the Important Information and FAQ on the WCA page of the competition you are attending.

All competitors compete on the same level and all ages are welcome. WCA competitions are incredibly supportive environments and there is always a range of ages and abilities.

Once you have competed at a competition for the first time, you will automatically have a WCA ID generated for you. This can then be linked to your WCA profile so that you may upload a picture if you wish, and also sign up for future competitions.

So you want to organise your own competition?

For new venues, we begin planning at least 4 months in advance. While there are different possible venue types, we usually recommend sports halls as they tend to be the most affordable. We are especially interested in venues in bigger towns with good transport links.

Please do not contact venues we have already held competitions at.

When contacting a venue for the first time, start by introducing yourself and the UKCA, and letting them know that we are a non-profit, volunteer-run organisation. Then, get the following information from them:

• What is the size of the venue in square metres

• Let them know that we need the venue for a weekend for 08:00-19:00 Saturday and 08:00-18:00 Sunday.

• What available dates do they have? It is important you offer them a wide range of dates so that the UKCA has more flexibility – please don’t immediately narrow it down to 1 date! We are able to hold multiple competitions on the same weekend, so feel free to suggest dates which already have a competition pencilled in on.

• Do they have sufficient furniture? As an approximate guide, this is 2x as many chairs and 1/3 as many tables as the competitor limit.

• What is the total cost for this hire?

For a standard competition, our competitor limit is between 75 and 150 people. This is calculated by dividing the size in square metres by 4 and rounding down to the nearest 5, which means ideal venues are between 300sqm and 600sqm.

To calculate the venue budget: If the venue is less than 440sqm, take the size in square metres and multiply it by 4. Otherwise, our maximum is around £1750.

E.g. a 365sqm venue has a competitor limit of 90 and a budget of £1460.

If you think you have found a suitable venue, email all the details to organisation@ukca.org.

In some cases, we may be able to help in ways like hiring in furniture externally or running the competition at a small loss. So if you have found a venue that doesn’t quite fit all our requirements, send it in anyway and we will let you know if it is still possible or not!