Keeping entrants safe.
Most entrants are under 18. The competition is designed so that no young person needs to meet, message or share contact details with anyone to take part.
Report a concern
If a young person is in immediate danger, call your local emergency number now.
To report any other concern about a young person's safety or wellbeing in connection with Ten Years From Now, email hello@tenyearsfromnow.org with “Safeguarding” in the subject. Messages marked “Safeguarding” are dealt with first.
An entry may sometimes reveal that a young person is at risk, for example if they describe harm to themselves or others. Judges and assessors are told to pass such concerns to Succeed straight away.
How the competition is designed
- Entry is online and individual. There are no interviews, video submissions or meetings.
- Entrants are never put in contact with other entrants. The only contact with judges is the online mentoring session for Challenge Winners and the online session with the Chair of Judges for the Grand Prize winner. A member of Succeed staff is present throughout, and they are arranged through Succeed, never directly.
- First-round assessors see entries without names, schools or contact details.
- Parents or guardians of under-18s confirm participation, and are asked again before anything is published.
- Finalists' photographs and names are published only with consent. We publish country and age, never school without permission or contact details.
- We collect only the information needed to run the competition.
Judges and staff
Judges agree not to contact entrants directly. Any contact with entrants, including award sessions, goes through Succeed.
Students' Choice voting
Voting requires a verified Succeed student account. There are no public comments on finalist entries. Leaderboard positions are hidden until a student has voted.
Finalists' Day
Finalists are invited to Finalists' Day, in person or online. In person, the day is run and supervised by Succeed staff. Finalists under 18 attend with a parent, guardian or another responsible adult the parent or guardian nominates, who is responsible for them while travelling and outside the scheduled programme. We share the programme, the venue and a named contact for the day in advance. Joining online needs no travel and no camera.