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Oxford German Olympiad 2026

Oxford German Olympiad 2026:   

 Immer unterwegs - Mobilität und Reiselust

Welcome to our 14th Oxford German Olympiad!

This competition is now open. Closing date for all entries is Thursday 12 March 2026, at 12 noon.

Download the full competition details and guidelines here. 

 

Please note:

- All entries must be submitted via the online entry form. 

- Each participant may only enter for one task within their age group as an INDIVIDUAL entrant. We will only accept group entries (2-4 participants) for the "Open Competition for Groups" category. 

- We require a consent form for under-13 participants. For group entries, we require a consent form for each group member under 13. Click here to download the form.

NOTE TO TEACHERS: Teachers can submit their students' entries in bulk. Please contact olympiad@mod-langs.ox.ac.uk for instructions.

 

 

 

The Competition Tasks

Choose one of the tasks appropriate for your age group.
All tasks to be completed in German, unless indicated otherwise.
Please refer to our full competition details and guidelines for word count guidance.

 

Years 5 and 6 (age 9-11): 

  1. Design your ideal Transportmittel (means of transport) and label 10-12 parts.

  2. Draw a map of your dream journey and 10-12 things you will need to put in your suitcase or rucksack. If you're taking a pet along, don't forget their needs. Labels those things. 

  3. Draw a cartoon of someone encountering problems on a train journey, with speech bubbles.  

 

Years 7 to 9 (age 11-14): 

  1. Create a comic strip about a journey undertaken by two or three animals. 

  1. "Fahrrad, Auto, Eisenbahn, Schiff, Flugzeug ... Welche Transportmittel werden wir im Jahr 2050 benutzen?" Illustrate your response with drawings or photos. 

  2. Write an essay or story on ONE of the following topics: "Meine Reise zum Mond" OR "Meine Traumreise" OR "Mein Schulweg".

 

Years 10 and 11 (age 14-16): 

  1. Develop a proposal in German for a video game entitled "Abenteuerreise", presenting it with drawings, photos or in video format. 

  2. Write an essay on the invention, use and dangers of one or more of the following methods of travel: Kanu, Seilbahn, Zeppelin, Rakete.  

  3. Write a fictional travelogue including conversations from the perspective of a group of migrating birds. 

 

Years 12 and 13 (age 16-18): 

  1. Die Heldenreise or Hero's Journey is a common narrative framework that can be found in many stories, from old myths to today's novels and films. It outlines a hero's adventure through a special world, facing tests and coming home transformed with newfound wisdom or a reward. Write an abstract for a screenplay which follows or changes this pattern. 

  1. "Alternatives Reisen" - Create a conference brochure with keynote papers, workshops and activities. 

  1. "Eine unvergessliche Bahnreise!" Create a travel agent's advertisement in brochure or website format presenting two real train journeys in Germany, Austria or Switzerland. For each one, include three items of customer feedback.   

 

Open Competition for Groups (2-4 participants):  

  1. Create a video sketch entitled "Ich packe meinen Koffer...". 

  2. Record a podcast with the title "Reiselust in den Zeiten der Nachhaltigkeit".  

  3. Create a concept for a board game focusing on real or fantasy transport or travel, and present it as a brochure or in a video. 

 

Discover German - Taster Competition (for participants with no prior experience of studying German) 

Years 5 and 6: Draw a picture of your ideal Reiseziel (travel destination) - this destination can be entirely fictional - and give your picture 10 explanatory labels.  

Years 7 to 9: Design a visitor's brochure for a German city you'd like to visit. Include photos or drawings and 15 German words or phrases. 

Years 10 and 11: Create a map of a dream journey (by drawing it or designing a web page) that involves three modes of transport. Label each one and 6 of its parts.  

Years 12 and 13:  German loves building words from other words! With the help of a dictionary, create two spider diagrams for words formed from the verbs 'reisen' and 'fahren' (equivalent to a word family such as 'run' > 'runner' - 'runny' - 'runway' - 'forerunner'), providing a translation in brackets under each word.  

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

The Oxford German Network is grateful for the support of the following:
 
Founding Partners:
Jesus College, Oxford
Bodleian Libraries, University of Oxford
Magdalen College School, Oxford
BMW Group Plant Oxford
 
 
Donor of the German Classic Prize: Jonathan Gaisman QC
 
The Oxford German Network gratefully acknowledges
the generous support of ALL and ISMLA to the Oxford German Olympiad.
 
The Oxford German Olympiad is generously supported by Lidl GB.
 
Additional prizes have been generously donated by the following:
 
Austrian Cultural Forum London
Blackwell UK Ltd.
British-German Association
Camden House (Boydell & Brewer)
Embassy of Switzerland in the United Kingdom
German Embassy London
Goethe Institut, London
Oxford-Bonn Link
Oxford University Press
Penguin Books
White Rose Project
 
 
The Oxford German Network would like to thank the Bodleian Libraries for permission to use the Blackwell Hall in the Weston Library.