History
The first safe-cracking competition format was developed and run by the Davidson Institute for Education at the Weizmann Institute in Israel in the late 1990s. A UK competition was subsequently organized by the Weizmann's UK charitable arm (Weizmann UK) from 2012 until 2024, before this current competition began under the direction of a group of volunteers continuing to provide this unique opportunity to aspiring Year 12 Physics and Engineering students.
Year 12 students work in teams of five to design and build a safe with two locking-mechanisms based on sophisticated physics principles. ​The safes should be reliably opened in under 2 minutes by their team (defenders), but must keep opposing teams (crackers) stumped for at least 10 minutes.
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The competition has 4x phases: design, build, test & compete. The first 3x take place in team's schools from September-January of Year 12 with remote mentor support, before the final phase takes place at a host school in February, bringing together all teams under one roof.
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At the final competition phase, teams also face a judging panel of experienced physicists testing the team's application and understanding of their physics principles, as well as build and aesthetics of their safes
FORMAT
Benefits
The competition is designed to give students experience of working in a physics/engineering setting. It develops a number of skills:
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​Technical: depending on their safe designs, students may well develop skills including design/build, use of their school workshop, 3D printing, assembly of circuit boards, programming and even art.​
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Holistic: throughout the competition students learn how to operate as a team, develop communication skills (inc. with external mentors), and hone time-management skills to meet external deadlines. In the design phase they learn how to brainstorm and select original and creative ideas, and on the competition day they have to use their problem-solving skills to 'crack' other team safes under time pressure.
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2024 Entrant
“Safe-cracking was the academic activity I enjoyed most at school, and was the first time I had to work at more of a university level. The competition day in February was a unique experience"
Parent of former entrant
"my daughter enjoyed physics at school, but her involvement in safe-cracking was the first time I saw her throw herself into the subject more widely and realise what she wanted to study at university"
Teacher
"we run lots of super-curricular opportunities, but safe-cracking is unique in requiring them to work with external mentors and deadlines, combing theoretical and practical skills"
1
Can my team have more than 5 students?
No. Teams can sometimes operate successfully with three or four team members, but the maximum is five to ensure a fair competition across all entrant schools.
2
Can students who are not in Year 12 compete?
No. Students must be in Year 12 (aged 16-17) and most should be studying Physics (e.g. A-level, IB or AP curricula). Some teams occasionally have one-off students who are not studying physics to bring specific skills to the team (e.g. artistic or programming), but the competition relies on strong physics knowledge throughout the majority of the team
3
Can multiple teams enter from one school?
Yes - we permit a maximum of two teams from the same school to attend competition day. The teams can have the same supervising teacher and will not crack each other's safe on the day. Some schools start with more than two teams and we support all teams in the early phases, but the school must select which two teams progress to competition day.
4
How are teams supported?
Each team has a supervising teacher at their school and is then assigned an external mentor who has experience of the competition. The mentors work with the teacher and students to support their safe entry with regular checkpoints to ensure timely progress.
New teams receive additional support and webinars to give extra tips & tricks.