Have a nose for the news? Take part in ST’s What’s The News? 2026 competition
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The winning team from Temasek Junior College at the 2025 edition of What’s The News?. The competition returns in 2026, with registration opening from Feb 5 to March 5.
ST PHOTO: SHINTARO TAY
What seafood item from Hokkaido is becoming increasingly rare? And which 90-year-old spiritual leader recently won his first Grammy Award for Best Audiobook, Narration and Storytelling Recording – a top music industry accolade?
If you know the answers to these questions and others like them, an upcoming competition by The Straits Times might be right up your alley.
What’s The News? – ST’s current affairs competition for schools – returns in 2026, with registration opening from Feb 5 to March 5.
The contest is open to students aged 15 to 19 from local secondary schools or the equivalent, pre-university institutions, polytechnics and Institutes of Technical Education.
Similar to the inaugural competition in 2025, participants meet in three rounds.
The preliminary round, from April 9 to 22, involves answering an individual 30-question quiz, on a digital platform. Schools that qualify for the semi-final on May 14 send teams of six to play arena-style games and take part in challenges, which involve answering current affairs questions.
Then, at the final on May 26, four teams of three show off their understanding of the news in a stage game show.
The champions take home $4,000, while the second-, third- and fourth-placed teams win $3,000, $2,000 and $1,000 respectively.
In 2025, a team from Temasek Junior College beat 49 other schools to claim the title
Comedian-host Rishi Budhrani reprises his role as game master in 2026.
Mr Jaime Ho, editor of ST, said: “Our first run of What’s The News? was a success that went beyond my wildest expectations. Having seen the joy and excitement of all the students who participated, from the preliminary rounds to the final, it was really an easy decision to try and do it again this year.
“I look forward to even more excitement, as we blend current affairs and news literacy, youthful competition, and real-world friendships and camaraderie in the events we will have this year.”
On the sidelines of the competition, a travelling exhibition will visit schools, public libraries and community spaces.
In 2026, it asks: “Is artificial intelligence changing the way you think?” Find out how this new technology is fast becoming an accepted gatekeeper of information, and how it can shape people’s interactions with the real world.
What’s The News? 2026 is organised by ST and supported by the Ministry of Education, in partnership with the Central Narcotics Bureau.
Schools interested in participating should go to str.sg/WTN26reg
