01
Registration
University teams sign up on the platform (up to 5 students per team). Universities receive outreach packs and academic endorsement letters.
National championship · UAE · 2026
School of Cyber Defence CTF
2026 Edition
A national CTF competition designed to help students, universities, and organisations sharpen practical defensive cybersecurity skills.
Final — 18 September 2026 GISEC Global · Dubai Exhibition Centre Backed by DESC + TechFirm
Registration will be available soon
About the championship
School of Cyber Defence is a cybersecurity championship for university students across the UAE. Teams tackle real-world security challenges, develop solutions, and defend them before a jury of industry experts — culminating in a live final at GISEC Global.
Audience
UAE university students, teams of up to 5
Format
3 rounds — 2 online, 1 live final
Final
18 September 2026 · GISEC Global · DEC
Backed by
DESC + TechFirm
At a glance
The championship in numbers
40+
teams targeted at registration
10
teams into Round 2
5
finalist teams on stage at GISEC
1
day — live final + award ceremony
Format
3 rounds — 2 online, 1 live final
Audience
UAE university students, teams of up to 5
Final
18 September 2026, GISEC Global, DEC
Backed by
DESC + TechFirm
Championship flow
From registration to the GISEC stage
University teams compete across three stages. Teams of up to 5 students register on the platform, pass an online qualification, and the top 5 advance to the offline final held onsite at GISEC.
02
Online Qualification
Teams complete the first stage online; DESC, TechFirm and partner experts review and score submissions.
03
Selection
Top 5 teams advance to the final. Finalists are announced publicly and briefed on logistics.
04
Offline Final — 18 Sep
Teams defend their projects live on stage at GISEC; winners announced at the award ceremony.
Proposed format
Proposed format — 3 rounds
online
Round 1
Application & Screening
Teams register and take an online multiple-choice qualification test built with DESC/partners. Questions cover core cybersecurity domains and are weighted to reveal each team's real level of technical proficiency. Results are scored automatically, and the strongest teams advance.
online
Round 2
Case Development
Advancing teams develop their full case: they analyse the assigned challenge, build a solution, and prepare a presentation showing how it works and what impact it delivers. Submissions are scored by the jury and partners.
offline · 18 Sep · GISEC
Round 3
Live Final
Top 5 teams present their cases on stage and defend them in a live Q&A before the jury. Teams answer questions in real time and demonstrate the depth of their solution. Winners are announced at the award ceremony.
Partners
Championship partners
Coming soon
Championship partners and supporting organisations will be announced ahead of the final.
Last year event
Highlights from the previous edition
The offline final and award ceremony on the Dark Stage at GISEC Global: university teams, a jury of industry experts, a live scoreboard and the crowning of the champions.
Representing a university or a student team?
Registration for School of Cyber Defence will open soon — stay tuned to compete for a place on stage at GISEC Global.
Registration will be available soon