Microsoft Excel World Championship UK Chapter Rules (hereinafter referred to as the “Rules”) are effective from December 14, 2025.
Please read these Competition Rules carefully. You should review all our legal documents before participating in the Competition. If you do not accept these Rules or any of our legal documents, do not use the Website or participate in the Competition.
1. The Event
2. The Participants
MEWC UK is open to any participant regardless of age, gender, race, place of living or any other limiting factor.
Those that are UK-based and able to attend an in-person final in London will be considered eligible and included in the main rankings.
3. MEWC UK Cases
Each round of the Competition will provide one Case consisting of a range of problem-solving questions solvable with Microsoft Excel.
Each Case will include several Questions that the Participants will have to provide answers for.
The complexity of the Questions will vary, with more complex questions awarding more points if answered correctly.
All the Questions will be formulated in such a way as to provide fully automated objective grading.
It is expected that the Question format will be “Number type-in” or “Text type-in”. The organizers reserve an option to use other Question formats if deemed necessary.
No answers will be in the form of an essay.
The Cases will be varied in topics; however, all Cases will be solvable by a general MS Excel user. Solving the Cases will require knowledge of Excel functions, data management skills and logical thinking. The Cases will test participant’s abilities to use MS Excel techniques to solve out-of-the-box problems. The Cases will not require specific knowledge of finance, engineering, statistics or other scientific disciplines.
The Cases will be structured in such a way that the users of older versions of MS Excel (2010 and up) should be able to complete them. However, newer versions of MS Excel might provide faster ways to solve the Cases.
In order to correctly solve the Cases, Participants will need to answer the Questions, produce and submit their files.
Model formatting and style will not be judged.
Sample Cases are available on the Excel Esports UK website free of charge.
4. MEWC UK Structure and Sequence of Rounds
The following competition rounds organized by Excel Esports UK constitute the qualifying path to winning MEWC UK:
MEWC Online Rounds (March to August),
London Finals (September).
5. Online Qualification Rounds
In order to provide fair ground for selecting the participants to take part in the final of the tournament, online rounds will be arranged from March to August. Some rounds will include live-streamed competition or the organisers will arrange a stream to review the case and announce the preliminary results of the round at the end of the participation period.
The preliminary results will be also published on the Excel Esports UK website and the solution files emailed to all participants.
The participants will have time until the Monday following each round, 8:00 AM London time to file reasonable complaints to contact@excel-esports.uk. The official results of each round will be published on www.excel-esports.uk by Monday, at 5:00 PM London time.
Each round will take place at 5:00 PM London time, unless otherwise stated.
This year we will be using the play.excel-esports.com platform. The case will be available online from the start time with no email link. We will announce any delays / issues on the community platform if these should arise. The case will run for the designated time (30 minutes unless otherwise stated), during which you can add your answers to the online platform.
The Timeframe takes into account:
Downloading the Case,
Reading and analysing the Case,
Creation of models,
Completing the relevant answers for the Case, and
Submitting the answers.
Your models can be uploaded for 2 minutes after the battle ends.
A livestream with feedback and results will take place after each battle.
6. Qualification System
While the final will have 32 qualifiers, it is expected that there will be more than 32 participants registered for MEWC UK Online rounds.
The 32 participants who will take part in the final will be selected based on the following criteria:
Some of the players may rank in the top 7 despite already qualifying at an earlier round. In such case, the extra places will be awarded to the next placed players.
7.Tie-breakers
In the event that 2 (two) or more Participants have an equal number of points in a round, in determining the higher-ranked Participant, the following is taken into consideration:
Tie-breakers will be calculated when they affect the prize recipients or players who qualify for seats in the final of the competition.
8. In-Person Live Final
The finals will be an in-person event and will take place in London on 5th September 2026, venue tbc.
The finals will comprise 3 rounds of cases, which all finalists will be competing in.
All finals rounds will be broadcasted on the Excel Esports UK YouTube channel.
Round hosts will be focusing on the Live Streamed Players selected for each stream. MEWC UK organizers will select a maximum of 4 participants of each round for the broadcast. These players will be required to log in for a video call and to solve the Case during the stream. Other players (Not Streamed Players) will be required to log in to the Examination Platform to complete the round at the same time.
The format of the final matches might change based on the organizers’ decision.
9. 2026 Dates
2026 dates will be published on the Calendar page.
Excel Esports UK organizers reserve the right to change the dates of Rounds at their sole discretion.
If the date of a Round changes, a notice shall be provided on the Excel Esports UK Website or Excel Esports UK social media channels.
10. Rankings
The Competition utilizes an internal Ranking System which is based on the Participants’ performance.
The Ranking System is unbiasedly handled, calculated and updated on the Website by the organizers, based upon defined criteria.
All rankings and decisions relating to rankings are strictly at the discretion of the organizers, who are under no obligation to disclose any decision-making processes.
Participants will be ranked based on the total number of points accumulated during the current Season. The rankings will be based on the total amount of ranking points scored by each participant throughout the online rounds.
The participants who have scored 0 points in a battle (e.g., registered but didn’t start the round) will not be granted any ranking points for the battle.
Upon completion of each Battle, updated Rankings will be published.
The Rankings will be updated on a regular and reasonable basis.
The information that will be published may include:
Participants can opt to only have their Excel Esports UK ID number shown.
This can be done by contacting as at contact@excel-esports.uk
Participants who become prize recipients cannot opt for their names not to be shown.
11. Teams
Additional subsets of Rankings will be published, e.g., by Team or Home Nation. Other subsets might be added during the course of the year. Teams are a special case which will allow you to view your rankings against a group of colleagues or friends.
During registration, your Team name can be set up as your company name if you are participating as part of a sponsor group, or set to a company or team name of your choice. Rankings within teams will be provided where there are 3 (three) or more participants in a team.
To amend your team name, please contact us at contact@excel-esports.uk.
12. Case Design Team
The Case Design Team is responsible for the Case creation for MEWC UK and are comprised of Excel Esports UK team members and associates.
Any Case Design Team members that are not part of the Excel Esports UK team will be able to take part in competition. A Case created by a member of CDT will be used in sessions where the particular member is not playing.
Excel Esports UK organisers will be allowed to participate in cases they have not had access to.
13. Participation Fee
The Participation Fee (hereinafter – Fee) for the whole event should be paid upon registration. The Fee covers participation in all the Online Rounds of the MEWC UK for the current year and the London Finals – as long as the participant qualifies. The participation fee does not also cover the cost of travel to London. Additionally, the participation fee provides free-of-charge access to the game case files for all MEWC UK stages for the current year. The Fee is set at £50 for the season 2026.
The registration is closed a day before the start of the final Online Round.
The Organizers reserve the right to change the Fees anytime at the organizers’ sole discretion.
The Fee is not returned if participants did not take part in MEWC UK.
14. Prizes
The total prize fund for MEWC UK is provided by competition sponsors.
The winner will be provided with a ticket to The Active Cell conference, a seat on the stage at Day 2 of the Microsoft Excel World Champion, flights from the UK to Las Vegas, and hotel accommodation at the Luxor hotel in Las Vegas for the duration of the conference and competition.
There may be additional prizes available dependant on competition sponsors. This document will be updated through the year to reflect any additional prizes available.
The organizers reserve the right to refuse prize payout if the Participant cannot confirm their identity by submitting a photography of a valid government-issued ID document. The organizers will contact the prize recipients using the email address provided upon purchasing the participation ticket. If the participant ignores the communication attempts for 6 months after the end of the competition, organizers reserve the right to refuse any prize payout.
The competition winners become our brand ambassadors. It is expected that they will get more attention from mass media and social media. The brand ambassadors are expected to take part in the interviews, representing MEWC UK competitions in good faith, promoting Excel Esports UK’s good name and fair competition. The UK Champion will be provided with a sponsorship UK Champion shirt to wear at the Las Vegas televised Day 2 event. The top 5 contestants will be expected to provide contact information that can be passed to media outlets. Final decision on which publications to engage with will be at the contestants' discretion.
15. Fair Play
Participants should compete ethically, avoiding any form of cheating or manipulation.
The participants should only use their own skills and abilities to complete the Cases.
Usage of multiple accounts at Excel Esports UK, exchange of information with other participants during the rounds, and trying to gain early access to cases by any technical means is considered to be a severe violation of the Fair Play principles and is prohibited.
The use of AI for solving a case is prohibited. Explicitly, AI may be used for direct translation but not for developing the case solution, in whole or part.
The use of pre-created Lambda formulas, VBA code, Power Query, and other similar means of tech-related performance enhancement is allowed to the players.
Violations of the Fair Play rules will lead to disqualification of the guilty players. In case of disqualification, no participation fee refunds will be provided.
16. Changes to Rules
The Organizers have the right to change these Rules at their sole discretion.
