You have qualified for Regional Qualifiers? Congratulations! If you want to register for one of the Regional Qualifiers, please click here.

You want to know more? Just keep reading! To accommodate participants from around the world, Hippo organizes Regional Qualifiers across several locations, making it more convenient for students to attend. These regions are pre-established based on participant numbers and their geographical distribution in previous Hippo years.

Pre-Set Regions
The regions for the qualifiers are as follows:
Mediterranean Europe 
Other countries bordering the Mediterranean Sea 
Continental Europe
Middle East
Central Asia 
Indian Subcontinent 
Maritime Southeast Asia 
Far East
Africa
Central & South America.

Locations and Dates for the 2025 Regional Qualifiers
Mediterranean Europe, Continental Europe and other countries bordering the Mediterranean Sea Regional Qualifiers
Location: Jesolo (Venice), Italy
Date: May 2025
Participating Countries: Albania, Algeria, Armenia, Bosnia & Herzegovina, Bulgaria, Croatia, Cyprus, Czech Republic, Estonia, Greece, Hungary, Italy, Kosovo, Latvia, Moldavia, Montenegro, Morocco, North Macedonia, Poland, Portugal, Romania, Serbia, Slovakia, Slovenia, Spain, Tunisia, Turkey and Ukraine

Central Asia, Azerbaijan and Mongolia
Location: Samarkand, Uzbekistan
Date: June 2025
Participating Countries: Azerbaijan, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Mongolia, Russia, Tajikistan, Turkmenistan and Uzbekistan

Africa, Middle East and Indian Subcontinent
Location: Qatar
Date: July 2025
Participating Countries: Afghanistan, Bangladesh, Botswana, Brazil, Egypt, Ghana, Guinea, India, Iran, Iraq, Jordan, Kuwait, Lebanon, Mexico, Nepal, Nigeria, Oman, Pakistan, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, South African Republic, Sudan, Tanzania and Zimbabwe.

South-East Asia and Asia
Location: Vietnam
Date: July 2025
Participating Countries: Cambodia, China, Hong Kong, Indonesia, Macau, Malaysia, Myanmar, Philippines, Singapore, Taiwan, Thailand and Vietnam.

Participation Criteria
If enrolments in a specific region reach 1,000 students (with at least 100 per Hippo category), Qualifiers will be held. Students who rank highly but do not make it to the World Finals will be eligible to participate. The number of students admitted per category and country will be proportional to the number of participants in the preliminary round.

Important Details
– The Regional Qualifiers will be held in person. Online examinations will not be offered.
– Initially, the top 10% of students not qualified for the World Finals will be invited to the Regional Qualifiers. Their names will appear highlighted in yellow on the ranking list.
– If an invitee does not confirm participation, the next highest-ranking student from the same country will be invited.
– The minimum qualification to be invited is 70% of the first-place points. These students will be highlighted in orange on the ranking list.

Fees and Logistics
– A participation fee will be required, covering insurance, merchandising, activities, and exam materials.
– In some cases, a package including accommodation and participation fees will be offered through an exclusive service provider. Participants who book accommodation via this provider will not need to pay the participation fee separately.
– Participants and their accompanying teachers/parents will cover their own travel and accommodation costs.
– Hippo will provide suggested accommodation options, allowing participants to select based on their preferences.

Examination
The examination will consist of a Hippo Test of English: 30 Use of English open-ended questions and a crossword puzzle. Sample tests are available on the Sample Papers page of the Hippo website.

Event Schedule
– Students and their accompanying adult should arrive the day before the examination date.
– Examinations will be conducted the following morning with the winner announcements in the evening.

Advancement
The first-place winners from each category in every region will advance to the World Finals.