Every parent knows the look of a child who has just made something work. At Code Battle 2024, more than 450 students from Grades 1 to 12 had that look, often several times in one afternoon. Over three days in November they came to DTEC in Dubai Digital Park from Abu Dhabi, Dubai, Sharjah, Ajman and Umm Al Quwain, built a project in two hours and pitched it to a panel of judges.
Code Battle is iCodejr’s free inter-school hackathon. Khaleej Times covered the 2024 finals: read the Khaleej Times story.
Code Battle 2024 at a glance
| Dates | 16 Nov (Grades 1–4), 17 Nov (Grades 5–8), 23 Nov 2024 (Grades 9–12) |
| Venue | DTEC, Dubai Digital Park, Dubai Silicon Oasis |
| Students | 450+, in teams of 2–3 |
| Teams | 122 (29 Cadet, 53 Captain, 40 Colonel) |
| Emirates | 5: Abu Dhabi, Dubai, Sharjah, Ajman, Umm Al Quwain |
| Turnout | More than 90% of registered students took part |
| Entry | Free |
A full house at DTEC
The turnout was the first surprise of the year. More than nine in ten registered students turned up, often with parents, brothers and sisters in tow. Families joined side activities and cheered from the seats while their children coded.
How the day worked
Each division had its own day. Teams heard the theme at 10:15, coded from 10:30 to 12:30, then gave a 2–3 minute pitch with a live demo before the judges’ questions and the awards.
- Cadet (Grades 1–4) built with block-based tools.
- Captain (Grades 5–8) chose blocks or text.
- Colonel (Grades 9–12) took on advanced programming challenges.
Everything was built on the day. Teams could use AI tools if they explained how, and had to disclose any code they hadn’t written on site.
The judges
Six judges from across the tech industry scored the projects:
- Dr Judhi Prasetyo, Head and Founder of RoboTechX Lab, Middlesex University Dubai
- Muhammad Yasser
- Tai Paschall
- Ivan Reznikov
- Mohammed Fazalullah
- Maksym Nechepurenko
“The ingenuity and problem-solving skills displayed by these students were remarkable.” — Dr Judhi Prasetyo, RoboTechX Lab, Middlesex University Dubai
The winners
The Grades 9–12 final was the closest of the three: just five points separated the top three teams.
| Division | 1st | 2nd | 3rd |
|---|---|---|---|
| Cadet (Grades 1–4) | Tech Titans, GEMS Modern Academy, Dubai | Rayyan Champion, The City School International, Sharjah | The Brightonians, Brighton College Dubai |
| Captain (Grades 5–8) | GFS Tech Titans, GEMS Founders School | Syntax Samurai, GEMS Millennium School | Robokatz, Delhi Private School |
| Colonel (Grades 9–12) | Logic Legends, GEMS Winchester School Dubai | Overflowed Stack, Sharjah English School | Round A Block, Dubai GEMS Private School |
Full scores and rankings are on codebattle.tech.
One team to watch: Robokatz from Delhi Private School, Ajman, came third in the Captain division in 2024. A year later they came back and won it at Code Battle 2025.
"Truly inspiring"
“Watching these young coders tackle complex challenges with creativity and confidence has been truly inspiring.” — Hannan Moti, Founder and CEO, iCodejr
Hannan said the aim of Code Battle is to give students a place to explore coding in an engaging and supportive environment, and that the 2024 turnout showed it was working.
Thank you
Thank you to DTEC for hosting us, to our category sponsors BITS Pilani, Skill Hub and Blix, to our six judges, and to every teacher and parent who came along. iCodejr sponsored the trophies and medals.
What came next
Updated 17 October 2026.
Code Battle returned in November 2025 with 205 students in 79 teams from 53+ schools: see the Code Battle 2025 winners and highlights. Code Battle 2026 takes place on 21 November 2026 at Heriot-Watt University Dubai, and schools can register on codebattle.tech.
Want your child coding like this?
Code Battle teams build real projects in two hours. Our live one-to-one classes help children aged 5–18 get there, at their own pace.
