News & Guides
Season guides, division explainers and the latest on the National Economics Challenge and the China National Round (CNEC).
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CNEC 2027 Preliminary Slots: Mock Days, Test Times and the 60 Minutes Inside the Two-Hour Window
Mock CNEC falls on 5–6 December; the scored preliminary follows on 12–13 December. The published two-hour block covers check-in and environment checks—the actual paper lasts 60 minutes. Lock your Bloom day choice by 30 November.
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NEC Pre 2027 for IGCSE Economics Students: The 28-Micro, 8-Macro Paper Mapped to Your Syllabus
Per the CNEC 2027 student handbook, the Pre paper moves closer to IGCSE level, with 28 micro and 8 macro questions. How Cambridge and Edexcel units map onto it, and which gaps to close first.
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Critical Thinking Runs Twice, and the Two Rounds Are Not the Same Test
Critical Thinking runs at both the China round and the global round, but one is open research ending in a written report and the other is timed and closed-book.
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The CNEC Club Track: What Runs From September to November While Everyone Else Is Registering
The 2027 CNEC outline carries a club programme alongside the competition rounds, including a September to November online leaderboard. What it offers, and when to skip it.
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The Herbert Simon Division: CNEC Adds an AI Track, and It Is Not a Fourth Way In
CNEC 2027 adds a fourth division, Herbert Simon, for applied AI in economics research. It is open only to students already registered in Pre, David Ricardo or Adam Smith.
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The 2027 CNEC Season Calendar: Every Deadline, and How to Back-Plan From a Mid-December Preliminary
Per the operator’s 2027-season note, registration for the CNEC preliminary closes 1 December 2026 and the paper is sat 12-13 December – eleven days later, with only ten clear days in between and the division locked at registration. Here is the season calendar and the October-November back-plan it forces; confirm every date on the official…
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The 2027 CNEC (NEC China) Season: Divisions, Team Rules and How Entry Works
The 2027 CNEC season is open. Here is how the four divisions work – Pre, David Ricardo, Adam Smith and the new Herbert Simon AI add-on – the team-size rules that catch families out, the preliminary fee, and how cross-school teams are handled.
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The CNEC Rounds, Decoded: What the 2027 Programme Actually Runs, Stage by Stage
The 2027 CNEC programme outline lists five rounds, not seven: the Qualifying Test, Critical Thinking, Quiz Bowl, the new OX-BP Debate Sessions and U20 Youth Voice. Here is which stage each one appears at, what it tests, and what happened to Super Econ.