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Focus of CTL

The Critical Thinking League is a competition for elementary and high school students. CTL responds to the lack of education in the field of critical thinking and media literacy of young people. The competition takes place in three age categories and three competition rounds. CTL was established in 2021, and this year, 14 169 students from 547 schools across Slovakia have registered for the competition.

Goals of CTL

 Strengthen resilience to disinformation and manipulation tactics

 Develop argumentation skills of young people

Increase the quality of public discussion

Teach young people to verify news and indentify credible sources of information

Create healthy habits when spending time on social networks

Improve the ability to correctly interpret data, statistics, and graphs

CTL takes place in three rounds:

School round

 annually in December

for all elementary and high school students

45-minute online test for elementary school students 

Regional round

 annually in March

for successful participants of the school round

70-minute online test for elementary school students

CTL Finale

 annually in June

24 most successful elementary school participants from the regional round

2-day in-person event in Bratislava

Elementary school students can compete in the 3rd category:

1st category

Years 1 and 2 of high school and four- or five-year gymnasium, fifth and sixth year of eight-year gymnasiums

2nd category

Years 3 and 4 year of high school and four-year gymnasiums, Years 3, 4 and 5 of five-year gymnasiums, seventh and eight years of eight-year gymnasiums

3rd category

8th and 9th grades of elementary schools, 3rd and 4th grades of eight-year gymnasiums, 1st grade of five-year gymnasiums


Current dates for elementary schools

 School Round  

11. 05. 2025

from 8:00 to 15:00

Duration: 45 minutes

Regional Round

24. 3. 2026

from 8:00 to 15:00

Duration: 70 minutes

CTL Finale

5.-6. 6. 2026

 in-person in Bratislava

Duration: 2 days

Rules

 Internet use

Using the internet is allowed in CTL ; some tasks even require it. The goal of CTL is not mechanical memorization but to develop the ability to search for information and critically work with it.

Source citation

All sources used during the competition must be cited in the answers so their reliability can be verified and plagiarism avoided. 

 Individual work

Participants must work individually; they must not consult with anyone or copy answers from other participants.

Parts of the test

 Media Literacy

In the media literacy section, you can expect tasks focused on verifying the credibility of sources, identifying signs of reliable media, verifying the origin of images or searching for primary sources.

 Data Interpretation and Manipulation

The part on data interpretation and manipulation will test the ability to detect misleading data visualizations, identify errors in graphs, read with comprehension, and identify logical fallacies in text.

 Argumentation

The last part will assess the argumentation skills of the participants. The main task will be to create their own argument, but there will also be tasks focused on the characteristics and parts of an argument.

Evaluation

  • For each question, the number of points you will receive for a correct answer will be indicated
  • No points will be deducted for an incorrect answer
  • The time taken to complete the test is only considered for competitors who have achieved the same number of points
  • Open questions, where competitors write original text, are scored by SDA accredited judges according to precise criteria
  • Results and correct answers will be published within 4 weeks after the competition on EduPage

Complete rules and regulations of CTL for download

Registration for CTL

Registration usually starts one month before the competition round.

Competitors must be registered by a contact person specified by the school.

Registration for the CTL is done through EduPage.

Procedure for teachers

  1. Check if registration is open. How do I find out that registration is open?
  2. Make sure you are the contact person for the CTL.  How do I become a contact person?
  3. Registre students for the competition. How to register students?
  4. Send registered students their competition codes. How to share competition codes?
  5. On the day of the competition, check that all registered students have started the test. You can notify those who have not started competing. How to follow the competition?

Procedure for students:

  1. Indicate in the EduPage section “Competitions” that you are interested in CTL. You will receive notifications about upcoming deadlines. How do I show interest in CTL?
  2. When registration starts, ask your teacher if you can sign up for CTL.
  3. Ask your parent or guardian for permission to process your personal data. How to give informed consent?
  4. Check whether your teacher has sent you the competition code.
  5. On the day of the competition, visit the website www.okm-online.sk, Enter your competition code and you can start! How does the competition run?
What to do if your school does not use Edupage? You can find the instructions here.

School round CTL

The school round of the Critical Thinking League 2024/2025 took place on December 12, 2024, in the form of an online test. A total of 7,186  elementary school students registered to participate!

The competition test was available in two languages – Slovak and Hungarian.

The results list can be found below or on the EduPage portal. The winner will receive prizes in the form of a smartwatch and educational literature.

3rd category

  1. Leo Torma   ZŠ Krosnianska, Košice
  2. David Földes  ZŠ Rajčianska, Bratislava
  3. Ján Beblavý  ŠPMNDaG, Bratislava; Filip Obložinský  Gymnázium Angely Merici, Trnava; Samuel Kubinec  ZŠ Slobodného slovenského vysielača, Banská Bystrica; Sebastián Martišovič  Gymnázium Angely Merici, Trnava

 

overall ranking

correct answers

Regional round CTL

The regional round took place in the form of a 70-minute online test on March 27, 2025

A total of 2,542 students participated in the regional round

The results list, list of qualifiers, and correct answers can be found below. Individual assessments for each student are published on the EduPage platform.

3rd category

  1. Jozef Jeffrey Michalec  Súkromné gymnázium Dneperská, Košice
  2. Agáta Čermáková  ŠPMNDaG, Bratislava
  3. Filip Bielik  ŠPMNDaG, Bratislava

list of qualifiers

overall ranking

correct answers

Nationwide round CTL

It took place in Bratislava on May 30–31, 2025

24 competitors qualified for the CTL finals – the three best from each region.

The topic for the argumentative speech was: “Social media have caused more harm than good to teenagers.”

The results can be found below:

3rd category

  1. Petra Bujňáková  Gymnázium Varšavská, Žilina
  2. Hana Pilátová  Gymnázium M. R. Štefánika, Nové Mesto nad Váhom
  3. Jozef Jeffrey Michalec  Súkromné gymnázium Dneperská, Košice

results

correct answers

School round CTL

The school round of the Critical Thinking League 2025/2026 took place on December 11, 2025, in the form of a 45-minute online test via EduPage.

The competition test was available in two languages – Slovak and Hungarian.

Check your answers in the document with the correct answers!

The results list can be found below. The winner received a smart watch and educational literature.

All successful participants qualify for the regional round.

3rd category

  1. Matúš Kocák   ZŠ Okružná, Michalovce
  2. Tadeáš Laifr  Gymnázium Bilíkova, Bratislava; a Nella Kvašňovská  ZŠ Ulica mieru, Bytča
  3. Martin Fedoročko  Gymnázium Alejová, Košice

 

overall ranking

correct answers

Regional round CTL

The regional round will take the form of a 70-minute online test on March 24, 2026.

The three most successful solvers from each region will advance to the national round.

Nationwide round CTL

It will take place in person in Bratislava on June 5–6, 2026.

24 competitors will qualify for the CTL finals – three from each region.