A coding competition for UK students backed by the Duke of York gets under way this week.

Entries open for the Duke of York Peer to Peer Challenge on Wednesday. Young people are being encourage to enter the contest, in which they will be asked to take on one of five coding challenges as part of the “open hack”.

These range from creating a website to designing an app or video tutorial to make it easier for others to get into programming.

The competition was devised by Young Rewired State (YRS), an independent not-for-profit global network which works to track down and support young people who are teaching themselves how to code.

YRS will also provide coding mentors to support the entrants, and their work will be uploaded to the competition website and evaluated by a panel of judges, including renowned mathematician Conrad Wolfram, who has been developing a computer-based maths module for use in Estonian schools. 

The aim of the initiative is to encourage more young people to develop programming and digital skills.

“This is the first time we’ve held the competition, and it’s been very well received,” said YRS chief executive Emma Mulqueeny.

“Some parents are getting mixed messages that they need to get their children off the internet, yet at the same time they need to go online to learn the skills they need to get any job in the future.

“It’s a great way to show young people coding is fun, not geeky.”

Entries close on 12 April. The winners will be announced on 25 April, and an award presentation ceremony will take place at Buckingham Palace.