We are excited to announce the results of the European Statistics Competition (ESC) 2021, which was held in the school year 2020-2021.

Over 11 000 students from 16 countries signed up for the fourth edition of this statistical literacy contest.

After a tough national phase, the winning teams in each participating country took part in the European final. They were asked to make a two-minute video on the topic of misinformation. Contestants had to present their ideas on the challenge of misinformation in society and the role official statistics can have. In spite of the limitations brought by the Covid-19 pandemic, the students produced some really powerful videos.

A jury of European experts assessed the 61 submissions to choose the top 5 videos in both the age group 14-16 (30 submissions) and the age group 16-18 (31 submissions).

Winners of the 14-16 age group

Team TEGLZAROŽE (Slovenia) takes first prize in the junior age group (14-16) with a very entertaining video on the difficult topic of misinformation regarding Covid-19 vaccines. The jury was convinced by their unique and personal approach combining good storytelling and artistic skills – the team even created a song!

The second place goes to team LUSITANOS (Portugal) with their very well designed video on greenwashing.

Team GIMNACK21 (Croatia) comes third with an engaging presentation on misinformation and the internet.

The teams AEROSTATS (France) and ESPRO (Cyprus) obtain respectively fourth and fifth place.

Winners of the 16-18 age group

In the senior age group (16-18), the first prize goes to team VERDE (Portugal). Through a short story, their creative video very effectively illustrates how misinformation spreads. The jury was particularly impressed by the clarity of the message and the emotions the video conveys.

Team MARIE (Belgium) is a very close second with their well-balanced animated video on misinformation in the context of climate change.

The video of team STATHLETES (Croatia) takes home third place with its powerful examples of fake news.

Team PLAN_XY (Slovenia) and team STATS A-ALPEON (Ireland) complete the top five. They take respectively fourth and fifth place.

A virtual award ceremony will take place on 16 June 2021 at 17:00 CEST. You can watch it here.

This year’s jury was composed of experts and influencers in the fields of statistics, media, education and economics:

Alessandro Cascavilla, economist and influencer, Italy

Anabel Forte, statistics (associate) professor and disseminator, Spain

Hanan Abdelrahman, mathematics educator, Norway

Lusine Grigoryan, media literacy specialist at Media Initiatives Center, Armenia

Nina Loginova, executive board member, European Youth Press

Pauliina Ilmonen, assistant professor statistics, Finland

Petr Mazouch, statistics professor and EMOS member, Czechia

Timothée Gidoin, cofounder of Datagora, a mini-media and platform specialized in democratization of public statistics, France

Tim Allen, Deputy-Head of Dissemination at Eurostat, chairman of the jury

With assistance of 4 Eurostat jurors for the first part of the evaluation: Ivana Jablonska, Maja Islam, Martin Karlberg and Stefano Abruzzini.

For more information on the competition, go to ESC_2021 (esc2021.eu)

For all videos in the European final, go to the playlists of the age groups 14-16 and 16-18.