# British Columbia VEX Robotics

> British Columbia VEX Robotics explained: the V5RC and VEX U programs BC teams compete in, how the season and Worlds qualification work, where tournaments run, and where to follow live BC rankings, events, teams and Robot Skills standings. Source: https://penguinrobotics.ca

## Programs

- **VEX V5 Robotics Competition (V5RC)** — middle and high school; two-alliance matches, judged awards and the Robot Skills Challenge. Nearly every BC tournament is a V5RC event.
- **VEX U** — college division, fielded by university and college teams. Tracked alongside V5RC.
- **VEX IQ Robotics Competition** — elementary and middle school; runs as its own BC league with separate organizers and is not part of this dataset.

## The season

VEX reveals a new game each May. BC teams register over the summer and play qualifiers, invitationals and scrimmages from late August through February, mostly at schools and robotics academies in Richmond, Burnaby, Delta, Surrey, Port Moody and West Vancouver. Provincial championships run in February or March with the Pacific Youth Robotics Society (PYRS) and other event partners; the VEX Robotics World Championship follows in April.

## Worlds qualification

Worlds spots come from judged awards and tournament performance at BC regional events and provincial championships, and from the Robot Skills Challenge, where a team's best Driver plus best Programming score feeds VEX's official global standings. Spots are invited by the REC Foundation.

## Where to follow the data

- [BC VEX rankings](https://penguinrobotics.ca/rankings) — season match ratings, qualification rankings and movement, per grade.
- [BC VEX events](https://penguinrobotics.ca/events) — calendar, schedules, qualification and playoff results, awards, skills runs.
- [BC VEX teams](https://penguinrobotics.ca/teams) — team directory with records, ratings, awards and history.
- [Robot Skills standings](https://penguinrobotics.ca/skills) — best combined Driver + Programming scores and official Worlds ranks.
- [BC at VEX Worlds](https://penguinrobotics.ca/worlds) — every BC team at the World Championship, with results.
- [Schools and organizations](https://penguinrobotics.ca/orgs) — the organizations behind BC teams.

## Questions

### What is VEX Robotics in British Columbia?
VEX Robotics is a competitive STEM program where student teams design, build and program robots for a new game each season. BC teams compete in V5RC (middle and high school) and VEX U (college), with events across the Lower Mainland and Fraser Valley and provincial championships before Worlds in April.

### Does Penguin Robotics cover VEX IQ in BC?
No. Penguin tracks V5RC and VEX U: rankings, events, matches, Robot Skills and Worlds campaigns. VEX IQ in BC runs as its own league with separate organizers.

### How do BC VEX teams qualify for Worlds?
Through judged awards and tournament performance at BC regional events and provincial championships, and through the Robot Skills Challenge, whose combined scores feed VEX's official global standings. The REC Foundation issues the invitations.

### When does the BC VEX season run?
A new game is revealed each May; qualifiers run from late August through February, provincial championships in February or March, and the VEX Robotics World Championship in April.

### Where can I find BC VEX rankings and event results?
Rankings at https://penguinrobotics.ca/rankings, Robot Skills at https://penguinrobotics.ca/skills, the calendar and results at https://penguinrobotics.ca/events, and per-team history at https://penguinrobotics.ca/teams.

### How do I join or start a VEX team in BC?
Most BC teams are based at a school, district program or community robotics organization. If your school has none, a teacher or parent can register a team with the REC Foundation and enter events from the BC calendar.

HTML version: https://penguinrobotics.ca/bc-vex