Eligibility question regarding part-time employment as a developer during the school year

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Created 3d

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I have a question about the full-time employment eligibility requirement for the Swift Student Challenge 2026.

The rules state that applicants cannot be "employed full time as a developer" at the time of submission. My situation is a bit nuanced: I work as a software engineer at a company, but my contract explicitly distinguishes between summer and school year employment. During the summer I work full-time, but during the school year my hours are part-time and flexible, and therefore not a fixed schedule.

Since the submission deadline is February 28th, I would be submitting during the school year, at which point I am not working full-time.

My question: Does the eligibility rule apply strictly to full-time hours at the time of submission, or does being employed in a developer role at all (even part-time during the school year) disqualify me?

Answered by Community Moderator in 876857022

Hi there @mohalibou, thank you reaching out and the thoughtful question.

Eligibility is based on you status at the time of submission. Since you are not working full-time as a developer when submitting during the school year, you are eligible to apply.

When submitting kindly ensure that you adhere what @DTS Engineer shared as well as to the submission requirements. I will particularly point you to this the following:

You must provide a PDF, PNG, or JPEG of your current class schedule or other current proof of enrollment and the contact information for your dean or principal.
Class schedules or other current proof of enrollment is accepted in all languages and must clearly show: Your name; The organization or school name; and The dates showing it’s valid at the time of submission.

Best of luck with your submission! I am excited for you and wish you all the best with Swift Student Challenge 🎉

Christa .R

Developer Community Engagement

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Answer 1

mohalibou OP

2d

Is there anyone who can give some insight?

0

Answer 2

DTS Engineer OP

Apple

1d

Accepted Answer

Thanks for the post and for your patience, that team does not monitor the forums very often and full disclaimer I’m not part of that team, I just look at the requirements from https://developer.apple.com/swift-student-challenge/policy/ and it seems like you are not a full time employee at this time and you are enrolled at school at this time?

Fulfill one of the following requirements at the time of submission:
* Be enrolled in, or have graduated within the last 90 days from, an accredited academic institution or official homeschool equivalent, or an Apple Developer Academy;
* Be enrolled in a STEM organization’s educational curriculum; or
* Have graduated from high school or equivalent within the past 6 months and be awaiting acceptance or have received acceptance to an accredited academic institution.

On the page there is an email for the team, you should send them an email if you still have questions about requirements.

Albert Pascual   Worldwide Developer Relations.

1

Answer 3

Community Moderator OP