Is Competition Good or Bad for Students?

Leaderboards, scores, contests, and challenges are some of the most common elements of gamification. Competition can make activities more engaging and encourage students to put in greater effort. But is competition always beneficial?

The answer is probably: it depends on how it is used.

The Positive Side of Competition

Well-designed competition can increase energy and engagement. A challenge can turn an otherwise boring exercise into a meaningful goal.

Competition can also introduce valuable elements such as challenge, the desire to improve, and the satisfaction of achieving a goal.

Video games demonstrate this particularly well. Beating an opponent, improving a personal record, or climbing a leaderboard can motivate players to keep practicing and improving.

When Competition Becomes a Problem

The problem begins when winning becomes more important than learning.

A public leaderboard, for example, may be highly motivating for students at the top, but have the opposite effect on those who are consistently near the bottom. If a student feels they have no realistic chance of competing with the highest-performing classmates, they may eventually stop trying.

In that situation, competition does not increase motivation—it reduces it.

There is also a risk that students begin to measure their own worth against others instead of focusing on their individual progress.

Competing Against Others or Against Yourself?

One possible solution is to shift the focus from competition between students to competition with oneself.

Instead of asking, "Who is the best in the class?", we can ask, "Can you improve your previous result?"

This approach gives every student a meaningful personal goal, regardless of their classmates' performance.

Leaderboards can therefore be replaced—or complemented—by personal statistics, progress levels, individual goals, and personal records to beat.

Collaboration and Competition Can Coexist

Competition and collaboration do not necessarily have to be opposites.

A class can be divided into teams that collaborate internally while competing against other teams. Students then have to support one another in order to achieve a common goal.

This is also a common mechanic in video games: players may compete against other teams while simultaneously working together with their own teammates.

Competition Should Be a Tool

The real question, therefore, should not be "Should we use competition?" but rather "Does this particular form of competition help my students learn?"

Good gamification does not necessarily put students against one another. Competition can be used when it is helpful, avoided when it may be harmful, and combined with collaboration, personal goals, and individual challenges.

The ultimate goal should not be to create a classroom where everyone wants to be number one, but one where everyone wants to improve.

Because in education, the most important victory is not finishing ahead of someone else. It is going further than where you started.