Final review
Check your examples, readability, portfolio limits, privacy, and event submission details.
Open the final PDF on another device and read it as a would. Check the actual file you will submit, including its pictures, page count, and file size.
Check your examples
Ask someone who did not write the to find a -design decision, a result, something a member learned, an result, and the plan for the team's future. Let them try without explaining the pages aloud.
Check that:
- Dates and robot versions are clear where they matter.
- Measurements have units, test conditions, and a trial count.
- Plans are labelled as plans.
- Percentages and comparisons use the right starting values.
- Students, , partners, and library authors get credit for their own work.
- Award labels point to pages that explain the work.
If a number is missing from your records, leave it out or describe only what you can support.
Learn from three examples
Use a useful feature of each book as a check on your own draft:
| Example | What to notice | Check your draft |
|---|---|---|
| Rebel Robotics' overview, INTO THE DEEP page 1 | Short highlights direct readers to detailed explanations | Follow every page reference after the final page order is set |
| Super 7's revisions, DECODE page 12 | Equivalent versions and stay together | Check that pictures, test results, dates, and captions describe the same revision |
| Seattle Solvers' controls, DECODE page 15 | The scoring goal is named separately from the reported progress | Check that each target, estimate, planned action, and measured result has the right label |
Open the examples at full size if a detail is hard to see. Apply the check to your exported document, where pagination, images, and line breaks may differ from the editor.
Trace important statements
Choose the statements a reader is most likely to ask about: an improvement, an outreach result, a learning outcome, and a future plan. For each one, find the record behind it and ask the student responsible to check the wording.
| Statement | Record to check |
|---|---|
| A mechanism became faster or more reliable | Earlier and later versions, comparable conditions, timing definition, and attempts |
| A control feature improved performance | The feature's test record and what the result measures |
| People joined through an activity | Confirmed participation and the team's documented contribution |
| A member learned a skill | Work the member completed and the help they needed |
| A cost is covered | Confirmed income or a clearly labelled commitment, separate from the target |
If the record supports a narrower statement, use that statement. Put unfinished work in its current state: designed, built, tested, or planned. A final editing pass should make the document more accurate as well as more readable.
Submission checklist
Use these limits for the 2026–27 . Check your event's submission instructions before sending the file.
| Check | What to do |
|---|---|
| Cover | Use one cover page with the team number. Cover content is not judged toward award criteria. |
| Content | Use no more than fifteen content pages; later pages are not reviewed. |
| Page size | Use US Letter, 8.5 × 11 inches, or A4, 210 × 297 mm. |
| File size | Keep the complete file under 15 MB. |
| Season | Focus on work since January 1, 2026. Earlier work can help explain how the team has grown. |
| Student privacy | Use first names and last initials rather than full names. Student photos are allowed; leave unnecessary personal details out. |
| Readability | Avoid text below 10 pt and text that is hard to see against its background. |
| Supporting material | Put the important explanation in the PDF. Judges do not open links, websites, or videos, or keep extra interview handouts for deliberation. |
| Credits | Credit outside work, research, and AI assistance in footnotes or endnotes. |
The page and file limits are requirements. The font-size advice helps with readability; meeting the page limit does not make small text easy to read.
Export checks
Check fonts, symbols, equations, and images in the exported PDF. Print a busy page to see whether the body text and chart labels are comfortable to read.
Count the cover separately from the content pages, confirm the team number, and check for clipped text on every page. Compress large images only as far as the details remain clear.
Remove comments, private contact details, drafts, and accidental extra pages. Keep the editable original and a dated copy of the submission.
Test the exported PDF in three passes:
- Find information: a reader locates a design choice, software result, learning example, outreach result, and future plan without the author's help.
- Read details: inspect every page at normal size and print a busy page. Check chart labels, captions, symbols, and text inside screenshots as well as body text.
- Check the file: verify the team number, cover, content-page count, page , file size, privacy, credits, and the event's delivery instructions.
After correcting a page, reopen the export and inspect that page and any affected references. Keep the final filename and submission copy unambiguous for the person delivering it.
Submission
Follow the Event Director's format and deadline. If no other instructions are given, submit one printed copy during the initial interview. Keep another available in the .
Choose who will submit it and confirm where it needs to go. A notebook or shared-folder link is not a substitute for the requested file or printed copy. If the event calls it something different, ask what they expect.
Community and automated review
Ask peers, mentors, or a portfolio-review channel about a specific concern: a crowded page, an unclear design explanation, or an outreach result that needs more detail. Check advice about rules against FIRST's current guidance.
Treat automated feedback as suggestions. Check its facts, season, and privacy terms, and avoid uploading student information it does not need. A tool's score does not predict an award.