On Tuesday, May 18, 1999, a group of middle-school English teachers organized the first ever English language contest in France: The Big Challenge CONTEST. It is open to all students from primary to secondary school who have chosen to learn English as a foreign language.

In 2005, following its success in France, the first contest was organized in Germany, followed by Spain in 2007, Austria in 2012, Sweden in 2013 and Poland and the Netherlands in 2016. In 2017, Benelux and Italy also joined the adventure. More than 630,000 students take part in the competition every year in Europe.

For several years now, The Big Challenge has also been offering a free training application: The Big Challenge PLAY, accessible from the start of the school year and used by hundreds of thousands of students.