Caribou Help / FAQ
Please look for your question among the >200 questions in our FAQ before emailing us. Caribou aims to be 100% self-service. This helps keep our services affordable.
To use this Help Tree, choose the appropriate category and subcategories. If you are unable to find your question, use the Contact Us form located in the leaves of this tree. Thank you for your help.
Questions & Answers:
How do you distribute credits for paid access codes?
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How do you distribute credits for paid access codes?
Answer:
Please note that contest participation for K/1 and grade 2 is free, as well as October contest participation for all grade levels. For contests after October, you will need to pay for the participation of your students in grades 3-12. It is often more economical to purchase School Wide Contest Participation which allows all students at a school to write each contest in a school year.
If you purchase School Wide Contest Participation, all access codes you have previously requested and any future codes you request become paid access codes valid for the full year.
If you purchase individual Access Codes before October, just use these instead of the free access codes. You can remove unused codes from your Coordinator account by using the ‘Remove Codes’ button on the page Manage & Print Access Codes.
If you purchase individual Access Codes after October, you can convert free access codes into paid codes by distributing your credits on the Manage & Print Access Codes page and then request more paid access codes as necessary. Simply sign in as a Coordinator and go to Manage & Print Access Codes > Edit Names and Credits. Then check the box ‘Valid for Entire Year’ for the access codes you want to credit.
You can move a credit to a different access code if you made a mistake or need to credit a different access code for another reason (e.g. a student used the wrong access code in the first contest). You can do this only before the credit has been used to write a paid contest (November-May). Simply log in, scroll down to My Students & Access Codes > Manage & Print Access Codes > select grade level > beside the credited access code tick off ‘Valid for Entire Year’. Now you have an unused credit that can be applied to a different access code.
Is it too late to buy access codes for the contest tomorrow?
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Is it too late to buy access codes for the contest tomorrow?
Answer:
No, in fact you can still make purchases and hand out access codes on Contest Days!
The October contest is free for all levels, so do not worry if your payment has not arrived beforehand. However, if you are signing up for a later contest (November – May) and your student(s) is/are not in K/1 nor Grade 2 (which are free and does not require payment):
If you are paying by card, the purchase will become available immediately once the payment is accepted. You should receive a confirmation email with the details necessary to access your purchase. Please Contact Us if this is not the case.
If you are paying by cheque, please Contact Us with the the invoice number so we can lend you the payment while your cheque is delivered.
Is it better to purchase individual participation or School Wide Contest Access?
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Is it better to purchase individual participation or School Wide Contest Access?
Answer:
In most countries, Individual participation costs $15/student (not counting K/1 or grade 2 which are free, and level 3/4 which is offered at a reduced price). School Wide Contest Access $320, so this becomes the cheaper option after a mere 21 students above the 3/4 level. Even if you only have a few students participating at the start of the year, more could sign up, in which case it may be worthwhile to opt for a school wide pass even if you have ≤21 students right now. If schools cannot afford the school wide pass or for schools where all extracurriculars are funded by parents, parents could combine their funds to purchase the pass.
As for the All-Inclusive options (participation in the contests, all past solutions, mini-courses, tutorials, etc.), the All-Inclusive School Wide Pass costs $620, whereas Individual All-Inclusive School Wide options cost either $60 or $65, so this becomes the better price at only 10 students.
Pricing may differ in countries where we have a local representative. See the list of representatives and their contact info on the About Caribou under Our Team.
For more information on pricing, check out the Product & Price list.
My students used free access codes in October. If we pay for participation do they keep their access codes?
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My students used free access codes in October. If we pay for participation do they keep their access codes?
Answer:
Contest participation for K/1 and grade 2 is free, as well as October contest participation for all grade levels. For contests after October, you will need to pay for the participation of your students in grades 3-12. It is often more economical to purchase School Wide Contest Participation which allows all students to write each contest in a school year.
If you purchase School Wide Contest Participation, all access codes you have previously requested and any future codes you request become paid access codes valid for the full year. If you purchase individual Access Codes before October, just use these instead of the free access codes.
If you purchase individual Access Codes after October, and you selected the free Access Codes in the Online Shop, these will be credited automatically. If you did not select the Access Codes, a new Access Code will be created for each credit you purchased. You can convert free access codes into paid codes by distributing your credits on the Manage & Print Access Codes page and then request more paid access codes as necessary.
I’ve purchased School Wide Contest Participation. How do I get access codes?
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I’ve purchased School Wide Contest Participation. How do I get access codes?
Answer:
If you have already been using access codes in the free October contest, these will automatically become paid access codes useable for future contests. To obtain new access codes, sign in as Coordinator and go to the page Get Access Codes. From there you can generate the number of codes you want for each level.
How do you make a purchase without a Coordinator account?
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How do you make a purchase without a Coordinator account?
Answer:
Parents or other third parties can purchase participation for a student rather than the school. For this to be possible, the student’s Caribou Coordinator must have the box ‘Allow Third Party Payments’ checked in their Account Settings.
Making a purchase is easy. Follow these steps:- Make sure the Caribou Coordinator has checked ‘Allow Third Party Payments’ in their Account Settings.
- Make sure you have the Coordinator’s name, school, as well as your child’s access code (if they have one).
- Go to our Online Shop Welcome Page.
- Click on the bottom button 'Make a Purchase / Get an Invoice'
- Identify yourself as a Parent (Someone Else), enter your name and email, and confirm your email.
- For "Do you already have an Invoice Number...?" say 'No'.
- Check the appropriate options (for a student, with or without access code)
- Enter your child’s access code. If they do not have one yet, you will need to enter the names of the child, school, and Coordinator and select the appropriate options. If the student is registering without a school, then check the box for No School to register the student with the Caribou Virtual School. An access code will be generated for your student, visible under their Coordinator’s account and sent in the confirmation email when you have completed the purchase.
- Click on the item you wish to purchase and then Update Cart. Then click on Review Cart.
- Click on 'Check Out / Create Invoice'. Jot down the invoice number.
- Check out and pay using your preferred payment method: credit card / Paypal, Cheque, or E-transfer. Please take note of any instructions that appear for each option. When you click on a credit card option it will open a new window where you can enter your credit card information and then click on 'Pay Now' to process the transaction. If paying by Cheque or E-transfer, the invoice will load once you click on ‘Pay by Selected Method’.
- Once we receive the payment, you should immediately receive the confirmation of your payment at the email address you provided containing the Access Code if applicable. If we will not receive the payment before the contest, please Contact Us so we can lend payment in the meantime.
- The student will appear under their Caribou Coordinator’s account. The Coordinator will also receive an email alert for the payment made with the student’s information that you’ve entered.
- The student’s Caribou Coordinator does not appear on the list. The Coordinator must log in to their account, click on ‘Edit my Account > Allow Third Party Payments > Submit’.
- You choose the wrong Coordinator for your student. See ‘A student has been registered under the wrong teacher’.
- You create an access code for your child, but your child already had one. Now their name is linked to two access codes. See ‘A student wrote two contests this year but with different access codes’.
- You wanted to save proof of payment for your records but forgot/it was too fast. In this case you can contact us and we will send you proof of payment.
- You want your student to register under the Caribou Virtual School and try out the free October contest before investing in paid participation. Free K/1 and grade 2 access codes are available in the Online Shop, for all other grades you will need to register for a free Caribou Coordinator account to obtain free October-only codes..
When I log in as a Coordinator, I only see access codes from last year even though I’ve purchased School Wide Contest Participation.
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When I log in as a Coordinator, I only see access codes from last year even though I’ve purchased School Wide Contest Participation.
Answer:
Access codes are only valid for one Caribou Cup year. To get new codes for this year’s contests, use the form on the page Get Access Codes. See the item I’ve purchased School Wide Contest Participation. How do I get access codes?.
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