Intro
A skill question competition is a prize competition where entrants must answer a question, solve a puzzle or make a judgement before their entry counts. The purpose is legal: under the Gambling Act 2005, a competition that genuinely tests skill, knowledge or judgement isn’t treated as a lottery, so it doesn’t need a gambling licence. If you answer incorrectly, your entry is usually excluded from the draw and you won’t get your money back. Most competitions also offer a free postal entry route, which is the other way they stay outside lottery rules.
Why competitions ask a question at all
In the UK, running a lottery is tightly restricted. With a few exceptions, such as society lotteries for good causes and the National Lottery, you can’t sell tickets for a draw where the winner is chosen purely by chance. A commercial business offering a car to whoever holds a randomly drawn ticket would, on the face of it, be running an illegal lottery.
The Gambling Act 2005 defines a lottery as an arrangement where people pay to take part and prizes are allocated wholly by chance. Take away either of those elements and it stops being a lottery. Competition operators do this in two ways. They introduce a test of skill, knowledge or judgement so that prizes aren’t allocated wholly by chance, and they offer a free way to enter so that payment isn’t required. Many do both.
The skill question is the first of those two mechanisms. It’s why you’ll be asked something before checkout, and why the competition is described as a prize competition rather than a raffle.
What the law actually requires
This is where it gets more interesting than most entrants realise. Simply asking a question isn’t enough on its own.
Section 14(5) of the Gambling Act says that a requirement to use skill, judgement or knowledge is treated as relying wholly on chance unless it can reasonably be expected to do one of two things: put off a significant proportion of people who want to enter, or stop a significant proportion of those who do enter from winning. In plain terms, the question has to be hard enough to make a real difference.
The Act doesn’t define “significant proportion”, and the Gambling Commission has deliberately avoided putting a number on it. Its guidance says the phrase should be given its ordinary natural meaning. When a competition looks borderline, the Commission asks whether the question actually filtered out a significant share of people, and if not, why the organiser reasonably expected that it would.
Lawyers who advise on these competitions are fairly consistent that superficial or token questions are unlikely to meet the test. That’s an important point for entrants. If a question is so easy that almost everyone gets it right, it may not be doing the legal work on its own, which is one reason many operators also provide a free entry route as a second line of protection.
Common types of skill question
The format you’re most likely to see is a multiple-choice general knowledge question, typically with three or four possible answers. These are quick to answer, which keeps the entry process simple, though as above, very easy questions sit on weaker legal ground.
Spot the Ball is a judgement-based format used by some of the longer-established operators. You’re shown a sports photo with the ball removed and asked to mark where you think it is. The entry closest to the judged position wins, so it relies on judgement rather than a random draw.
Puzzles and calculations appear less often, but some operators use a sum, a sequence or a short logic problem.
Tie-breakers, where entrants write a slogan or answer an open question that’s judged, are more common in brand promotions than in car competitions.
What happens if you get the answer wrong
This is the part that catches people out. In most car competitions, a wrong answer means your entry isn’t included in the draw, and the terms usually say you won’t get a refund. Some sites let you buy tickets before you’ve answered and only check the answer afterwards, so it’s possible to pay for entries that never had a chance of winning.
A few simple habits help. Read the question slowly rather than clicking through, check the answer before confirming payment, and if a question is ambiguous or seems to have more than one correct answer, contact the operator before you buy rather than after the draw.
Skill question or free entry: which does the work?
Many car competitions offer both a skill question and a free postal route. That’s partly belt and braces, and partly because the free route provides a firmer legal basis for draws where the question is fairly easy.
Under Schedule 2 of the Gambling Act, a free entry method generally needs to cost no more than sending an ordinary communication, such as a letter at the normal postage rate, and must be properly publicised. A genuine free route means payment isn’t required to enter, so the arrangement isn’t a lottery regardless of how easy the question is.
For you, the practical upshot is that you can usually enter for free by post, and a valid postal entry should have the same chance of winning as a paid one. Postal entries often need to include the answer to the skill question too, so the same rule about getting it right applies.
How skill question competitions fit with the voluntary code
In November 2025, the Department for Culture, Media and Sport published a Voluntary Code of Good Practice for Prize Draw Operators, covering issues such as age checks, transparency and fair prize allocation. The code doesn’t apply to operators who run purely skill-based competitions. However, where an operator offers a free entry route alongside a skill competition, the code expects them to sign up to cover the free entry side.
In practice, that means most car competition sites, which use both a question and a free route, fall within the code’s intended scope. Whether an operator has signed it is a useful thing to check, and it’s one of the points we look at before listing a competition.
What this means for you as an entrant
Skill questions aren’t a trick, but they’re also not a meaningful barrier for most car competitions. The bigger factors in whether a competition is worth entering are still the total number of tickets, the cash alternative, what the prize includes and whether the closing date is fixed.
That said, a well-run competition will make the question clear, check your answer before you pay, explain the free entry route properly and publish its terms in full. If any of those are missing, or the question looks like an afterthought on a site with no free entry option at all, that tells you something about how carefully the operator approaches the rest of its responsibilities.
About this guide
We’re an independent car competition comparison site. We don’t run competitions or sell tickets. This guide draws on the Gambling Act 2005, the Gambling Commission’s guidance on prize competitions and free draws, published legal commentary on the skill test, and the DCMS voluntary code. It explains the rules in general terms for entrants and isn’t legal advice for anyone running a competition.
Frequently asked questions
What is a skill question competition?
It’s a prize competition where you must answer a question or complete a task using skill, knowledge or judgement before your entry counts. It allows the operator to run the competition without being treated as a lottery under UK law.
Why do car competitions ask a question before you enter?
Because without a genuine skill element or a free entry route, a paid draw for a prize allocated by chance would be classed as a lottery, which commercial businesses generally aren’t allowed to run.
Do I get a refund if I answer the skill question wrong?
Usually not. Most terms state that incorrect answers are excluded from the draw and the entry fee isn’t refunded. Check the answer before you pay.
How hard does a skill question have to be?
The law says it must be reasonably expected to deter a significant proportion of people from entering or stop a significant proportion from winning. There’s no fixed percentage, and very easy questions may not meet the test on their own.
Is Spot the Ball a skill competition?
Yes. Spot the Ball relies on judgement rather than a random draw, with the winner being the entrant closest to the judged ball position.
Are skill based competition websites legal in the UK?
Yes, provided the skill element genuinely meets the legal test or a proper free entry route is offered. Operators don’t need a gambling licence for genuine prize competitions.
Can I enter a skill question competition for free?
Most car competitions offer a free postal entry. You’ll normally still need to answer the skill question correctly on your postal entry.
Last reviewed: October 2026. This guide explains UK rules in general terms for competition entrants and isn’t legal advice.