Bay of Plenty students are being invited to test their skills as the country searches for New Zealand's young answer to Bear Grylls.

The competition challenges year 9-12 students to declare how they would handle a week living outdoors in their school.

The search is on for New Zealand's young version of Bear Grylls.

The seven winning schools will each get a fully paid scholarship from Genesis Energy to attend a five-day outdoor adventure challenge at the Sir Edmund Hillary Outdoors Pursuits Centre of New Zealand (OPC).

Genesis Energy chief executive Albert Brantley says it is a great way to get young Kiwis thinking laterally about wilderness survival skills and having respect for the environment.

'Even better, it also allows 70 students the opportunity to develop outdoor skills and confidence for real, in the unspoilt natural environments of OPC's Tongariro or Great Barrier Island bases.”

To enter, students must create a short video showing how they would survive living outdoors for a week and upload it to the Student versus Wild website, www.studentvswild.co.nz

The competition aims to get students to put to the test all five of the curriculum's key competencies; thinking, language, managing self, relating to others and participating/contributing.

The scholarships, worth $7142, will be awarded to schools in each of the following regions: Waikato/Bay of Plenty, Northland, Auckland, Hawkes Bay / East Coast, Taranaki/Manawatu/Whanganui, Wellington/Wairarapa and South Island.

People will be asked to vote on their favourite video and the winner will be chosen by a panel of judges from Genesis Energy and OPC.