All about the Indian National Olympiad

An Olympiad is a series of competitions held together and in succession to one another, especially in the field of science. The Indian National Olympiad or the INO is a range of academic competitions conducted in five stages every year. Partially funded by the Government of India, these competitions are meant for students of classes VIII to XII. This year’s Indian National Olympiad’s preliminary stage is scheduled to happen in the last week of November. Registrations are now open on the official website till the end of September. 

5 levels of INO 
There are five levels of the Indian National Olympiad. Stage I or the preliminary stage is called National Standard Examination (NSE) which is conducted for all the subjects specified in the INO curriculum and is entirely conducted by the Indian Association of Physics Teachers (IAPT). The following four stages are: Indian National Olympiad (Stage II), Orientation cum Selection Camp or OCSC (Stage III), Pre-departure Training Camp or PDT (Stage IV) and the mega level Participation in International Olympiad (Stage V). All of these four levels are overseen and organised by Homi Bhaba Centre for Science Education (HBCSE). 

Exam Pattern 
The subjects covered in Indian National Olympiad are – Physics, Chemistry, Biology, Astronomy, Junior Science and Mathematics. The syllabus is equivalent to any higher secondary level syllabus like that of CBSE.  

Eligibility criteria 
To be eligible for the Indian National Olympiad, candidates:  

Have a valid Indian passport.
Must be living and studying in India since 30th November 2019 or before.
Shouldn’t have appeared in previous year’s Olympiad.

For Physics, Chemistry, Biology and Astronomy 
Candidates should have been born in between 1st July 2002 and 30th June 2007.
Candidates shouldn’t have cleared their Class XII board exam before 30th November of the exam year.
Candidates shouldn’t have taken admission in a college.

For Junior Science
Candidates should be born in between 2007 and 2008.
Candidates shouldn’t have cleared their class X board exam before 30th November of the exam year.

For Mathematics 
Candidates should have been born on or after 1st August 2002.
Candidates should study in the classes between VIII and XII.

Marking scheme, mode and duration 
For all the science subjects, there are 80 objective-type questions and each question carries 1 positive mark for a correct answer and 0.5 negative marks for an incorrect answer. For Mathematics, 30 questions are asked and it follows a similar marking scheme. Candidates can choose to answer their paper in English or Hindi. The exams are held online. The time limit for Stage I is 75 minutes and Stage II is 120 minutes for the science subjects. Mathematics Olympiad is scheduled to last for 3 hours.