International Olympiad Foundation® (IOF)

Science Olympiad

Science Olympiad Qualifier(SOQ) is a UAE level Science Olympiad that is conducted annually by International Olympiad Foundation(IOF®). IOF® is the official representative for International Junior Science Olympiad (IJSO) & International Mathematics & Science Olympiad (IMSO)  in UAE

Science Olympiad Qualifier ®

Exam Date:

September to October

Syllabus: For the Initial Qualifiers (Round 1/2), Syllabus will be a mix of all the Curriculum for a particular Grade/ Year.

Students are supposed to follow their own school curriculum for the same.

Syllabus varies for each International Competitions.( Details can be found against the same below)

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Eligible Grades Grade 1/ Year 2 to Grade 10/ Year 11

Qualification procedure

General Rules

  1. Student should register for the current grade/year in which he/she is studying at the time of application.
  2. Students can apply for a higher grade/ year at the time of application as well. But in that case all the records would be updated accordingly.
  3. Any student who is found competing in a lower grade would be disqualified automatically
  4. You must qualify the Science Preliminary Olympiad qualifier (Round 1 ) that will be conducted during the period from September to October. The Preliminary Olympiad qualifier is Multiple choice question test consisting of 30 questions from Science. Exam syllabus is a mix of all the curriculum for a particular grade/year. The Preliminary Olympiad qualifier can be taken in UAE in all the Emirates(Dubai, Sharjah, Abu Dhabi, Ajman, Ras Al Khaimah, Umm Al Quwain and Fujairah)
  5. If shortlisted in Preliminary Olympiad qualifier, you must appear for final qualifier (Round 2) to be held during the Period from Mid of November to Mid of December (Applicable only to Grade 8/ Year 9 and above). The final Olympiad qualifier is objective test consisting of 45 questions from Science. The final Olympiad qualifier can be taken in UAE in all the Emirates (Dubai, Sharjah, Abu Dhabi, Ajman, Ras Al Khaimah, Umm Al Quwain and Fujairah)
  6. Students from grade 8 onwards, in top 10 national ranks will qualify for the second round to be held in December.
  7. International Olympiad foundation will shortlist the students based on the qualifiers for IJSO & IMSO.
  8. Age criteria for each International Competition is decided by the respective organising committee. IOF doesn’t have any control over this process. Please visit the respective International Competition website for more information
  9. Students from senior grades will be given preference over junior grades for selection to IJSO & IMSO. The preference from high to low for selection will be as Grade 10/Year 11, Grade 9/Year 10, Grade 8/Year 9 and so on.

International Junior Science Olympiad (IJSO)

  • Candidate must undergo the selection process conducted by International Olympiad Foundation
  • Age of the competitor’s should be fifteen years old or younger as on 31st December of the competition year
  • 6 Students form an IJSO National Team
  • A student is eligible to represent his/her country if he/she holds a valid passport of that country or has been at school in that country for at least one academic year immediately prior to the competition, and has not participated in the selection process for another country’s team.
  • Students at the time of the competition should not be part of University education
  • Please visit https://www.ijsoweb.org/ for more detail

International Mathematics & Science Olympiad (IMSO)

  • Candidate must undergo the selection process conducted by International Olympiad Foundation.
  • Should be aged 13 years or younger at the time of the competition. Students upto Grade 6/ Year 7 only can participate in this category.
  • Must be student studying in a school in UAE.
  • 6 students will form an IMSO National team, out of which 3 students will be selected from Grade 5/ Year 6 and 3 will be from Grade 6/ Year 7 group.