International Olympiad Foundation® (IOF)

Physics Olympiad

Physics Olympiad Qualifier(POQ) is a UAE level Physics Olympiad that is conducted annually by International Olympiad Foundation(IOF®). IOF® is the official representative for International Physics Olympiad (IPhO) & Asian Physics Olympiad (APhO)  in UAE.

Physics Olympiad Qualifier ®

Exam Date:

September to Mid 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)
Buy Official guides:

Click here to buy books for Olympiad preparation

Eligible Grades Grade 11/ Year 12 to Grade 12/ Year 13

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 Physics 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 Physics. 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.  The final Olympiad qualifier is objective test consisting of 45 questions from Physics. 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. International Olympiad foundation will shortlist the students based on the qualifiers for IPhO  & APhO.
  7. 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 websites for more information
  8. Students from senior grades will be given preference over junior grades for selection to IPhO & APhO. The preference from high to low for selection will be as Grade 12/Year 13, Grade 11/Year 12.

International Physics Olympiad (IPhO)

  • Candidate must undergo the selection process conducted by International Olympiad Foundation
  • The contestants shall be students of general or technical secondary schools i.e. schools which cannot be considered technical colleges
  • Students who have finished their school examinations in the year of the competition can be members of the team as long as they have not commenced their university studies
  • The age of the contestants should not exceed twenty years on June 30th of the year of the competition.
  • 5 students form an IPhO National Team. Students will be shortlisted from Round 2 qualifiers to be a part of the National Team training. Best 5 candidates will be selected for the National Team based on their performance during the training sessions.
  • Please visit https://www.ipho-new.org/ for more detail

Asian Physics Olympiad (APhO)

  • Candidate must undergo the selection process conducted by International Olympiad Foundation
  • Age should be less than 20 years at the time of the competition
  • Must be student studying in a school or completing a school in UAE and not enrolled into any University
  • 8 students will form a APhO National Team, out of which 4 will be selected from Grade 11/ Year 12 group and 4 will be from Grade 12/ Year 13 group
  • Please visit “https://apho2020.tw/ for more details