The exam will be split into two divisions, one for 7-8th grade and one for 9-10th grade
Students will have 1 hour for the Biology exam, 1 hour for the Chemistry exam, 1 hour for the Earth Science exam, 1.5 hours for the Math exam, and 1.5 hours for the Physics exam
Students can only take the exam within the allotted time period and will not have access to any other sections during that allotted time period
This will be split up over two days of testing, Biology, Chemistry and Earth Science on one day and Math and Physics on the next
Some questions will be multiple choice with 5 answer choices (A, B, C, D, E), and no more than half of the questions will be open response
The questions be mostly short answer type with some multiple choice and multiple select options.
A ruler, and compass will be allowed for all subjects
A scientific (non-graphing, non-programmable) calculator is allowed only for Biology, Chemistry, Earth Science, and Physics section. Calculators (of any kind) are NOT allowed for the Math section.
A sheet with necessary constants will be provided and released to competitors
The exams are written to have a wide range of difficulties, and each section will be too long for students to finish. Students should not expect to finish each section, but simply do the best they can.
You will be provided with a periodic-table and a list of all needed constants in the exam booklet. Common formulas will not be provided.
On each section (Chemistry, Maths, Biology, Physics, Earth Science), each student’s raw section score will be calculated
A student’s scaled section score is defined as the z-score of their raw score on that section compared to the other students. In other words,
Student's raw section score - Mean raw section score across testtakers
Standard Deviation of raw section scores across testtakers
Multiple choice questions are graded as +1 point for a correct answer, and -0.25 points for an incorrect answer
Short answer questions grading will vary and all short answer questions will be labeled with the number of points they are worth. Partial credit will be provided.
A student’s total score is defined as the sum of their best four scaled section scores (the worst section will be dropped). Students will be awarded prizes based on their total score (not section scores).
Top 100 students will move to Round 2
In Round 2 students will participate in a written, in-person exam in New Delhi on January 7th
This exam will be supervised by mentors from The Harvard Undergraduate Science Olympiad
Additionally, students will have the opportunity to attend a 3-day STEM bootcamp, from January 8th to 10th, conducted by the same mentors
The Exact Structure and Scoring of Round 2 to be announced soon.