All you want to know about the Olympaid exams

It is rightly said that “the early bird catches the worm”. This is true in the case of any competitive exams, including Olympiads.

What are the Olympiad exams?

Olympiad examinations are competitive exams that are conducted at the national and international levels every year. Students can participate to test their skills in various subjects and have an opportunity to showcase their talent. These examinations are conducted by various organizations based on the school syllabus of CBSE, ICSE, and other major state boards. The exams expose students to competitions and make them ready to face any challenge that comes to them in the future. In a nutshell, Olympiads are a platform for realistic assessment to prepare a child to face the modern competitive world.

Olympiad examinations also known as Olympiads are the means for students to compete with others students on the same educational level. Each Olympiad has its own benefits.

Benefits of Olympiads

1. They help to identify a child’s capability and assessment of his/her potential in competing with other kids from different schools and boards.
2. They help to bring out areas needing attention so that a proper orientation can be given.
3. Olympiads evaluate conceptual learning and strengthen the reasoning, analytical, and problem-solving skills of a student from a very early age. I cover reasoning and critical thinking in my workshops extensively.

Who conducts Olympiad exams?

There are independent private organizations that conduct Olympiads. Some of the major conducting bodies are as follows:

1. Science Olympiad Foundation
2. CREST Olympiads
3. Unicus Olympiads
4. Educational Initiatives
5. Indian Talent Olympiad
6. Humming Bird Education
7. EduHeal Foundation
8. Silver Zone Foundation
9. Unified Council
10. Homi Bhabha Centre for Science Education

Which topics are included in the examinations?

There are various Olympiad examinations conducted throughout the year, that include various subjects:

• Science
• Mathematics
• English
• General knowledge
• Computer/ Cyber/ Informatics/ digital technologies
• French
• Reasoning
• Spell Bee (Internationally: Summer and Winter)

In this article, I will be discussing in detail the Olympiads conducted in India and US. First, let us see what is Olympiad in India is all about!

Olympiad for India

Indian Talent Olympiad (ITO) is one of the leading institutes that conducts Olympaid exams in 8 subjects listed above. As per my research, ITO is the most opted, widely established and oldest tests of all.

Types of Olympiads in India

There are 8 types of Olympiads offered by the Indian Talent Olympiad.

Who is eligible for Olympiads?

The Indian Talent Olympiad is open to students enrolled in classes 1 to 12^th std. There are no prerequisites or any other eligibility criteria.

How can one participate in Olympiad?

To participate in these exams, you need to talk to your school. Most of the examinations are conducted through schools only. If the school is not offering the same, you can still participate online in the “Indian School Talent Search Examination (ISTSE)”. You can browse https://www.istse.org/ for more details. The unified council also allows direct participation in National School Talent Search Exam (NSTSE) in selected cities. You can visit www.unifiedcouncil.com for more details.

How many questions are there on a question paper?

All the organizations have their own question sets. E.g.: Science Olympiad Foundation has 35 questions for classes 1 to 4 and 50 questions for classes 5 to 10. The pattern of various Olympiads can be checked here https://www.olympiadsuccess.com/courses/sof

How to prepare for Olympiads?

Although the questions are based on what the child studies in his school syllabus, the questions are more conceptual and trickier. Hence, the student has to study his school curriculum along with exclusive study material for Olympiad. Here’s a link for the complete Olympiad preparation guide https://www.olympiadsuccess.com/olympiad-preparation-guide

Olympiad in the US

There are many Olympiad exams that are organized by various organizations for students of grades 1-12^th. Most of the Olympiad’s registration takes place through school. But few exams accept individual registrations.

Types of Olympiads in the US

Helpful links for US Olympiads

1. CREST Olympiads sample papers: https://www.crestolympiads.com/sample-papers
2. CREST Olympiads registration link: https://www.crestolympiads.com/registration
3. CREST Olympiads Exam Schedule: https://www.crestolympiads.com/exam-schedule
4. CREST Olympiads Syllabus: https://www.crestolympiads.com/syllabus

I hope you found this article useful and provokes the eligible reader to prepare for their Olympiads for a bright future!