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Science Olympiad

A 23-event team tournament covering everything from anatomy to bridge building, run at invitational, regional, state and national level.

Run by Science Olympiad Inc.

Official website How to prepare Reviews and tips

Key facts

Eligible grades
Division B is grades 6 to 9. Division C is high school. Division A is an elementary programme for K to 6.
A Division B team may include a maximum of five grade 9 students; a Division C team a maximum of seven grade 12 students. Schools with lower grade levels may invite members below the division's grade designation, so a K-8 school could field a Division B team of grade 5 students, limited to age-appropriate events and prohibited where safety is a concern.
Source, checked 2026-09-01
Official divisions
Division B is grades 6 to 9 and Division C is high school, each with its own 23 events and rules manual. Division A is a non-competitive elementary programme.
Based on the organiser's own divisions.
Eligible ages
Not confirmed. This organiser may set eligibility by grade rather than age. We do not convert one into the other.
Science Olympiad defines divisions by grade and publishes no age limits.
Individual or team
Team · A team may have up to 15 members. A maximum of 5 grade 9 students on a Division B team; a maximum of 7 grade 12 students on a Division C team. School clubs may be much larger, with only 15 competing.
Where it runs
In person · United States
Entry cost
A national membership fee of $75 per team, paid as part of the state membership.Required since 1985 for every team competing at any level, with no exception regardless of what a school calls its second or third team. States add their own membership and tournament charges on top, so the total a school pays varies. Division A elementary has no national tournament and no national membership fee, only a one-time manual purchase.
Registration deadline
Set locally, not published as a single national date Registration deadlines are set by each state chapter, not nationally.
Competition dates
Invitational tournaments run from autumn, regionals in late winter, state tournaments in spring, and a national tournament in late spring.
Difficulty
CompetitiveSerious preparation over a season. Advancing past the first round separates prepared students from unprepared ones.
Prizes
Medals, trophies and scholarships at state and national levelMedals per event and championship trophies. No cash prize schedule is published nationally.

What Science Olympiad is

Science Olympiad is a team competition in which a school fields 15 students who split roughly 23 events between them across a single tournament day. Events range from written tests (Anatomy and Physiology, Astronomy, Chemistry Lab) to build events where you construct and run a device (Flight, Bridge, Robot Tour). Because each student only prepares two or three events, it is unusually welcoming: you can be genuinely competitive by going deep on a narrow topic rather than being good at all of science.

How the competition works

Competitions run like academic track meets, with 23 team events per division. A portion of events rotate each year. Medals are awarded per event, and championship trophies go to the Division B and C teams with the lowest total points, where first place scores one point.

Eligibility notes

A Division C team may include up to five ninth graders; a Division B team may include up to five ninth graders as well. Elementary programmes exist in some states.

Is Science Olympiad right for you?

Experience needed
None. With 23 events there is one to suit almost anyone.
Time commitment
A school-year commitment, concentrated in your two or three events.
What you actually do
You specialise in a few events out of 23 and compete in them all day at a tournament: a written exam here, a lab there, a bridge you built loaded to failure.

A good fit if

  • You want breadth across sciences rather than one subject
  • Your school has a team
  • You like building as well as studying

Probably not for you if

  • Students who want an individual competition
  • Students who want to go deep in one subject only

Compare this against competitions matched to you

Common mistakes

  • Choosing events in January instead of September.
  • Studying material the rules manual does not examine.
  • Building a device you never tested to failure.

How to register

  1. Check whether your school already has a team. Many do, run by a science teacher as an after-school club.
  2. If not, a teacher or adult coach registers the school through your state Science Olympiad organisation, which you can find via soinc.org.
  3. Pick your events. Each student takes two or three, and the rules manual for the season lists exactly what each event covers.
  4. Prepare through the autumn, attend invitational tournaments for practice, then compete at your regional.

Register on the official site

What skills you need

  • Deep knowledge in two or three specific science topics
  • Lab technique
  • Engineering and building
  • Reading a rules manual precisely
  • Team coordination

How to prepare

Science Olympiad rewards specialisation. You are not preparing for a general science exam; you are preparing for two or three named events whose rules manual tells you exactly what is examinable. Students who read the rules manual carefully and build a well-organised binder for their events routinely beat students who simply know more science.

What to study

Reading the rules manual
Each event has a page in the season's rules manual specifying the topics, the permitted resources, and the scoring. Everything examinable is in there. This is the single most underused resource in the competition.
Study events
For events allowing a binder or note sheet, the artefact you build is most of the score. Organise for retrieval speed under time pressure, not for completeness.
Lab events
Practical technique, measurement and error analysis. Practise the actual procedures rather than reading about them.
Build events
Devices are constrained by strict specifications. Build early, test destructively, and build a second one. The most common failure is a device that has never been tested to breaking point.
Event pairing
You and your partner should have complementary strengths and a division of labour agreed before the tournament, not during it.

Full preparation guide, including a week-by-week plan

Recommended resources

Past problems and materials

Only materials the organiser or an authorised archive publishes openly are listed here.

  • Scioly.org test exchange

    Community-shared past tests from invitational and regional tournaments, contributed by the tournaments themselves.

Helpful videos

Frequently asked questions

Do I have to be good at all of science?

No, and this is the point people miss. Each student prepares only two or three of the roughly 23 events. Going deep on a narrow topic is the winning strategy, not breadth.

What is the difference between Division B and Division C?

Division B is for grades 6 to 9 and Division C for grades 9 to 12. Ninth graders can compete in either, subject to limits on how many a team may include.

Can I join without my school having a team?

Science Olympiad is school-based, so you would need a teacher or adult coach to register a team through your state organisation. Some states allow community or home school teams; check with your state director.

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