What is NSO?

National Science Olympiad (NSO) is an annual competitive exam conducted by SOF for school students. This exam aims at cultivating scientific reasoning and logical ability among the students through a rigorous test. The Foundation primarily envisions the scientific curiosity and vigor in young students through competitive exams.

For the academic year 2017-18, SOF will spend over Rs. 15.2 Crores on awards, Scholarships, gifts & felicitations etc. Perks of the exam are unlimited in form of Awards/Scholarships/Recognitions. Pull up your socks to go through an exhaustive guide about the exam.

Eligibility Criteria

• Age: Students of classes 1 to 12th are eligible to appear for the 1st level Olympiads.

• Year of Attempt: Only students enrolled in classes 1 to 12th are eligible. There is no year restriction as long as the student is enrolled in a school programme.

• No. of Attempts: In a particular academic year, a student is allowed only one attempt.

National Science Olympiad: How to Register?

1. Registration of Students: Prospectus containing the Registration forms are sent to all schools registered with SOF. Schools which are not registered may also request for prospectus by sending an e-mail at [email protected]. The registration forms must be returned to SOF by the schools, duly filled in and complete in all respects by the due date.
2. Roll Numbers: The school’s coordinating teacher will generate the students’ Roll Numbers as per the guidelines were given. The documents to be sent to the Foundation’s office include a copy of these roll numbers along with the Students’ Registration Sheet (SRS) and School Registration Form (SRF), before the due date of form submission.
3. Foundation would register the applicant’s school and the students and release the question papers and guidelines for conducting the examination. No fee is required from the institution to become a registered examination centre. A minimum of 10 students need to be registered from each school for the National Science Olympiad.
4. The NSO is conducted on two dates for Level 1. A convenient date must be selected by each school. Each date of exam would have a separate question paper.
5. Students should register through their respective schools only.
6. Fees: A nominal participation fee is charged from each student. Details about the fee/mode of payment etc. are given in the School Registration Forms sent to schools.

Exam Pattern

The National Science Olympiad will be conducted at two levels:

Level 1: The first level of the test is organized in the respective schools of the participants, during the schools hours only.

(i) The level 1 competition would be an objective-type test of 60 minutes duration comprising of 35 objective-type (Multiple Choice) questions for class 1 to class 4 and 50 objective-type (Multiple Choice) questions for class 5 to class 12.

(ii) The question paper consists of three sections:

For Class 1 to Class 10

Section-1: Logical Reasoning
Section-2: Science
Section-3: Achievers Section

For Class 11 and Class 12

Section-1: Physics/Chemistry
Section-2: Achievers Section
Section-3 : Mathematics/Biology

(iii) There are separate question papers for each class.

(iv) The medium of the test is English.

(v) CBSE, ICSE/ISC and State Board syllabi are followed for setting the test papers.

Level 2: Students from class 3rd to class 12th are allowed to participate in the second round. The qualifiers to the second round would include the following:

• Top 5% of candidates class wise who appear for the 1^st  level exam.
• Top 25 rank holders class wise & Zone wise.
• Class topper where at least 10 students from a class appear in the exam & scores 50% qualifying marks. In case registration is received section wise, top rank holder, irrespective of the section will qualify for the 2^nd level. For section wise registrations, the winner(s) of gold medal may not necessarily qualify for the second level.

Important Dates

The Science Olympiad Foundation only releases dates for the current academic year.

• NSO 2017 exam dates are 9th & 23rd Nov 2017. 
• Tentatively second round to be held in the month of January-February 2017.
• Schools may send registrations by 30 days before chosen date of exam date.
• The result of Olympiad is declared within 8 weeks of the examination. The results are sent to the schools concerned. The results are also made available on the website.

Detailed Syllabus

1. 1. SOF NSO SYLLABUS CLASS 1

1. 1. SOF NSO SYLLABUS CLASS 2

1. 1. SOF NSO SYLLABUS CLASS 3

1. 1. SOF NSO SYLLABUS CLASS 4

1. 1. SOF NSO SYLLABUS CLASS 5

1. 1. SOF NSO SYLLABUS CLASS 6

1. 1. SOF NSO SYLLABUS CLASS 7

1. 1. SOF NSO SYLLABUS CLASS 8

1. 1. SOF NSO SYLLABUS CLASS 9

1. 1. SOF NSO SYLLABUS CLASS 10

1. 1. SOF NSO SYLLABUS CLASS 11

1. SOF NSO SYLLABUS CLASS 12

NOTE:

• Questions of level-I Olympiad exams will consist of  60% questions from the current class syllabus and 40% from the previous class syllabus.
• Questions of level-II Olympiad exams will only be from the current class syllabus.
• Questions in ACHIEVERS SECTION will only be from the current class syllabus.

How should I prepare for NSO?

• Understand the pattern of NSO: Use the official website to learn the exam pattern for you corresponding class.
• Understand the standard of questions: Questions would mostly be of varying difficulty level. The questions would test logical and observational skills of the students besides the conceptual knowledge. There will be no direct questions but rather an application of a previously studied concept is more likely to form the base of a question.
• Know the relevant books: Thoroughly study the course books suggested by your school board (ICSE/ CBSE/ State Board). In addition to this, you can also refer to books available for Olympiad preparation by SOF itself.

The books prescribe for NSO are as follows:

• MTG NSO class wise Workbooks (For Class 1 to 10)
• SOF Olympiad Trainer’ Mobile Apps
• OSDS (Olympiad Skill Development System)
• Previous Years Papers
• Olympiad’s Book of Reasoning (for preparation for the reasoning section of NSO)
• E-Quiz

Additionally, class XI and XII students can refer to the various publications like Chemistry Today, Biology Today, Mathematics Today and Physics For You and MTG books which contain useful matter including solved and model test papers of various National and International Olympiads.

How should I discuss my doubts?

Asking doubts and clearing them is important while preparing for NSO. Toppr brings you a community who has survived the test of time and wants to help out a real NSO aspirant. You can head over here and post your doubts and discuss them to get immensely helpful responses. You can also refer to FAQ’s related to the NSO on the official website.

That’s all on National Science Olympiad for now. Hope the article clears things up. If there are any other doubts you have about the national science olympiad, leave them in the comments’ section.