All About Science Olympiad Foundation (SOF)

The SOF Olympiad

In today’s competitive world, regular qualitative and quantitative assessment of students is crucial at the national/international level in order to build up the scientific and IT talent pool. It is in this sphere that the role of SOF Olympiad has been lauded over these last few years. Even the Ministry of Corporate Affairs, through The Institute of Company Secretaries of India, and many highly reputed organizations like The British Council, Star Sports, etc have offered to partner and support SOF Olympiad’s various programmes.

A registered organization that has been promoting the development of competitive spirit among school children, the SOF Olympiad was established by leading academicians, scientists, and media personalities with the aim of promoting science, mathematics, computer education, English, general knowledge and professional courses. For almost two decades, the SOF Olympiad has been striving hard to instill scientific attitude and temperament through innovative activities and use of IT in the learning process that involve school students across the country. The organization basically conducts Olympiad exams in Mathematics, Science, Computer and Sports Knowledge.

The SOF Olympiad has been famous for helping millions of students getting directly benefited from its educative, informative and evaluative programmes. For the future, SOF Olympiad has several more innovative programmes lined up, which promises to bring about a sea change in the approach to education and preparation for competitive programs.

All the activities conducted by the SOF Olympiad aim at making learning an interesting and interactive process in which the students put their skills, memory, talent, and knowledge to test.

Registration Process

Prospectus containing the Registration forms of all exams are sent to all schools registered with SOF Olympiad. Schools not registered may also request for prospectus by sending an e-mail at info@sofworld.org or phone call. Schools must return the registration forms to SOF Olympiad, duly filled in and complete in all respects by the due date.

Now, let’s take a brief look at the various Olympiads offered by SOF Olympiad along with critical details like their syllabus, marking scheme, benefits and much more.

1. National Cyber Olympiad (NCO)

The National Cyber Olympiad (NCO) is a global search competition that nurtures cyber talent amongst the school-going generation. Its goal is to inspire the younger generation to increase their knowledge and comprehension of issues related to computers as about testing their aptitude in these streams. This international-level competition focuses on Logical & Analytical, Mental Ability, Reasoning in computers and IT.

NCO Syllabus and Marking Scheme

Schedule for 2017-2018 examination

The exam will be held on 23th and 30th January 2018.

Benefits

• Creates awareness about computers education
• Provides early exposure to a computer-oriented world

2. National Science Olympiad (NSO)

NSO is conducted at two levels:

Level 1: The level 1 of the exam is conducted in the respective schools of the participants during school hours only. It is an objective-type test with a duration of 60 minutes and comprising 35 objective-type questions for classes 1 to 4 and 50 objective-type questions for classes 5 to 12.

The exam consists of three sections for classes 1 to 10:

Section-1: Logical Reasoning

Section-2: Science

Section-3: Achievers Section

Level 2: The level 2 is organised for students of classes 3 to12. The qualifiers to the second round would include the following:

• Top 5% of candidates class-wise that appear for the 1st level exam. Due weightage to marks scored in different sections will be given. Each section is accorded with a separate weightage.
• Zone wise top 25 rank holders class wise
• Class topper where at least 10 students from a class appear in the exam & have scored 50% qualifying marks

NSO Syllabus and Marking Scheme

Schedule for 2017-2018 examination

The exam will be held on 9^th and 23^rd November 2017.

Benefits

• NSO is mainly all about application-oriented learning, which is extremely important for children in the long run.
• Child learns to think about solutions in alternate ways.

3. International Mathematics Olympiad(IMO)

This popular Math Olympiad is conducted at two levels:

Level 1: The first level of the exam is organized in the respective schools of the participants during school hours only. It is an objective-type test having duration of 60 minutes comprising of 35 objective-type questions for classes 1 to 4 and 50 objective-type questions for classes 5 to 12.

The exam consists of four sections:

• Section-1: Logical Reasoning
• Section-2: Mathematical Reasoning
• Section-3: Everyday Mathematics
• Section-4: Achievers Section

• There are separate question papers for each and every class.
• The medium of the exam is English.
• CBSE, ICSE/ISC and other State Board syllabus is followed for the setting of test papers.

Level 2: The Level 2 is conducted for students of classes 3 to 12. The qualifiers to second round include the following:

• Top 5% of candidates class-wise that appear for the 1st level exam. Due weightage to marks scored in different sections will be given. Each section is accorded with a separate weightage.
• Zone wise top 25 rank holders class wise.
• Class topper where at least 10 students from a class appear in the exam & have scored 50% qualifying marks.

IMO Syllabus and Marking Scheme

Schedule for 2017-2018 examination

The exam will be held on 5th and 14th December 2017.

Benefits

• IMO helps students master mathematical research.
• IMO makes children sharp-minded and helps them solve clever problems.

4. International English Olympiad (IEO)

This exam is a written objective-type test with a duration of 60 minutes and includes 35 objective-type questions for classes 1 to 4 and 50 objective-type questions for classes 5 to 12.

IEO Syllabus and Marking Scheme

Schedule for 2017-2018 examination

The exam will be held on 6^th and 12^th October 2017.

Benefits

• The content of the tests is created in collaboration with British Council and focuses on the practical use of English language and communication, rather than only rote learning and correct grammar.

5. The International Company Secretaries Olympiad (ICSO)

The test is organized in the respective schools of the participants during school hours.

(i) The Olympiad is a written objective-type test of 60 minutes duration comprising 50 objective-type (Multiple Choice) questions for class11 & class 12.

(ii) The question paper consists of five sections:

Section-1: Quantitative Analysis Reasoning
Section-2: Economics
Section-3: Business Studies
Section-4: Accountancy
Section-5: Achievers Section

(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.

ICSO Syllabus and Marking Scheme

Schedule for 2017-2018 examination

The exam will be held on 23rd & 30th January 2018

Benefits

• Students pursuing 11th / 12th are at the threshold of making the most crucial decision about their career. The ICSO assists the student’s in self-realisation of his / her potential and aptitude. Besides the self-realisation, it also recognizes the potential of the student by conferring upon them awards on merit basis.

     6. International General Knowledge Olympiad (IGKO)

International General Knowledge Olympiad (IGKO) is a distinctive Olympiad, which stresses upon the importance of day-to-day knowledge about current affairs in India and the world. Besides current events, the Olympiad is also about building students’ knowledge about history, geography, science, etc.

IGKO Syllabus and Marking Scheme

Schedule for 2017-2018 examination

The exam will be held on 12^th, 22^nd September and 10^th October 2017.

Benefits

• Promotes general awareness
• Students realize that even General Knowledge is as important as other subjects

SOF Olympiad Awards

Awards

During the academic year 2017-18, SOF will spend over Rs. 15.2 Cr. on awards, Scholarships, gifts & felicitations etc. The following awards will be provided to the winners NCO, NSO, IEO, IMO and IGKO being held during the academic year 2017-18.

Student Section

International, Zonal and Class topper awards will be provided to winners of NCO, NSO, IEO, IMO and IGKO. With effect from 2017-18, will be conducted for students from classes 1 to 12.

Each winner will be entitled to one award for an exam. The winners will be entitled to the higher level award only. For eg. – the International top 3 rank holders will be entitled to awards based on their International ranks. Awards accruing to them for their Zonal ranks will be given to the next rank holder. Similarly, class award accruing to a Zonal award winner will be given to the next rank holder.

*Medals are Gold / Silver / Bronze color plated as applicable

In case two or more students achieves the same rank, cash award in the applicable category will be distributed as under:

• International Winners –
  • For up to 9 students getting same rank, award amount will be distributed equally. In addition, each winner will be awarded with medal in the applicable category and Certificate.
  • In case more than 9 students get same rank, in lieu of cash award each winner will be awarded gifts worth Rs. 1000/ + a medal in the applicable category and Certificate.
• Zonal Winners –
  • For up to 4 students getting same rank, award amount will be distributed equally. In addition, each winner will be awarded a medal in the applicable category and Certificate.
  • In case more than 4 students get same rank, in lieu of cash award, each winner will be awarded gifts worth Rs. 1000/- + medal in the applicable category and Certificate.

At School Level

• Medals to Class Toppers –
  • Where 10 or more students from a class (including all sections) write an exam – the top three rank holders will be awarded a gold, silver and bronze medal respectively.
  • Where between 5 and 9 students from a class (including all sections) write an exam – the topper will be awarded a gold medal.
  • In addition to above, for each section from a class, from where 25 or more students write an exam – the top three rank holders will be awarded a gold, silver and bronze medal respectively.
• Student Performance Report (SPR) for each participating student –
  • Every student who appears in NCO, NSO, IEO, IMO and IGKO will be provided with a Student Performance Report (SPR). An SPR is a detailed analysis of how the student attempted the NCO, NSO, IEO, IMO, IGKO exam.
  • The objective of SPR is to share with the student and her / his parents, analysis of student’s answers. This is expected to enable the student understand her/his strengths and areas requiring improvement in absolute terms and also on a competitive scale consisting of lacs of students who appeared in the Olympiad.
• The SPR consists of six sections –
  • Section A – provides the student’s marks and rank achieved in school / city / zone / at international level.
  • Section B – provides a topic wise performance score of the student.
  • Section C – provides a comparison of the student’s performance in the Olympiad exams during the past 8 years.
  • Section D – provides correct answers to questions asked in the Olympiad exam, the answers given by the student and performance comparison of the student’s answers Vs. other students in the zone and at the international level.
  • Section E – provides a percentile score analysis of the student with a comparison with the class, zone and international percentile.
  • Section F – provides a comparison of average marks analysis at the school, zone and international level.
  • Section G – Provide a topic wise performance analysis.
• Participation Certificate to each student.

School Section

*Awards to Principals are based on cumulative performance of schools in all Olympiads and exams, whereas awards to teachers are based on performance of school in NCO, NSO, IMO, IEO and IGKO.

During the academic year 2016-17, over 42800 schools from more than 1400 cities registered and millions of students appeared for the six Olympiad exams. These Olympiads were conducted across 25 countries.

For the academic year 2017-18, the SOF Olympiad will spend over Rs. 15.2 Crores on awards, scholarships, gifts, felicitations, etc. The following awards will be provided to the winners of Olympiads being held during the academic year 2017-18:

• For , NSO, IEO & IMO – International & Zonal toppers (in 20 zones) of classes three to twelve, awards will be provided to 2^nd level winners.
• For NCO, IEO & ICSO and class 1 & 2 winners of IGKO, NSO & IMO – International & Zonal topper awards will be provided to 1^st level winners as these are single level exams.
• Each winner will be entitled to one award for an exam. The winners will be entitled to the higher level award only. For e.g., the international top 3 rank holders will be entitled to awards based on their International ranks. Awards accruing to them for Zonal ranks will be given to the next rank holder. Similarly, school award accruing to a Zonal award winner will be given to the next rank holder.

*Medal of Distinction will be awarded to 1st level winners.

For more information on SOF Olympiad, you can visit their official website.

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Also, check our CBSE exam page.