For the International Biology Olympiads, The Science Olympiad Foundation serves the sole purpose of preparing and sending teams to represent the country at the IBO.

The competition consists of two examinations, a theoretical examination and a practical examination. Both have durations of up to 5 hours (at the international olympiads), and are held on separate days with the practical examination usually being before the theoretical examination. The theoretical examination has a value of 60 points and the practical examination has a value of 40 points. Each examination is evaluated independently from the other and the sum of the results of the examinations determines a participant's overall result. A scientific jury, which is installed by the host country, suggests the tasks.

Each delegation consists of up to four students and two mentors/teachers (one of them is designated as the head of the delegation or "head mentor"). A delegation may also include a handful of guests and scientific observers. Students must be under the age of 20 and must not be enrolled as regular students in any post-secondary education institution. The National Olympiad series are conducted in two stages; the Regional Series and the National Series (Check links below for details about each serie.)

The IBO theoretical tasks should test the competitors’ understanding, processing skills and application of biological knowledge. Questions should require understanding, rather than knowledge. Theoretical questions should cover the following topics in the indicated proportions; Cell biology (20 %), Plant anatomy and Physiology (15%) (with emphasis on seed plants), Animal anatomy and physiology (25 %) (with emphasis on vertebrates and especially man), Ethology (5 %), Genetics and Evolution (20 %), Ecology (10 %), Biosystematics (5 %). Though some of these subjects are included in most secondary school biology programs, for the most part, they are evaluated at a much deeper level and many may require a level of knowledge and understanding comparable to that of post-secondary education. In addition, the host country of each IBO issues a set of preparatory problems well in advance of the competition every year. These preparatory problems cover specific topics in considerable more depth than typical post-secondary education.

Kindly download the detailed syllabus of the International Biology Olympiad via this link http://www.ibo-info.org/pdf/IBO-Guide.pdf

Please visit our resources page to find material you can use to prepare for the International Biology Science Olympiad