SOF NSO study guide
SOF NSO · Work through your exam, one topic at a time.
The International Science Olympiad (SOF ISO) is an annual academic competition run by the Science Olympiad Foundation (SOF) for students in classes 1 to 12, built to assess scientific reasoning and logical ability. It is aimed at school students enrolled in a school recognised by SOF, and each student sits the paper for their own class only. The exam is delivered offline in English and lasts one hour, with multiple-choice questions and problem-solving tasks; the syllabus spans topics such as metals and non-metals, carbon and its compounds, reproduction, electricity, magnetic effects, and control and coordination, alongside reasoning and a higher-order achievers component. Level 1 is open to classes 1 to 12, while level 2 is restricted to classes 3 to 12, with the class-wise top 5% of level 1 participants selected. The SOF NSO study guide has 3 sections and about 892 words.
01Science: Core Class-Level Concepts and Their Applications
Science in the NSO tests class-level concepts as a connected system. Questions often merge metals and non-metals with bonding, carbon compounds with homologous series, reproduction with plant and human physiology, electricity with household circuits, magnetic effects with direction rules, and control and coordination with reflex and hormone feedback.
313 words, about 2 min02Logical Reasoning: Pattern Detection and Deduction
Logical Reasoning in the NSO tests pattern detection and deduction rather than science recall. Recurring formats are number and letter series, analogies, classification, coding-decoding, direction sense, blood relations, syllogisms, dice/cube views, mirror and water images, and Venn diagrams.
278 words, about 1 min03Achievers Section: Higher-Order Application of Science
Achievers Section questions apply the same science syllabus at higher order: multi-step numericals, experimental design, graph and table interpretation, and assertion-reason items. The test is whether you can transfer a principle to an unfamiliar setup and justify each step.
301 words, about 2 min