Tips & Tricks to Crack Olympiad Exams

Olympiad exams have always been the way to ascertain one’s knowledge and analytical skills more than the regular scholastic exams. Most Olympiad exams are based on the regular scholastic syllabus meant for the class. However, the approach of the Olympiad exams is strategically different than those of the regular school exams in the way they stress concept learning and analytical approach. Therefore, it is required that you master the syllabus thoroughly, deeply and in relation to other domains of knowledge. With a committed and systematic approach, you should be able to crack Olympiad exams very well.

Tips & Tricks for Olympiad exams

• Take the smartest approach to learning. Refer to the prescribed books and master all the areas thoroughly in a phased manner.


• The best approach to learning the syllabus and practicing for the Olympiad exams is done with the help of previous year papers. They shall let you know what to expect from the exams.


• Online forums and Olympiad preparation help sites go a long way in assisting you with the comprehensive approach to learning and practicing. Make the best use of them by spending as much time as you can on a daily basis in a committed and systematic manner.


• Never underestimate the importance of taking up Olympiad practice papers and Olympiad sample papers. They are the ultimate guideposts to Olympiad preparation. Practice them rather regularly with a focus on improving your scores every time.


• Percentile scores help you ascertain where you stand in relation to others in the forum therefore, take them seriously and work out your way gradually but surely towards success.


• Olympiad Success ultimately depends on not only hard work, but also smart work and a focused approach to learning and practicing.

List of Olympiad Exams in India

• CREST Olympiads (Online Olympiad Exams) - Accept Individual Registration
• Unicus Olympiads (Summer Olympiad Exams) - Accept Individual Registration
• SOF Olympiad - Accept Registrations through School only

Preparation tips for Science Olympiad Foundation (SOF) Exams

SOF or Science Olympiad Foundation exams have become highly popular over the years. Organized under four heads namely National Cyber Olympiad (NCO), National Science Olympiad (NSO), International Mathematics Olympiad (IMO) and International English Olympiad (IEO), these exams seek to promote the principles of sound scientific learning and analytical skills among the school students. They too give an exposure to the quality of learning worldwide and thereby, enhance the knowledge and understanding of different subjects on par with the standards elsewhere. Here are a few preparation tips for SOF.

SOF preparation tips

In the first place, your Olympiad success depends on how well you understand the syllabus and the method of question paper. Therefore, familiarize yourself with the syllabus and question paper pattern by enrolling yourself with a professionally managed online help site for Olympiad preparation.

Know that unlike many other Olympiad exams, the syllabus for SOF is in no way similar to the regular scholastic subjects of the corresponding class. Therefore, you need to do a lot of extra learning in the specified lines.

Make a daily study schedule and take up the online tests and assess your percentile scores and this will let you know where you stand in comparison with the others in the forum.

Make the best use of Olympiad sample papers and Olympiad practice papers so that you gain a thorough familiarity with the test pattern. This will boost up your confidence level.

Never hesitate to do some extra reading in the lines specified by the syllabus. This will give you more exposure and ideas to face the exams confidence and efficiently.

Learning grows by sharing and therefore, share your knowledge and ideas with others in your level either at the school or in outside circles which shall help you stand the test very well.

Traditional Vs Digital Way to Prepare for Olympiad

Olympiad exams and the methods of preparing for them have undergone a sophisticated change over the years. These days, a lot of professionally managed sites built on advanced platforms help the candidates prepare well for the Olympiad exams. With their proven help, Olympiad preparation has become easier than ever. Here are a few incredible ways in which the digital way of preparation for Olympiad exams is better than the traditional way.

Traditional vs Digital Way

• The ultimate benefit of digital way is the possibility of access to the vast pool of learning resources. You get to benefit from several sources that are not possible to reach otherwise through the traditional way.


• You can choose to learn in a flexible manner in the fashion, phase and time convenient and suitable to you.


• You get access to a huge community of exam takers and benefit from their knowledge and approach.


• You have a lot of online tests chapter-wise that help you master the topics thoroughly in a phased manner.


• By taking online tests, you can get your percentile scores that help you ascertain your position with regard to learning and preparation.


• Olympiad practice papers and Olympiad sample papers are of immense help in preparing for the Olympiad exams.


• You get to benefit from the experience and knowledge of the team of teachers setting the question papers and offering the lessons online. Digital way of learning is highly convenient and interesting. As a student you feel motivated to go through the learning and practice tests without any sagging. Therefore digital learning is a sure way to Olympiad success.

Advantage of Online Platform for Olympiad Preparation

The syllabuses for the Olympiad exams are clearly based on the scholastic syllabus that the kids are already studying at their schools. Therefore, with regard to books and reading materials needed for preparation, the candidates don’t require any additional reference books. At the same time, you also need to understand that Olympiad preparation is a tricky arena since the questions of Olympiad exams are conceptual and challenging than what students find at the regular exams. Hence, for Olympiad success, it is necessary that the students understand the pattern of question paper and undertake a focused approach. This is where a professionally managed online platform can help them.

Online Platform for Olympiad Preparation gives access to the following:

• Olympiad sample papers, chapter-wise tests and mock tests based on the pattern of the exams
• Exposure to the syllabus of a comprehensive range of Olympiad exams organized nationwide by leading organizations
• An engaging and interesting way of learning through computers and benefiting from the knowledge of accomplished teachers who prepare the test papers
• Cultivation of self-study habits and the proper utilization of leisure time in a constructive and useful way
• Development of problem-solving abilities in a focused manner
•  Measurable progress with the exam preparation through a structured and organized approach that gives real time feedback on where one stands compared to peers
• Learning useful insights about one’s own learning levels through and a comparative assessment of performance against that of other children through percentile scores Possibility to plan your own exam preparation schedule in a comfortable phase you wish to progress through

How to Prepare for Sports Quiz

Sports Quiz is at once an interesting as well as highly challenging one to tackle. The arena of sports is vast and diverse with a lot of games both indoor and outdoor and field and track events. Therefore, you literally need to be on the move gathering as much information as possible on a variety of topics, players, events, trophies, championships, matches and leading achievements and records. Here are some useful tips to prepare for sports quiz.

Sports Quiz Preparation Tips

· Procure the past issues of about two months of a national Newspaper and go through the sports section. Familiarize yourself with the titles of championships connected to major sports events and the recent winners of those events. Gather the world records in all the major sports categories. Make a list of players who have won championships for a record number of times.

· Get to know the history of the major championships and trophies all over the world.

· Learn about the leading players and their achievements across major events.

· Never neglect the opportunity to familiarize with the nick names of football teams and the similar trivia information associated with other sports too.

· You are most likely to get some questions on the lesser known teams and, therefore, it is an important area to focus on.

· Watch sports quiz programs broadcasted in popular TV channels and also go through online quizzes

· Manorama year book will be of immense help.

· Search for random sports topics on Wiki and gather a good deal of possible information

· Make the proper use of the online Olympiad exam preparation forums and commit yourself to learning deeply and widely.

· If possible, take part in some sports quizzes and try solving Olympiad Practice papers.

Please note that there’s a Sports Knowledge Olympiad organized by Science Olympiad Foundation and Olympiad Success (www.olympiadsuccess.com) helps in preparation of this Olympiad exam.

Last Minute Preparation for Olympiad Exams

Olympiad success ultimately depends on how well you prepare for the examination. For some reason you have not been able to spend a good amount of time on the Olympiad preparation or you decided to take it up rather late, then you need no worries, you can always give a try and go with a few proven tips that will enable you do the last minute preparation very well and get through the exams successfully if you had been lucky enough alongside your preparations. Here’s how you can plunge into a crash course kind of last minute preparation for Olympiad exams.

Step by step last minute preparation tips

• It is said “better late than never”. Though late, the very fact you have decided to take up the Olympiad exam is a good idea we must appreciate. Keep up your spirits and confidence, and move forth putting your full concentration and efforts. If you are successful, you are lucky. Even if you aren’t able to clear it, you end up gaining a better firsthand experience.


• Enroll with an online Olympiad preparation platform and get to know all the procedures and regulations regarding the exam.


• Commit yourself to take as many topic-wise practice papers and mock tests to work on a daily basis. If you have only 2-3 days left, prioritize mock tests to get a flavour of the exam pattern


• Take chapter-wise tests and compare your scores with those of others in the forum with the help of percentile scores. 


• Hard work never fails and diligence always pays. Remember these quotes and spend as much time as possible with the preparation and you are bound to succeed rather definitely. Olympiad Success provides mock tests at www.olympiadsuccess.com if you have limited time to prepare for various Olympiad exams.

7 Tips to Prepare for Olympiad Exams

Preparing for an Olympiad exam is both exciting as well as challenging at once. It is exciting since Olympiad preparation is something you do voluntarily taking active interest and not because someone has thrust it upon you as is the case with the regular scholastic subjects. It is challenging since the question paper can never be anticipated and you will have to focus on a broader area of knowledge to get through the exam successfully. However, the following tips can contribute to your Olympiad success:

1. Follow the guideline: Start Early, Drive Slowly Reach Safely. Start your preparations once you have decided to go with the exam without any wait. Gather the study materials and proceed gradually but with consistency.
2. Workout as many practice papers you can. This will increase your confidence and also familiarize with the pattern of question paper. Therefore you are most likely to feel at home once you confront the actual exams.
3. Never under estimate the importance of sample papers especially when it comes to Olympiad exams. They can give a clear route to the preparation phase throwing more light on how you must develop your knowledge.
4. Prepare for the exams in a phased manner. Allot sometime for exam preparation on a daily basis amidst your regular schedule. At the same time do not stress yourself in a way you might lose interest.
5. Interact with some candidates who have already got through the Olympiad exams and benefit from their experience.

Gather as many past papers as you can to gain a pulse of what actually you can expect from the question paper. Also, familiarize yourself with the guidelines and rules printed on the past paper on how to take the test.

Never hesitate to widen your knowledge in the related domains. Sometimes some rare pieces of information you gathered might help you score better.

Making Challenges Fun!

Specific subjects can occasionally be challenging to otherwise bright children. What must teachers and parents do when they discover a child beginning to lose interest in a subject? Here are 10 answers from us.

1.   Identify challenges early

Most children naturally feel inclined to learn certain subjects and disinclined to learn certain others. In order to keep the score up and also ensure that learning occurs in all subjects as far as possible, identify early on, what is liked and disliked by your child or student. Often simple aptitude tests with the school psychologist or even online can help you understand this.  Just make sure the online ones are authentic. Assuming you have identified the challenge, here is what you would do next.

2.   Break down problems

No one said problems could not be solved, but no one said they could all be solved at once either! Take a challenging subject and locate the exact chapters or lessons that pose a problem. All too often, children have some understanding. Some aspects are misunderstood, some only less understood, and others are found to be confusing. Understand which of these applies. And help the child do exactly one small task at a time. By breaking down problems into minute steps, you can always make sure that the final output is a deeper understanding.  

3.   Re-visit the Basics

Don’t just re-visit the exact lesson that has been hard; re-visit related lessons and basics from earlier years. Children find subjects like Maths very hard, simply because they got away with not learning the basics or were not taught well in earlier classes. Re-visiting the basics further helps to see if the child simply rote-learned or really understood a lesson.  

4.   Appreciate at every stage

Since re-visiting the basics can be very tiring for the child, appreciation is required. Laud and acknowledge your child every time a step towards the milestone is achieved. This helps the child move forward with motivation. Creating incentives for every step gotten right definitely helps. The culture of appreciation through verbal praise such as ‘good job’ or ‘very good’ is picking up faster now than ever before for good reasons.

5.   Change the method

Often the method of teaching matters more than the content taught. Make sure you have used different media to convey different aspects of your lesson. Invoke cartoon characters in Maths problems or show a film to convey the story of a prose piece.

6.   A Break is a must

The culture of working during the week and taking a definitive break during the weekend is still new in India. It has many advantages. While some students work better with a weekend break, others find it difficult to get back to school work on Mondays and take too much warm-up time. If this is the case, make at least an hour of work every day mandatory, at least for the challenging subject. A separate play time from work time does not cause guilt in the child, which is known to have deep and negative psychological repercussions.

7.   Revision again and again

Once you have helped the child re-learn aspects earlier missed, do not think that the job is complete. Often, what has been hard to understand can slip back into forgetfulness, undoing all that was understood. This is why revisiting lessons becomes important. Observe how many revisions are needed for your child or student to master a certain lesson. Make sure revision is done that many times. Repetition helps in the crystallization of things that may have initially been vague. 

8.   Maintain the process

The process of breaking down problems, revisiting the basics, appreciating, changing the method and therefore testing, taking a break and revision should become a process. The process should get applied to every challenging aspect of any subject, so that the child understands that this will be continued until there is mastery. The process should become an unbreakable habit.

9.   How to make it fun?

Once the process is maintained, introduce small fun things as variations to improve the understanding in the child. This is what ultimately helps the child remember better and enjoy learning. Anything drab can be made fun by weaving the context into a story, introducing possible scenarios and deviating for short periods into anecdotes.

10.   Moderate Encouragement

Encouragement as well as mild admonition should be offered moderately. Know when to encourage kids; they do not respond well to too much or too little. Encouragement should however never involve comparison with others. Do not mention the process you have formulated with your child or student to anyone unless necessary. Never discuss the child’s performance in public with extreme emotions. Just sticking to the process is meaningful. Seek help from other subject experts only if inevitable. 

Why is China so successful in the Maths Olympiads? Lessons for India

China seems to have the winning formula to dominate the International Mathematical Olympiads. What makes the students in China stand out from the students in the rest of the world? What can India as a country learn from China to achieve the level of distinction? Let’s take a look.

5 ways to beat the exam heat

Whenever exam time approaches, students tend to forget the fact that exams are meant to test their knowledge, not stress them out. A bad score would motivate them to work harder, but a good score would definitely work wonders. Nevertheless, the word “exam” definitely sends shivers down the spine, no matter what.

Here a guide you can follow to beat the exam stress in 5 easy ways.