Zigyan Entrance cum Scholarship Test (ZEST) — scholarships up to 100%, registration ₹200  Register now →
Zigyan Eduvision
LoginCall nowEnrol now
Exam guides

Olympiad Guide 2027

NSEP, NSEC, IOQM and NSEJS — the national selection pathway that ends with a team of four to six students representing India.

See our Olympiad resultsFoundation programmes
Olympiads — quick facts
Stage 1 body
IAPT
Later stages
HBCSE
Physics
NSEP
Chemistry
NSEC
Mathematics
IOQM
Junior Science
NSEJS — Class 8–10
All examsJEE MainJEE AdvancedNEETBITSATOlympiadsDates
The pathway

From a school hall to an international team

Each subject runs its own selection independently. The funnel is steep: tens of thousands sit the qualifier, four to six travel.

1

National Standard Examination (IOQM for Maths)

November

IAPT conducts the national standard examinations across hundreds of centres — NSEP for Physics, NSEC for Chemistry, NSEB for Biology, NSEA for Astronomy and NSEJS for Junior Science, which is open to students in Class 10 and below. Mathematics runs separately as IOQM. Objective paper. No minimum marks are required to apply, and the top band proceeds.

2

Indian National Olympiad

January–February

Conducted by HBCSE. Descriptive, subjective problems that go well beyond the school syllabus — this is where the exam stops resembling anything a student has sat before. Roughly 300–500 students per subject reach this stage.

3

Orientation-cum-Selection Camp

April–May

An intensive residential camp at HBCSE, Mumbai, for approximately 35 students per subject. Advanced lectures, laboratory work and repeated selection tests. Only four to six students per subject come out of it.

4

Pre-Departure Camp

June

Eight to ten days of final training at HBCSE for the selected team, focused on refining knowledge and experimental technique for the specific international format.

5

International Olympiad

July onward

The team represents India. Zigyan students have reached the national stages of this pathway — see the Olympiad results page for names and stages.

Why Olympiads are worth the time

Olympiad problems are not harder versions of JEE problems; they are a different activity. They reward a student who will sit with one problem for an hour rather than twenty problems for three minutes each. That habit transfers directly to JEE Advanced, which is why we teach Olympiads inside the Foundation and Class XI programmes rather than as a separate course.

Common questions

Olympiads, answered

Is it NSEP and NSEC, or IOQP and IOQC?
NSEP and NSEC. For two sessions IAPT merged its national standard examinations into a single Indian Olympiad Qualifier and renamed the papers IOQP, IOQC and IOQB; it then reverted. The current series is NSEP (Physics), NSEC (Chemistry), NSEB (Biology), NSEA (Astronomy) and NSEJS (Junior Science), and those are the names you register under. Mathematics is the exception that causes the confusion — it genuinely is called IOQM, it is run by a different body, and it has not changed.
Can a Class 8 student sit NSEJS?
Yes. NSEJS is open to students in Class 10 and below, so Class 8 and 9 students can and do sit it. Starting at Class 8 gives a student two or three attempts before they age out, which matters because the paper is unlike anything they will have written at school.
Do Olympiads help with JEE, or are they a distraction?
They help, but not in the way people expect. Olympiad problems reward sitting with one problem for an hour rather than twenty problems for three minutes each — and that is exactly the habit JEE Advanced tests. We teach Olympiads inside the Foundation and Class XI programmes rather than as a separate course, for that reason.
Do you offer Olympiad coaching in Faridabad?
Yes — IOQM coaching Faridabad students attend is part of the Class IX Foundation and Class X Excellence programmes, and NSEJS coaching Faridabad students take runs alongside it from Class 8 upward. All of it happens at SCO 107, Sector 16.

Start Olympiad preparation early

NSEJS is open from Class 8, and the habits it builds are the ones JEE Advanced rewards.

Class IX FoundationOlympiad results
Enquire nowWhatsApp