The SChO is jointly organised by the Singapore National Institute of Chemistry (SNIC), Chemistry Department of National University of Singapore and the Ministry of Education. The inaugural Singapore Chemistry Olympiad was launched in 1989 and has been an annual event since then. The competition is open to JC1 (or equivalent, e.g. Year 5) students. The SChO has been revised to a theory-only competition. The SChO syllabus is the same as that of the International Chemistry Olympiad, which can be found online.
Participants are awarded medals (Gold, Silver and Bronze) and certificates based on their performance. There are 2 additional categories of awards: The Best Student Award (for participant with the highest overall score) and The Best Team Award (for the school with the highest combined score of its best three participants).
The general aims of the Singapore Chemistry Olympiad are to:
The 2024 SChO Theory round 2 – name list and instruction are here.
The result of SChO 2023 is here.
The 56th IChO Phase 1 Training Invitation List is here.
The Singapore National Olympiad Council promotes and oversees activities related to the Singapore National Olympiads and International Olympiads. The council comprises members from the National University of Singapore, National Institute of Education, A*Star, Ministry of Education and the professional associations viz. Singapore Institute of Physics, Singapore National Institute of Chemistry, Singapore Mathematics Society and Singapore Institute of Biology.
THE INTERNATIONAL CHEMISTRY OLYMPIAD
The IChO is a competition where students below the age of 19 years compete against each other in intellectual prowess in Chemistry. Intellectual skills such as analysis, deduction, induction, problem-solving and decision-making are needed. Besides pitting their knowledge and skills against their academically talented counterparts from other countries, students also interact with their counterparts and university lecturers.
The general aims of the International Chemistry Olympiad are to:
The International Chemistry Olympiad has been held annually since 1968. Each country sends a team of 4 students and 2 delegation leaders. (The IChO competition is organised on the same line as the IPhO). It consists of a theory test and a practical test, each of approximately 4-5 hours, taken over two days. A programme of visits and social events is also organised for the participants. Awards for the IChO are given to individual participants rather than to a team. There are four classes of awards: Gold, Silver, Bronze and Honorable Mention.
Singapore first participated in the IChO in 1988. Since 1990, we have been participating annually in the IChO.
Every year, the team to the IChO is selected through two rounds of tests. At the first round, about 150 students will participate in the SChO. Based on their performances, about 25 students are selected for the rigorous training for each Olympiad. The group is co-trained by JC teachers and NUS/NIE lecturers. The training programme comprises lectures, problem solving tutorials, practical lessons and tests. These training sessions are usually held on Wednesday afternoons from Feb to May of each year, including 1 week of Intensive training during the March school holidays and June vacations.
The final 4 students are selected based on merits – performance in the tests and undergo 2 weeks of intensive training (inclusive of 1 week of residential training in NUS) during the June vacations. The NUS leader for the IChO is the chairperson of the organising committee. He/She is also the co-ordinator of the International Olympiad training team comprising NUS and NIE lecturers and JC teachers. The Team Leader and the Deputy Leader for the IChO are usually a lecturer from the National University of Singapore and a JC teacher respectively. The leaders from the JCs have helped in the training of the respective teams for a period of 2 consecutive years.
From 1988 to 2020, Singapore has sent more than 120 students to the International Chemistry Olympiad. Our teams’ performance is creditable and commendable for a small country. Our students have won a total of 116 medals. The breakdown is given in the table below.
Performance from 1988 – 2021
| IChO | |
|---|---|
| No. of Olympiads Singapore participated | 35 |
| Awards | |
| Gold | 38 |
| Silver | 54 |
| Bronze | 36 |
Congratulation to the Singapore team, led by Dr Tan Wee Boon and Dr Zhang Sheng from Department of Chemistry NUS, who clinched 2 gold Medals and 2 silver Medal, ranking 6th amongst 84 participating countries in the 54th International Chemistry Olympiad (IChO 2022) held remotely from Tianjin, China from 10 July to 18 Aug 2022.