Guide to the 2009 National Qualifying Examinations

2009 Key Dates Summary

March	Biology, Chemistry and Physics Final Selection Exams for 2009 Olympiad teams
April 9	Registrations close for the Rio Tinto Big Science Competition
May 21	Rio Tinto Big Science Competition
June	Australian Science Olympiads 2009 Official Team Announcement
June 17	Registrations close for 2009 National Qualifying Examinations
August 19	PHYSICS National Qualifying Examination
August 26	BIOLOGY National Qualifying Examination
September 2	CHEMISTRY National Qualifying Examination
October	NQE results announced, certificates sent to schools and Science Olympiad Summer School offers made

Eligibility

Students competing the 2009 National Qualifying Examinations must be in year 11 or younger in 2009. To be eligible for consideration as an ASO scholar, students must:

• hold an Australian passport or be eligible to obtain one by March 2010;
• be under the age of twenty years in July of 2010; and
• not intend to enrol at a University before July 2010.

Schools are invited to nominate their top students to sit for the Biology, Chemistry and Physics Examinations.

Guidelines and Cost

The National Qualifying Examinations are intended to challenge even the most able students, and so students registering for the NQEs should be selected by their schools carefully. It is rare for a school to have more than a few students qualify for the Olympiad training program. ASI and its partners aim to make the NQEs free of charge, however we point out the following policy on registrations:

Schools can register as many students as they wish, but the following constraints apply:

• As the NQEs are designed to be very challenging, schools registering more than 10 students in any of the three Olympiad subjects are asked to contact ASI
• There is no fee for the first 24 students in each Olympiad subject from a school
  
• Schools registering more than 24 students for one or more of the NQEs will be asked to contribute a marking fee of $10 per student per NQE, for each student above the 24 limit.

Example: A school registers 12 students in the Chemistry NQE, 26 students in the Biology NQE and 35 students in the Physics NQE. ASI would contact the school to discuss their registrations, and then would be asked to contribute 2x$10 for the Biology NQE (two students more than the 24 limit), and 11x$10 for the Physics NQE (11 students more than the 24 limit), for a total of $130.

The Australian Science Olympiads are supported by our partners Merck Sharp & Dohme and the Department of Innovation, Industry, Science and Research.

 

Updated Nov 2008