How does Australia choose its IBO team?

Students sit the Australian Science Olympiad Exam in Biology at school in late July or early August. The top 24 are invited to a summer school at the Australian National University in January, and four of the 24 are chosen for the team, with more training in April. The sources we could read do not publish the exact method used to choose the four.

Australian Science Innovations (ASI), a registered charity based in Canberra, runs the Australian Science Olympiads in biology, chemistry, physics and Earth and environmental science. The IBO lists the biology programme as the Australian Biology Olympiad.

Students at Australian schools or accredited home schools, ideally in Years 9 to 12, registered by their school. Biology students must not have finished Year 12 by the time of the summer school, the summer school is for Australian citizens living in Australia, and the IBO team is for Australian citizens with an Australian passport who have not started university.

Is this guide written by an Australian participant?

No. It is an outline of the official picture from published sources, with tips from BiOGuide. We are looking for an Australian olympiad participant or coach to write a firsthand guide and replace this one.

Australian Science Olympiads, Biology: Official Outline of the Path to IBO

Australia sends four students to the International Biology Olympiad (IBO). At the 37th IBO in Vilnius, Lithuania (12 to 19 July 2026), the IBO’s individual results list shows the four Australian students winning two silver and two bronze medals.¹ We did not find a report from the national organiser to confirm that. This page outlines how the path to that team works according to the sources we could read. It is a map of the structure, not an insider’s account of what the exam and the summer school feel like.

A note on the name. The national organiser does not call its programme a biology olympiad. It runs the Australian Science Olympiads (ASO), of which biology is one of four disciplines.³ “Australian Biology Olympiad” is the title the IBO gives its page for Australia.²

Programme: Australian Science Olympiads (ASO), biology discipline; listed by the IBO as the Australian Biology Olympiad
Organiser: Australian Science Innovations (ASI), Canberra^2,3
Who can enter: Students at Australian schools, ideally Years 9 to 12, registered by their school³
Stages: ASO Biology Exam, summer school, team selection and April training, IBO team of four
Official website: asi.edu.au
Language: Not stated outright in the sources we read; all official material is in English

The path at a glance

Stage	What happens	How sure we are
ASO Biology Exam	A two hour online exam sat at school, everyone at the same time, in late July or early August	Good: official site, with the IBO’s page agreeing on the outline
ASO Summer School	The top 24 in biology study at the Australian National University in January	Good for the 24 and the place; the two sources give different lengths
Team selection and training	Four are chosen from the 24, with further training in April	Good for the fact; the method is not published
IBO team	The team is announced at Parliament House in Canberra in June	Good: official site and a 2026 media release

Stage 1: the ASO Biology Exam

The first stage is the Australian Science Olympiad Exam in Biology. It is a two hour online exam sat at school under supervision, with all students starting at the same time.³ The IBO’s page describes it as multiple choice.² In 2026 it was held on Tuesday 28 July.³ The IBO’s page places the exams in late July and early August, so the date moves a little from year to year.²

Only schools can register students, through the organiser’s teacher portal. Individuals, tutoring centres, international schools and Australian citizens living overseas cannot enter. In 2026 the fee was 22 Australian dollars per student per exam, including GST.³

The official site says the exam suits students in Years 9 to 12, that a student must be at least 15 on 1 January of the summer school year, and that biology students must not have finished Year 12 by the time of the summer school.³ The IBO’s page words the year levels differently; see Points for an Author below.

Students receive a certificate showing how they performed. There is no fixed pass mark, and the official site suggests that scoring around 40 percent on past papers is a good position to be in.³ The sources we could read do not name the award bands or say who writes the exam. The IBO’s page puts biology entries at around 2,000, without a year.²

Stage 2: the ASO Summer School

The top 24 students in each discipline are invited to the ASO Summer School at the Australian National University in Canberra in January.^2,3 Students there cover roughly a university-level subject and sit further exams.³ A school news story about one 2026 team member mentions practical assessments as well.⁵

The official site says it lasts just over two weeks.³ To be offered a place, a student must be an Australian citizen at the time of the offer and live in Australia. The 2026 fee was 3,500 Australian dollars, with financial help available.³

Stage 3: team selection and training

Four students are chosen from the 24.^2,3 The sources we could read do not publish how: which exams count, and with what weight, is not stated.

The official site says the biology team has further training in April, without giving the place or the length.³ Team members must be Australian citizens holding an Australian passport and must not have started university. Taking part in the international olympiad carried a fee of 3,500 Australian dollars in 2026, again with financial help available.³

Stage 4: the IBO team

The teams for all the science olympiads are announced together at Parliament House in Canberra in June; in 2026 that was on 22 June.^4,6 From the exam to the IBO the whole process takes about twelve months, so the students who competed in July 2026 had sat the ASO exam in the middle of 2025.^3,4

Points for an Author

If you went through this programme yourself, these are the points we most need you to settle. They are grouped here so that nothing uncertain is buried in the text above.

Where the sources disagree

The name. The organiser calls its programme the Australian Science Olympiads;³ “Australian Biology Olympiad” is the IBO’s title for its page.²
Which year levels can enter. The official site says Years 9 to 12, provided biology students have not finished Year 12 by the summer school;³ the IBO’s page recommends Years 10 and 11 and says Year 12 students can sit the exam but cannot go further.² The official site is the more recent.
How long the summer school lasts. 11 days on the IBO’s page,² just over two weeks on the official site.³
How the four are chosen. The organiser publishes no method. A third-party site, seen only in search results, describes a practical exam at the summer school and a three hour theory exam some weeks later; we could not check that and do not rely on it.

Gaps a firsthand author could fill

How the four are chosen from the 24: which exams count and how much.
Where the April training is held and how long it lasts.
The names of the award bands on the exam certificate, and who writes the exam.
How many students sat the biology exam in 2025 or 2026.
What the syllabus contains. The organiser publishes a biology syllabus, but we did not open it.
What the summer school is actually like, how students prepare for the exam alongside school, and what they wish they had known.

A firsthand author can settle every one of these points. If that could be you, email us or read how it works.

BiOGuide tips for students aiming at this path

These are general tips from BiOGuide, not advice from an Australian participant, and they apply to any student aiming at an IBO team.

Start from the organiser’s own materials. The official site offers a biology syllabus, free past papers with answers, and an online question bank.³ Read the syllabus first so you know what the exam can ask.
Do past papers under exam conditions. Two hours online in one sitting is the real format. The organiser’s remark about 40 percent tells you the papers are meant to be hard, so do not be discouraged by low scores early on.
Study beyond your school course. Our notes on cell and molecular biology, animal physiology, plant physiology, genetics and ecology cover the areas olympiad exams draw on.
Practise reading data. Past IBO papers in our practice papers are built around experiments and data, and the IBO preparation guide explains the international format.
Talk to your teacher early. Only schools can register, and the organiser says it does not run exam training itself, so any preparation programme at your school is the school’s own.²
Use the official channels for anything dated. Exam dates, fees and eligibility rules change every year. The organiser decides, not us.

Official links and sources

International Biology Olympiad, individual results of IBO 2026 (IBO, 2026, in English, PDF). ibo-info.org. The file would not open as a web page and its text had to be extracted separately, so we use only the medals from it.
International Biology Olympiad, country page for the Australian Biology Olympiad (in English). ibo-info.org. The page is undated and differs from the official site in places, as noted above.
Australian Science Innovations, Australian Science Olympiads programme page, with 2026 dates and fees (official national site, in English). asi.edu.au
Australian Science Innovations, post on the 2026 biology team, about 22 June 2026 (official national site, in English). asi.edu.au
A school’s news story on a 2026 team member, 25 June 2026 (third party, not an official source, in English). plc.nsw.edu.au
Australian Science Innovations, media release on the 2026 team announcement, 22 June 2026 (official national site, in English). asi.edu.au

One more note on sources. The organiser’s programme page shows Australian Government and Australian National University logos among its sponsors, but we did not find or open a government page about the programme itself.

This outline was last checked on 8 October 2026 and will age. Spotted an error or out-of-date detail? Email r6394175@gmail.com.