How does the Netherlands choose its IBO team?

Through three rounds of the Nederlandse Biologie Olympiade: a first round exam at school, a second selection round, and a finale week at Wageningen University and Research with about 20 students. The national site says the four Dutch IBO participants are the winners of the Nederlandse Biologie Olympiade.

Who organises the Dutch Biology Olympiad?

The IBO lists an independent foundation, Stichting Biologie Olympiade Nederland, run with many volunteers and supported by SLO, the national institute for curriculum development. The IBO says it is appointed by the Ministry for Education, Culture and Science and financed mainly by it.

The IBO's directory says students in secondary education in their 4th, 5th or final 6th year. The national site describes the main competition as the one for the upper years (bovenbouw) of havo and vwo, and a separate junior competition for the lower years that does not lead to the IBO.

Is this guide written by a Dutch participant?

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

Netherlands Biology Olympiad (NBO): Official Outline of the Path to IBO

The Netherlands sends four students to the International Biology Olympiad (IBO). At the 37th IBO in Vilnius, Lithuania (12 to 19 July 2026), the Dutch team won one gold medal and three bronze medals, according to the national organisers, and the Netherlands is due to host the IBO in 2028.² 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 exams feel like. The national site is in Dutch, and facts that depend on our own translation are marked.

Programme: Nederlandse Biologie Olympiade (NBO), the Dutch Biology Olympiad^1,3
Organiser: Stichting Biologie Olympiade Nederland, supported by SLO and financed mainly by the Ministry for Education, Culture and Science¹
Who can enter: Upper-secondary pupils in havo and vwo, registered by their teacher^1,2
Stages: First round at school, second selection round, finale week at Wageningen, IBO team of four
Official website: biologieolympiade.nl, as listed by the IBO
Language: Dutch for the national site; the sources we could read do not say what language the exams are in

The path at a glance

Stage	What happens	How sure we are
First round	An exam at your school with closed questions on general biology; registration through your teacher	Good for the structure; the exam date is not stated in what we read
Second round	A selection round for the best performers, with a day at a venue and a second test	Good for the structure; the number who advance differs between sources
Finale	A week at Wageningen University and Research with about 20 students	Good, stated by two sources
IBO team	Four students, the winners of the national competition	Good from the national site; the IBO page does not state the number

Round 1: the exam at school

The first round is an exam at school on general biology at the level of the school curriculum, with closed questions only, built around problem solving and reasoning, and with no preparation required.¹ Your school chooses to take part: a student asks their biology teacher, the teacher registers, and one student is enough for a school to sign up.² For the 2026 to 2027 season, registration for the upper-year first round closes on 20 November 2026 (and 8 January 2027 for the junior competition), and the exam can be taken digitally.² The national site reports that more than 4,700 pupils from over 200 schools took part in the 2026 first round, and the IBO’s directory lists 5,810 students from 244 schools in 2024.^2,1

Round 2: the selection round

The IBO’s directory describes the second round as having two parts: an optional preparation day at a thematically interesting venue and a compulsory exam at school, set on a separate syllabus at a level beyond high school, with mostly closed questions and a focus on advanced problem solving.¹ The national site reports that in 2026 the best 100 students spent a day at Seed Valley and the University of Amsterdam and then took a second selection test.² That the day was optional and the exam compulsory comes from the IBO page, and the 2026 report on the national site does not say either way. The number of students in this round is where the sources differ, and it is covered in the box below.

Round 3: the finale week

The finale is a week-long event at Wageningen University and Research for 20 students, with masterclasses and exams on university-level biology topics, including practicals.^1,2 Each topic is taught and assessed on its own, and the combined score decides the winners.¹ The national site’s report on the 2026 finale lists topics from animal anatomy to bioinformatics and CRISPR-Cas, a visit to the Netherlands Institute of Ecology and a plant identification excursion.² According to the IBO’s directory, the winner receives a scholarship fund of 1,500 euros from an educational publisher and the top four students receive honorary medals.¹

The IBO team and its training

The national site says the four Dutch IBO participants are the winners of the Nederlandse Biologie Olympiade.² The IBO’s directory says the finale combines training and selection for the IBO, that the IBO team then gets additional training on a maximum of three non-consecutive days, and that all other preparation is individual, for example by practising old IBO exams.¹ Recommended reading in the directory is the Campbell textbook Biology for the finale and the IBO, together with a thematic syllabus for round 2.¹ A separate junior competition for the lower years exists, but the sources we could read do not link it to the IBO team.²

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

How many students are in round 2. The IBO’s directory says about 150,¹ while the national site says the best 100 attended the 2026 selection day.² The IBO page is undated and may be out of date, but we cannot confirm that.
How many students take part in round 1. The IBO’s directory gives a range of 5,000 to 10,000,¹ while its own statistics show 5,810 in 2024 and the national site reports more than 4,700 in 2026.^1,2 Participation has fallen over the years in the IBO’s table, so the range is probably older.
How the team size is stated. The national site says four students go to the IBO,² while the IBO’s directory does not give the number and names only the top four receiving honorary medals.¹
Which school years can enter. The IBO’s directory says the 4th, 5th or final 6th year of secondary education,¹ while the national site speaks of the upper years (bovenbouw) of havo and vwo.² The two descriptions may be the same thing in different words, which depends on our reading of the Dutch.

Gaps a firsthand author could fill

The date and length of the first-round exam, and the date of the second-round test, which the sources we could read do not give.
The language of the exams. The sources we could read do not say, and we assume Dutch.
Whether any age limit applies beyond being a secondary school student.
Exactly how the four IBO students are chosen from the 20 finalists and how the finale scores are weighted.
How the training after the finale actually runs.
What the rounds and the finale week are like, and what students 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 a Dutch participant, and they apply to any student aiming at an IBO team.

Ask your teacher early. Registration goes through your biology teacher and closes in November, so raise it at the start of the school year.
Train for reasoning, not recall. The first round tests problem solving, and the IBO papers do the same with data and experiments. The IBO preparation guide explains the international format, and past IBO papers are in our practice papers.
Prepare for university-level topics. The finale topics range from animal anatomy to bioinformatics, so see our notes on animal anatomy, bioinformatics and cell and molecular biology.
Practise lab work. The finale and the IBO both include practicals, so see our practical sections.
Learn the English terms. The IBO papers are in English, so learn the English names of structures, processes and methods even if you study in Dutch.
Use the official channels for anything dated. Deadlines and exam dates change every year, and the national site decides, not us.

Official links and sources

International Biology Olympiad, country page for the Nederlandse Biologie Olympiade. ibo-info.org. The page is undated; its statistics table runs to 2024.
Official website of the Biologie Olympiade, news posts of 4 June 2026 (finale), 18 July 2026 (IBO in Vilnius) and 20 September 2026 (registration for 2026 to 2027), in Dutch. biologieolympiade.nl. Facts from this source depend on our own translation.
International Biology Olympiad, list of countries and regions, which lists the Netherlands under its Dutch name. ibo-info.org

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