[BIO Logo] The British Informatics Olympiad is
the computing competition for schools and colleges.
BIO 2001 is sponsored by Data Connection
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The 2001 British Informatics Olympiad

I would like to invite you to enter for the 2001 British Informatics Olympiad, the national IT competition for schools and colleges. The BIO is free, thanks to sponsorship by the complex computer technology company Data Connection, with a variety of prizes to be won. The top four competitors will represent Britain at the 2001 International Olympiad in Informatics, this year hosted in Tampere, Finland.

The BIO is open to all students, whether they are studying computer science or not, provided that they are under 19 and in full time pre-university education. The main part of the BIO is a paper with three tasks to be solved by writing a program (on any computer and in any language), supplemented by short written questions. It is staged so that those with a little programming experience can do well - although the competition for places on the final round is fierce. For an introduction to the type of problems involved, see the sample questions.

Schools who want to enter should fill in and return the application form by 28 February 2001. Please also see the competition rules. We will send you the 2001 BIO paper, to be taken before 15 March. You will also get solutions to enable you to mark the papers rapidly (this will not require any specialist knowledge). We will award certificates for merit or distinction to a large proportion of entrants, and invite the top 15 competitors to the final, in Cambridge from 6-8 April.

If they are good enough to make the top four, your students will win an expenses-paid trip to Finland, in mid-July, competing for Britain at the International Olympiad in Informatics. Team members have won fifteen medals in the last six years.

Antony Rix
Chairman, the British Informatics Olympiad


The 2001 British Informatics Olympiad