The British Informatics Olympiad is the computing competition for schools and colleges. We are proud to present BIO 2024.
The 2024 British Informatics Olympiad

November, 2023

The British Informatics Olympiad (BIO) is an annual competition in computer programming for secondary schools and sixth form colleges. This year's competition is due to begin soon and we would like to give you advance notice, as well as the opportunity for early registration.

The BIO tests students' ability to solve problems against the clock and provides valuable experience as well as being enjoyable and challenging. It is open to all students who are under 19 and in full time pre-university education. Students do not need to be studying computer science to enter the competition; many of our top students in the past have been self-taught.

Entry into the competition is free thanks to our sponsors including Jane Street and Trinity College, Cambridge.

The main part of the BIO is a three-hour paper, set and marked in school, with programming tasks (to be solved on any computer and in any language), supplemented by short written questions. We aim to set a paper that will allow those with a little programming experience to solve at least one question, whilst differentiating between the most able contestants. A detailed mark scheme will be provided to enable you to mark the papers rapidly while requiring no specialist knowledge.

The top 15 contestants will be invited to the final, which will be held at Trinity College in March/April. The top four finalists will win an expenses-paid trip to Egypt in September, to represent Great Britain at the 2024 International Olympiad in Informatics. We will also be selecting a team to represent Great Britain at the 2004 European Girls' Olympiad in Informatics.

If you want your school or college to enter this year, please fill in application form on our website, with an estimate of the number of students who might take part. The deadline for receipt of completed application forms is 5 January. If you register early, we will e-mail the BIO paper to you on 3 December. If you register after this date, the paper will be sent within three days of us receiving your entry.

You can hold the BIO any day from 4 December 2023 - 12 January 2024.

The closing deadline for the electronic return of marks, for students to be considered for the final, is 14 January.

Further information, including past/sample papers and mark schemes, can be found on our website: http://www.olympiad.org.uk. If you have any further enquires please do not hesitate to contact me directly, by email (Richard Forster) or telephone (07803 044741).

I look forward to hearing from you soon.

Yours faithfully,
Richard Forster, Director
British Informatics Olympiad

See the links below for information about BIO 2024.