The British Informatics Olympiad Sponsored by Data Connection.

The 1997 British Informatics Olympiad

I would like to invite you to enter for the British Informatics Olympiad, the national IT competition for schools. The BIO is free, thanks to sponsorship by the software development company Data Connection, with a variety of prizes to be won. The top four competitors will represent Britain at the 1997 International Olympiad in Informatics, this year hosted by South Africa.

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 as soon as possible. We will then send you the competition rules and the 1997 BIO paper, to be taken preferably before 14 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 11-13 April.

If they are good enough to make the top four, your students will win an expenses-paid trip to Cape Town, South Africa, from 30 November to 6 December, competing for Britain at the International Olympiad in Informatics. I hope we can continue to perform well, building on our position as the top English-speaking nation in the IOI. We have already brought back one gold and three bronze medals in the last two years.

Antony Rix
Chairman, the British Informatics Olympiad