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The competitions coming up are

• Intermediate Physics Challenge (on Friday 27^th February) (Monday 2^nd March for international schools). Preparation is by working through four past papers.


• Senior Physics Challenge (on Friday 6^th March) (Monday 9^th March for international schools). Preparation is by working through four past papers.

Next term we have

• the Junior Physics Challenge (online) aimed at Year 10 (Fri 24^th April - Fri 15^th May)
  
• the Year7/8 Physics Challenge (online) (Tues 28^th April - Tues 19^th May)
  
• The Computational Challenge Project will be announced in March with a closing date in mid-August.
  

  Competition dates for 2025-26 are on the Competition Dates & Events page.

  Events and Workshops for Students and Teachers 2025-26

• Year 10 Physics Taster Day for Girls being run at Oxford on 28^th Feb.
  
• For Teachers: Problem Solving in Physics - how to extend your able students on 7^th March.
  
  We will also have a
• Year 10 event in London on Saturday 14^th June
  
• Teachers event in London on Saturday 21^st June
  Details to be announced.

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How to Take Part in the 2025-26 Competitions

Teachers who have registered with us can manage their entries to this year's competitions through the Competition platform.

If you are new to the BPhO, you can register for access (one teacher per school) using the form on the Teachers page.

. Note that ONLY teachers can register for access. We recommend you register at least 48 hours before the competition you wish to enter, although the sooner you register, the sooner we can process your request and give you access - registering during September is a good choice.

Competition dates for 2025-26 are on the Competition Dates & Events page.

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International Olympiad on Astronomy and Astrophysics 2025

The 2025 International Olympiad on Astronomy and Astrophysics was held in Mumbai in August. The UK team made history with a stunning haul of four Gold medals and one Silver medal. More details...

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International Physics Olympiad 2025

The 2025 International Physics Olympiad was held in Paris in July. The five British participants were very successful, returning with two Silver medals and three Bronze medals. More details...

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Events and Workshops for Students and Teachers

• Computational Challenge webinars for Students: Thursday 8^th January 2026 weekly for 10 weeks.

  Please see our page of Competition Dates & Events for details.

  The programme will be set out on the Computational Challenge webpage
  

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UK Competitions

• How do I get to the level of solving Olympiad problems? It sounds like an impossible task.

• You need to practise on questions. Look at the past papers relevant to your age group. They are generally harder than the ones you will get in class, but that does not matter.


• One of the key aspects that will help is to work with a friend or a small group and discuss a question each week. Someone chooses one or two and you try them out. You do not have to succeed in everything, but you need to have thought about the question so that you can engage in a discussion and see what it is that got you stuck.


• Choose ones that are on a topic you have covered recently. Do not expect them to be easily solved - you have to think about them for some time. But you get better; more confident and a little faster perhaps, and you learn not to be defeated and give up.


• Here are some video interviews of recent UK IPhO team members.

  

  They recomend using

1. Past BPhO questions - choose your competition and go to Past Papers tab,
2. IsaacPhysics, and
3. Physics Online

Please see our page of Competition Dates & Events for our British Physics Olympiad, British Astronomy & Astrophyics Olympiad and Computational Physics Challenge competitions.

“ I got a silver - have to say I’m pretty chuffed ”

– Student

We recognise that teachers are busy and aim to make our competitions as easy as possible to run in your school. Most examination papers require just one hour, either in lessons, after school or at home. Many can be run as two parts in separate sessions.