NSO Syllabus 2026

The National Science Olympiad (NSO) is a prestigious competitive exam for grade 9 students, conducted to test their science and logical thinking abilities. The exam is designed in accordance with the guidelines of NEP 2020, NCF 2023, NCERT, and CBSE.

The NSO exam consists of three main sections: logical reasoning, science, and higher-order thinking.

Major Sections of the NSO Class 9 Syllabus

1. Section 1 – Logical Reasoning: Verbal and Non-Verbal Reasoning.

This section tests students' thinking and problem-solving abilities. It includes questions on verbal and non-verbal reasoning. Verbal reasoning involves questions involving words, sentences, and statements, while non-verbal reasoning involves questions based on diagrams, patterns, and data.

2. Section 2 – Science:

The Science section covers all the important topics of the Class 9 syllabus. The main topics covered are:

Motion – Distance, displacement, speed, velocity, acceleration, graphs of motion.
Force and Laws of Motion – Balanced/unbalanced forces, Newton’s three laws, inertia, momentum.
Gravitation – Universal law of gravitation, free fall, mass vs. weight, buoyancy.
Work and Energy – Work, power, energy, kinetic and potential energy, work–energy theorem.
Sound – Production, propagation, characteristics of sound, speed, applications.
Matter in Our Surroundings – States of matter, properties, interconversion, effect of temperature/pressure.
Is Matter Around Us Pure? – Mixtures, solutions, suspensions, colloids, separation techniques.
Atoms and Molecules – Laws of chemical combination, molecular mass, mole concept.
Structure of the Atom – Discovery of electron, proton, neutron; atomic models, modern structure.
Cell – The Fundamental Unit of Life – Cell theory, structure, functions of organelles.
Tissues – Plant and animal tissues, structure, functions.
Natural Resources – Air, water, soil, fossil fuels, biogeochemical cycles.
Improvement in Food Resources – Crop production, animal husbandry, food management.

3. Section 3 – Higher Order Thinking Questions - Syllabus as per Section–2:

This section covers all the topics covered in Section 2, but the questions are of a higher difficulty level. Solving them requires a thorough understanding of the topics and logical thinking.

NSO Class 9 Syllabus 2026 Main Topics

Section	Subject	Main Topics	Difficulty Level
Section 1	Logical Reasoning	Verbal and Non-Verbal Reasoning	Easy to Moderate
Section 2	Science	Motion, Force and Laws of Motion, Gravitation, Work and Energy, Sound, Matter in Our Surroundings, Is Matter Around Us Pure, Atoms and Molecules, Structure of the Atom, Cell – The Fundamental Unit of Life, Tissues, Natural Resources, Improvement in Food Resources	Moderate
Section 3	Achievers Section	All topics from Section 2, Higher-Order Thinking Questions	Difficult

Note:

Level-I questions will be 60% from the current class syllabus and 40% from the previous class syllabus.
Level-II questions will be all from the current class syllabus.
Questions in the Achievers Section will always be from the current class syllabus.