SOF Olympiad Awards 2026-27: Prize Money, Medals, Ranks and Scholarships for NSO, IMO, IEO IGKO, ICSO & More

The SOF Olympiad Awards 2026-27 include cash prizes, medals, certificates, gifts and scholarships for students. The Science Olympiad Foundation (SOF) conducts several school-level Olympiad exams, including IEO, ISO (earlier NSO), IMO, IGKO, ICSO, ICO, IHO and ISSO. Students can receive awards at the international, zonal and school levels. Schools, principals and teachers are also recognised.

Award criteria vary based on the particular Olympiad and exam level. For two-tier tests, like IEO, ISO, and IMO from classes 3 to 12, Level 2 scores will be considered for international and zonal ranking. For one-tier tests, like IGKO, ICSO, ISSO, IHO, and ICO, Level 1 scores will be considered. Classes 1 and 2 for IEO, ISO, and IMO too have only one level.

SOF Olympiad Awards 2026-27 for Students

SOF gives students cash awards, medals, certificates, gifts, and scholarships depending on the students’ performance. The highest possible cash award of SOF Olympiad in case of first international rank is INR 50,000 for level 2 examination. Each student will get only one award per exam.

Exam Type	Exams	Rank Decided By
Two-level, Classes 3 to 12	IEO, ISO (earlier NSO), IMO	Level 2
Single-level, All Classes	IGKO, ICSO, ISSO, IHO, ICO	Level 1
Classes 1 and 2	IEO, ISO, IMO	Level 1

SOF International Level Awards 2026-27

The SOF confers international-level awards to the best five rankers of each class and each Olympiad that is offered. The second level includes those competitions which include IEO, ISO and IMO from classes 3 to 12, whereas the first level includes others.

International Rank	Level 2 Cash Prize	Level 1 Cash Prize	Medal
Rank 1	₹50,000	₹25,000	Gold
Rank 2	₹25,000	₹10,000	Silver
Rank 3	₹10,000	₹7,500	Bronze
Rank 4	₹7,500	₹5,000	No medal
Rank 5	₹5,000	₹2,500	No medal

Ranks 4 and 5 get cash prizes as well. All five winners from the international category receive a Certificate of Outstanding Performance, while the international medals are awarded to the top three ranks.

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SOF Level 1 Awards 2026-27

The participants appearing for the SOF Level 1 exam are acknowledged irrespective of their ranking position. Every participant gets a Certificate of Participation and Student Progress Report (SPR).

Recognition	Eligibility
Certificate of Participation and SPR	Every student appearing for the exam
Medal of Distinction and Certificate of Distinction	Top 25 zonal rank holders
Gold Medal of Excellence	Students scoring 100% marks
Gold Medal of Excellence	Top rank holder among 5 to 9 registrations
Gold Medal of Excellence	Top 3 rank holders among 10 to 25 registrations
Gold Medal of Excellence	Top 15% rank holders when more than 25 students participate

SOF Zonal Level Awards 2026-27

SOF Zonal Awards for 2026-27 will be awarded to top 25 rank holders in each class, exam and zone. There are 26 zones in SOF. In case of IEO, ISO and IMO for classes 3 to 12, level 2 ranks will be taken into account.

Zonal Rank	Cash Prize/Gift	Medal and Certificate
Rank 1	₹5,000	Zonal Gold Medal + Certificate of Zonal Excellence
Rank 2	₹2,500	Zonal Silver Medal + Certificate of Zonal Excellence
Rank 3	₹1,000	Zonal Bronze Medal + Certificate of Zonal Excellence
Ranks 4 to 10	Gift worth ₹500	Certificate of Zonal Excellence
Ranks 11 to 25	None	Certificate of Zonal Excellence
Rank 26 onwards (Level 2)	None	Merit Certificate

The SOF Zone wise Awards for the session 2026-27 will be given to the top 25 rankers in each class, subject and zone. There are 26 zones in SOF. For the subjects IEO, ISO and IMO of classes 3 to 12, the level 2 ranks will also be considered.

SOF School Level Awards 2026-27

Recognition is also provided by SOF in schools. Each of the students who participate in a SOF Olympiad gets a certificate and Student Progress Report (SPR). Students appearing in Level 2 get a Merit Certificate.

Students Appearing in a Class	Gold Medal of Excellence
Any number	Every student scoring 100% marks
5 to 9 students	Top rank holder
10 to 25 students	Top 3 rank holders
More than 25 students	Top 15% rank holders

The SPR gives students information regarding their performance, identifying strengths and weaknesses. The SPR is used to compare students' performance with those of other students within the same class.

What Happens If Students Get the Same Rank in SOF Olympiads?

There are certain guidelines followed by SOF regarding how to break ties in an Olympiad ranking. In case of a tie, the cash award or gift will be split in accordance with the tie rules.

Rank Type	Cash Shared Equally	Gift Worth ₹1,000 Each
International	Up to 10 students	11 or more students
Zonal	Up to 5 students	6 or more students

SOF Scholarship Awards 2026-27

In addition to this, SOF provides unique scholarship awards to eligible candidates. These include Girl Child Scholarship Scheme, Defence Services Academic Excellence Scholarship and Academic Excellence Scholarship for the academic year 2026-27.

Scholarship	Seats	Award	Eligibility
Girl Child Scholarship Scheme (GCSS)	300	₹5,000	Eligible girls from economically modest families
Defence Services Academic Excellence Scholarship (DSAS)	260	₹5,000 + Certificate	Students from military or security services families
Academic Excellence Scholarship (AES)	260	₹5,000 + Trophy + Merit Certificate	Classes 1 to 10 students with the highest marks in four Olympiad exams in a year

For DSAS, schools send nominations. For AES, SOF may apply different weightage to different Olympiads.

SOF Awards for Schools, Principals and Teachers 2026-27

SOF also honours principal and teachers for their efforts in the Olympiads. The criteria for awarding principals are in terms of the overall performance of the school, whereas that of teachers is related to individual Olympiads.

Level	Best Principal	Best Teacher
International	₹25,000 + Citation + Trophy	₹10,000 + Citation + Trophy
Zonal	₹10,000 + Citation + Trophy	₹5,000 + Citation + Trophy
District	₹5,100 + Citation + Trophy	₹1,000 + Citation + Trophy

SOF also gives appreciation certificates to principals and teachers. Its Hall of Fame Awards recognise long-term performance by schools, teachers, principals and students.

SOF Olympiad Awards 2026-27 FAQs

Q1. Is NSO same as ISO?

Yes, the former name of the test was NSO. However, SOF has changed its name to ISO.

Q2. How will the SOF awards be given to winners?

SOF may conduct a function for top five rank holders of international ranking in SOF. Other SOF awards may be delivered to the winners through their schools.

Q3. Which SOF Olympiad has the highest cash award?

The highest cash award available is of Level 2 of IEO, ISO and IMO tests. The first rank holder from classes 3 to 12 gets ₹50,000.

Q4. Are SOF awards given to school toppers?

Yes, awards can be given to Class toppers on the basis of Level 1 results. This will include all sections of a particular class.

Q5. Are there any awards for Classes 1 and 2 students in SOF?

Yes, there are SOF awards for Classes 1 and 2 as well because there is only one level in IEO, ISO and IMO of these two classes.

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