Which olympiad should a Class 8 student take in 2026–27?
Class 8 is the last year of the middle band. The papers are the same bodies and the same format as Class 7, at a harder level, and it is the year a child who has sat a few starts to have a real sense of which subject is theirs. The Class 9-10 depth exams — IOQM in maths, NSEJS in science — are a different kind of paper and are not on this page.
If your child has sat olympiads before, this is the year to narrow rather than widen: two papers prepared for properly beat five sat cold.
- Papers with verified dates
- 25
- You can enter your child yourself
- 15
- Dates last checked
- 30 Aug 2026
Start here
The first question is not which paper — it is who can enter your child
Most lists of Class 8 olympiads skip this, and it decides everything else. Two bodies here register through the school and have no route that takes a family at all; four will register your child directly. If your school does not run a paper, its reputation is irrelevant to you.
Your school has to enter your child
Science Olympiad Foundation (SOF) and SilverZone Foundation. Ask your coordinator whether the school is running these at all, and which date it has picked — the school chooses one sitting for the whole class, and you cannot pick a different one.
- ·IMO Maths — Science Olympiad Foundation (SOF)
- ·ISO Science — Science Olympiad Foundation (SOF)
- ·IEO English — Science Olympiad Foundation (SOF)
- ·IHO Hindi — Science Olympiad Foundation (SOF)
- ·ISSO Social Science — Science Olympiad Foundation (SOF)
- ·iOM Maths — SilverZone Foundation
- ·iOS Science — SilverZone Foundation
- ·iOEL English — SilverZone Foundation
- ·ABHO Hindi — SilverZone Foundation
- ·iSSO Social Science — SilverZone Foundation
You can enter your child yourself
Indian Talent Olympiad (ITO), Unified Council, CREST Olympiads, Humming Bird Education. These are the papers still open to you when the school runs nothing. No single one of them covers every subject — check the subject you actually want below before you decide which body to use.
- ·IMO Maths — Indian Talent Olympiad (ITO)
- ·ISO Science — Indian Talent Olympiad (ITO)
- ·EIO English — Indian Talent Olympiad (ITO)
- ·NHO Hindi — Indian Talent Olympiad (ITO)
- ·NSSO Social Science — Indian Talent Olympiad (ITO)
- ·UIMO Maths — Unified Council
- ·UIEO English — Unified Council
- ·NSTSE Science — Unified Council
- ·CMO Maths — CREST Olympiads
- ·CSO Science — CREST Olympiads
- ·CEO English — CREST Olympiads
- ·HMO Maths — Humming Bird Education
- ·HSO Science — Humming Bird Education
- ·HEO English — Humming Bird Education
- ·HHO Hindi — Humming Bird Education
Every cutoff on this page is the date the body must receive the registration by. A school collects and collates forms before that, so the date that actually binds you is your coordinator's, and it is earlier than anything here.
Class 8, by subject
Every paper your child can sit, with its dates
Dates read off each body's own website. Where a cutoff depends on a date your school has not chosen yet, it is written as the condition rather than as a deadline — because that is what the body publishes.
Maths6 papers at Class 8
- MathsScience Olympiad Foundation (SOF)
International Mathematics Olympiad (IMO)
- 23 Oct 2026Date 1
- If your school picks 23 October 2026, registrations must reach Science Olympiad Foundation (SOF) by 23 September 2026.
- 26 Nov 2026Date 2
- If your school picks 26 November 2026, registrations must reach Science Olympiad Foundation (SOF) by 27 October 2026.
- 10 Dec 2026Date 3
- If your school picks 10 December 2026, registrations must reach Science Olympiad Foundation (SOF) by 10 November 2026.
- MathsSilverZone Foundation
International Olympiad of Mathematics (iOM)
- 8 Oct 2026Date 1
- Registration closes 30 September 2026 (on a schedule the body heads “Tentative”).
- 18 Nov 2026Date 2
- Registration closes 30 September 2026 (on a schedule the body heads “Tentative”).
- 7 Dec 2026Date 3
- Registration closes 30 September 2026 (on a schedule the body heads “Tentative”).
- MathsIndian Talent Olympiad (ITO)
International Maths Olympiad (IMO)
- 8 Oct 2026Through school — Set A
- Registration closes 5 September 2026.
- 1 Dec 2026Through school — Set B
- Registration closes 10 October 2026.
- 5 Dec 2026Individual online — slot 1
- Registration closes 30 October 2026.
- 17 Dec 2026Through school — Set C
- Registration closes 10 November 2026.
- 9 Jan 2027Individual online — slot 2
- Indian Talent Olympiad (ITO) publishes no registration cutoff for this paper.
- MathsUnified Council
Unified International Mathematics Olympiad (UIMO)
Unified Council publishes no second school date for UIMO — one date, not a choice of two. The 3 January date is the online track's practice run, not the exam.
- 11 Dec 2026Through school
- Unified Council publishes no registration cutoff for this paper.
- 3 Jan 2027Online — mock
- Unified Council publishes no registration cutoff for this paper.
- 10 Jan 2027Online — final (direct registration)
- Unified Council publishes no registration cutoff for this paper.
No Class 8 guide on this site yet — the dates above are still verified.Body's own pageChecked 30 Aug 2026 - MathsCREST Olympiads
CREST Mathematics Olympiad (CMO)
A dated practice paper runs on 12 and 13 November 2026, ahead of Level 1.
- 10 Dec 2026Level 1 — slot 1
- CREST Olympiads publishes no registration cutoff for this paper.
- 19 Dec 2026Level 1 — slot 2
- CREST Olympiads publishes no registration cutoff for this paper.
- 9 Feb 2027Level 2
- CREST Olympiads publishes no registration cutoff for this paper.
- 10 Feb 2027Level 2
- CREST Olympiads publishes no registration cutoff for this paper.
No Class 8 guide on this site yet — the dates above are still verified.Body's own pageChecked 2 Sept 2026 - MathsHumming Bird Education
Humming Bird Mathematics Olympiad (HMO)
- 18 Nov 2026Date 1
- Humming Bird Education publishes no registration cutoff for this paper.
- 2 Dec 2026Date 2
- Humming Bird Education publishes no registration cutoff for this paper.
No Class 8 guide on this site yet — the dates above are still verified.Body's own pageChecked 30 Aug 2026
Science6 papers at Class 8
- ScienceScience Olympiad Foundation (SOF)
International Science Olympiad (ISO)
Called NSO until the 2026-27 session — same body, same paper, new name. Search results and school circulars still say NSO, so both names refer to this.
- 30 Oct 2026Date 1
- If your school picks 30 October 2026, registrations must reach Science Olympiad Foundation (SOF) by 30 September 2026.
- 19 Nov 2026Date 2
- If your school picks 19 November 2026, registrations must reach Science Olympiad Foundation (SOF) by 20 October 2026.
- 3 Dec 2026Date 3
- If your school picks 3 December 2026, registrations must reach Science Olympiad Foundation (SOF) by 3 November 2026.
- ScienceSilverZone Foundation
International Olympiad of Science (iOS)
- 14 Oct 2026Date 1
- Registration closes 30 September 2026 (on a schedule the body heads “Tentative”).
- 19 Nov 2026Date 2
- Registration closes 30 September 2026 (on a schedule the body heads “Tentative”).
- 8 Dec 2026Date 3
- Registration closes 30 September 2026 (on a schedule the body heads “Tentative”).
- ScienceIndian Talent Olympiad (ITO)
International Science Olympiad (ISO)
- 9 Oct 2026Through school — Set A
- Registration closes 5 September 2026.
- 2 Dec 2026Through school — Set B
- Registration closes 10 October 2026.
- 4 Dec 2026Individual online — slot 1
- Registration closes 30 October 2026.
- 18 Dec 2026Through school — Set C
- Registration closes 10 November 2026.
- 8 Jan 2027Individual online — slot 2
- Indian Talent Olympiad (ITO) publishes no registration cutoff for this paper.
- ScienceUnified Council
National Level Science Talent Search Examination (NSTSE)
NSTSE is a talent search rather than a pure science paper — it covers maths as well as science.
- 20 Nov 2026Through school — date 1
- Unified Council publishes no registration cutoff for this paper.
- 2 Dec 2026Through school — date 2
- Unified Council publishes no registration cutoff for this paper.
- 17 Jan 2027Online — mock
- Unified Council publishes no registration cutoff for this paper.
- 24 Jan 2027Online — final (direct registration)
- Unified Council publishes no registration cutoff for this paper.
No Class 8 guide on this site yet — the dates above are still verified.Body's own pageChecked 30 Aug 2026 - ScienceCREST Olympiads
CREST Science Olympiad (CSO)
A dated practice paper runs on 3 and 4 November 2026.
- 3 Dec 2026Level 1 — slot 1
- CREST Olympiads publishes no registration cutoff for this paper.
- 12 Dec 2026Level 1 — slot 2
- CREST Olympiads publishes no registration cutoff for this paper.
- 4 Feb 2027Level 2
- CREST Olympiads publishes no registration cutoff for this paper.
- 6 Feb 2027Level 2
- CREST Olympiads publishes no registration cutoff for this paper.
No Class 8 guide on this site yet — the dates above are still verified.Body's own pageChecked 2 Sept 2026 - ScienceHumming Bird Education
Humming Bird Science Olympiad (HSO)
- 19 Nov 2026Date 1
- Humming Bird Education publishes no registration cutoff for this paper.
- 3 Dec 2026Date 2
- Humming Bird Education publishes no registration cutoff for this paper.
No Class 8 guide on this site yet — the dates above are still verified.Body's own pageChecked 30 Aug 2026
English6 papers at Class 8
- EnglishScience Olympiad Foundation (SOF)
International English Olympiad (IEO)
The earliest first date SOF runs — and its derived cutoff, 31 August 2026, has passed, so a school cannot still register for the 30 September sitting. The earliest IEO date still open is 27 October, which registrations must reach SOF by 27 September.
- 30 Sept 2026Date 1
- If your school picks 30 September 2026, registrations must reach Science Olympiad Foundation (SOF) by 31 August 2026.
- 27 Oct 2026Date 2
- If your school picks 27 October 2026, registrations must reach Science Olympiad Foundation (SOF) by 27 September 2026.
- 17 Nov 2026Date 3
- If your school picks 17 November 2026, registrations must reach Science Olympiad Foundation (SOF) by 18 October 2026.
- EnglishSilverZone Foundation
International Olympiad of English Language (iOEL)
The schedule lists three dates while SilverZone's own iOEL page still describes a two-date structure. Ask your coordinator which of the published dates the school has actually opted for.
- 21 Oct 2026Date 1
- Registration closes 30 September 2026 (on a schedule the body heads “Tentative”).
- 26 Nov 2026Date 2
- Registration closes 30 September 2026 (on a schedule the body heads “Tentative”).
- 10 Dec 2026Date 3
- Registration closes 30 September 2026 (on a schedule the body heads “Tentative”).
No Class 8 guide on this site yet — the dates above are still verified.Body's own pageChecked 2 Sept 2026 - EnglishIndian Talent Olympiad (ITO)
English International Olympiad (EIO)
- 5 Oct 2026Through school — Set A
- Registration closes 5 September 2026.
- 26 Nov 2026Through school — Set B
- Registration closes 10 October 2026.
- 3 Dec 2026Individual online — slot 1
- Registration closes 30 October 2026.
- 16 Dec 2026Through school — Set C
- Registration closes 10 November 2026.
- 7 Jan 2027Individual online — slot 2
- Indian Talent Olympiad (ITO) publishes no registration cutoff for this paper.
No Class 8 guide on this site yet — the dates above are still verified.Body's own pageChecked 2 Sept 2026 - EnglishUnified Council
Unified International English Olympiad (UIEO)
- 29 Oct 2026Through school — date 1
- Unified Council publishes no registration cutoff for this paper.
- 13 Nov 2026Through school — date 2
- Unified Council publishes no registration cutoff for this paper.
- 27 Dec 2026Online — mock
- Unified Council publishes no registration cutoff for this paper.
- 3 Jan 2027Online — final (direct registration)
- Unified Council publishes no registration cutoff for this paper.
No Class 8 guide on this site yet — the dates above are still verified.Body's own pageChecked 30 Aug 2026 - EnglishCREST Olympiads
CREST English Olympiad (CEO)
A dated practice paper runs on 29 and 31 October 2026.
- 1 Dec 2026Level 1 — slot 1
- CREST Olympiads publishes no registration cutoff for this paper.
- 5 Dec 2026Level 1 — slot 2
- CREST Olympiads publishes no registration cutoff for this paper.
- 30 Jan 2027Level 2
- CREST Olympiads publishes no registration cutoff for this paper.
- 1 Feb 2027Level 2
- CREST Olympiads publishes no registration cutoff for this paper.
No Class 8 guide on this site yet — the dates above are still verified.Body's own pageChecked 2 Sept 2026 - EnglishHumming Bird Education
Humming Bird English Olympiad (HEO)
- 23 Nov 2026Date 1
- Humming Bird Education publishes no registration cutoff for this paper.
- 7 Dec 2026Date 2
- Humming Bird Education publishes no registration cutoff for this paper.
No Class 8 guide on this site yet — the dates above are still verified.Body's own pageChecked 30 Aug 2026
Hindi4 papers at Class 8
- HindiScience Olympiad Foundation (SOF)
International Hindi Olympiad (IHO)
Two dates, not three, and Classes 3 to 10 only.
- 23 Nov 2026Date 1
- If your school picks 23 November 2026, registrations must reach Science Olympiad Foundation (SOF) by 24 October 2026.
- 22 Jan 2027Date 2
- If your school picks 22 January 2027, registrations must reach Science Olympiad Foundation (SOF) by 23 December 2026.
No Class 8 guide on this site yet — the dates above are still verified.Body's own pageChecked 2 Sept 2026 - HindiSilverZone Foundation
Akhil Bhartiya Hindi Olympiad (ABHO)
- 6 Oct 2026Date 1
- Registration closes 30 September 2026 (on a schedule the body heads “Tentative”).
- 5 Nov 2026Date 2
- Registration closes 30 September 2026 (on a schedule the body heads “Tentative”).
- 17 Dec 2026Date 3
- Registration closes 30 September 2026 (on a schedule the body heads “Tentative”).
No Class 8 guide on this site yet — the dates above are still verified.Body's own pageChecked 2 Sept 2026 - HindiIndian Talent Olympiad (ITO)
National Hindi Olympiad (NHO)
School route only, and it is the one row on this body where that matters. ITO's individual online route runs exactly six papers — computer, social studies, general knowledge, English, science and maths — and Hindi is not among them, so a family registering themselves cannot take NHO at all.
- 1 Oct 2026Through school — Set A
- Registration closes 5 September 2026.
- 25 Nov 2026Through school — Set B
- Registration closes 10 October 2026.
- 7 Jan 2027Through school — Set C
- Registration closes 10 November 2026.
No Class 8 guide on this site yet — the dates above are still verified.Body's own pageChecked 2 Sept 2026 - HindiHumming Bird Education
Humming Bird Hindi Olympiad (HHO)
The only Hindi paper on this page a family can register for without a school. Same ₹150, same form, same two-slot choice as maths and science.
- 28 Nov 2026Date 1
- Humming Bird Education publishes no registration cutoff for this paper.
- 11 Dec 2026Date 2
- Humming Bird Education publishes no registration cutoff for this paper.
No Class 8 guide on this site yet — the dates above are still verified.Body's own pageChecked 30 Aug 2026
Exam dates, registration routes and cutoffs on this page were read off each body's own website on the verification date shown beside it. The class each paper is open to comes from our olympiad taxonomy record rather than that weekly re-read — if your child is at the edge of a range, confirm it on the body's own page before you pay.
Named, not dropped
Papers we cover for Class 8 with no verified 2026–27 dates
These are listed rather than omitted. A parent who has heard of one of these and finds no mention of it cannot tell whether we missed it or nobody has published anything — so here is which it is, per paper.
- International General Knowledge Olympiad (IGKO)Science Olympiad Foundation · Social Science
International General Knowledge Olympiad is a general-knowledge paper, mapped to Social Science on this site by curriculum best-fit rather than by the body's own subject label. It sits outside our verified five-subject date calendar, so we do not publish a 2026-27 date for it — check the body's own schedule, or ask your school.
- Smart Kid General Knowledge Olympiad (SKGKO)SilverZone Foundation · Social Science
Smart Kid General Knowledge Olympiad is a general-knowledge paper, mapped to Social Science on this site by curriculum best-fit rather than by the body's own subject label. It sits outside our verified five-subject date calendar, so we do not publish a 2026-27 date for it — check the body's own schedule, or ask your school.
- EduHeal Maths Olympiad (EHF-M)EduHeal Foundation · Maths
Registrations described as open, no 2026-27 exam dates published anywhere. Re-checked on 30 August 2026 — ehfworld.com and eduhealfoundation.org between them carry no mention of 2026 at all. This is the sixth weekly re-check with the same result, and the 30 August run added a finding: the two "Individual Participation" links on ehfworld.com are wrapped in HTML comments in the live page source and render nowhere, so EHF has no live individual-registration path either.
- EduHeal Science Olympiad (EHF-S)EduHeal Foundation · Science
Registrations described as open, no 2026-27 exam dates published anywhere. Re-checked on 30 August 2026 — ehfworld.com and eduhealfoundation.org between them carry no mention of 2026 at all. This is the sixth weekly re-check with the same result, and the 30 August run added a finding: the two "Individual Participation" links on ehfworld.com are wrapped in HTML comments in the live page source and render nowhere, so EHF has no live individual-registration path either.
- ASSET (Assessment of Scholastic Skills through Educational Testing) (EI-ASSET)Educational Initiatives · Maths, Science, English
Educational Initiatives publishes ASSET dates through participating schools rather than on a public schedule, so there is nothing here we could verify against the body's own site. Conceptual / HOTS-biased; not rote. Ask your school whether it runs ASSET.
- ASSET Talent Search (EI-ATS)Educational Initiatives · Maths, Science, English
Educational Initiatives publishes ASSET dates through participating schools rather than on a public schedule, so there is nothing here we could verify against the body's own site. Invitation-only; tests concepts ~2 grades above. Our scope: Classes 6–8.. Ask your school whether it runs ASSET.
Order of play
When Class 8 olympiad registrations close, in order
Earliest first, across the whole season — so dates that have already gone stay on the list rather than disappearing. A conditional cutoff is placed by its arithmetic date so the ordering is useful, and still written as its condition so the date is not mistaken for a published deadline.
- 31 Aug 2026Science Olympiad Foundation (SOF) IEO — English. If your school picks 30 September 2026, registrations must reach Science Olympiad Foundation (SOF) by 31 August 2026.
- 5 Sept 2026Indian Talent Olympiad (ITO) IMO — Maths. Registration closes 5 September 2026.
- 5 Sept 2026Indian Talent Olympiad (ITO) ISO — Science. Registration closes 5 September 2026.
- 5 Sept 2026Indian Talent Olympiad (ITO) EIO — English. Registration closes 5 September 2026.
- 5 Sept 2026Indian Talent Olympiad (ITO) NHO — Hindi. Registration closes 5 September 2026.
- 5 Sept 2026Indian Talent Olympiad (ITO) NSSO — Social Science. Registration closes 5 September 2026.
- 23 Sept 2026Science Olympiad Foundation (SOF) IMO — Maths. If your school picks 23 October 2026, registrations must reach Science Olympiad Foundation (SOF) by 23 September 2026.
- 30 Sept 2026Science Olympiad Foundation (SOF) ISO — Science. If your school picks 30 October 2026, registrations must reach Science Olympiad Foundation (SOF) by 30 September 2026.
Three of the bodies above publish no cutoff at all — Unified Council, CREST and Humming Bird — so none of them appears in this list, and none of them has a date you can miss. If every row here has passed, those three are still open.
Class 8 exam guides
Syllabus, pattern and marks for each paper
Each one carries the paper's own section breakdown, the syllabus mapped to NCERT chapters, and the date it was last checked against the body's site.
Questions parents actually ask
Class 8 olympiads: the questions
Choosing for another child?
Once you have picked a paper, the preparation is the same problem every year: practice questions at the paper's level, on the syllabus it actually tests. That is what OlympAI is for.