Science Olympiad Foundation (SOF) · Science · Class 6
International Science Olympiad (ISO) — formerly National Science Olympiad (NSO) Class 6: syllabus, dates and exam pattern (2026–27)
Everything you need in one place — the exact NCERT chapters this paper tests, its published exam dates, the registration window, and the full marking scheme. Updated for the 2026–27 session.
Last verified against Science Olympiad Foundation (SOF)'s own site on 11 August 2026. Exam dates re-checked on 24 August 2026.
2026–27 exam dates
Date 1
30 October 2026
Date 2
19 November 2026
Date 3
3 December 2026
Registration: Your school picks one of the three dates above, and registrations must reach SOF 30 days before that chosen date — so 30 September 2026 for the October date, 20 October for the November date, and 3 November for the December date. The school chooses the date, not the family, and once chosen it cannot be changed. Ask your school coordinator which date they have picked and work backwards from that one cutoff.
The deadline is set by your school, not by you
Most parents find the exam date and assume they have until then. The registration window closes long before it, and for some papers it has already started closing. Here is how it actually works.
- Your school registers your child and your school picks which of the 2–3 dates the class sits. The family does not choose.
- For SOF papers, registrations must reach SOF exactly 30 days before that chosen date — and once the school has chosen, the date cannot be changed.
- Most bodies register through the school. These do not have to: CREST (online, no published cutoff), Unified Council — directly for NSTSE itself at ₹350 against ₹150 through a school, and on three online sittings, NSTSE-Online, UIMO-Online and UIEO-Online, at ₹354 each including GST — Indian Talent Olympiad on its individual online route (its own later dates — Slot 1 closes 30 October), and Humming Bird (online, ₹150 a subject, no published cutoff — its two dates are picked as you register). CREST is the simplest of them. SilverZone also runs an individual registration form alongside its default school route; which papers it offers we have not been able to confirm.
Closing next
SOF IEO (English) — if your school picks 27 October 2026
Registrations must reach SOF by 27 September 2026
SilverZone Foundation — Every SilverZone paper
Registration closes 30 September 2026
The body publishes this date but has not marked it final — confirm with your school before treating it as fixed.
SOF ISO (Science) — if your school picks 30 October 2026
Registrations must reach SOF by 30 September 2026
Indian Talent Olympiad (ITO) — School route — Set B
Registration closes 10 October 2026
SOF IHO (Hindi) — if your school picks 23 November 2026
Registrations must reach SOF by 24 October 2026
Or read the full calendar on the site — no sign-up
Every deadline in this box was re-read against the exam body's own website on or after 20 September 2026. Each table carries its own source link and its own date. Bodies do move dates, so check against the body's own site before you act on one.
Exam pattern
How the NSO paper is structured
| Section | Questions | Marks per question | Section total |
|---|---|---|---|
| Logical Reasoning | 10 | 1 | 10 |
| Science | 35 | 1 | 35 |
| Achievers Section | 5 | 3 | 15 |
| Total | 50 questions | — | 60 marks · 60 minutes |
Roughly 60% of questions come from the current Class 6 syllabus and 40% carry over from Class 5.
Syllabus
Science syllabus mapped to NCERT Curiosity (Class 6, 2026-27)
Ch 1. The Wonderful World of Science
Olympiad syllabus label: Science in Everyday Life / Measurement
Ch 2. Diversity in the Living World
Olympiad syllabus label: Getting to Know Plants / Living Organisms
Ch 3. Mindful Eating: A Path to a Healthy Body
Olympiad syllabus label: Food: Where Does It Come From? / Components of Food
Ch 4. Exploring Magnets
Olympiad syllabus label: Fun with Magnets
Ch 5. Measurement of Length and Motion
Olympiad syllabus label: Motion and Measurement of Distances
Ch 6. Materials Around Us
Olympiad syllabus label: Sorting Materials into Groups
Ch 7. Temperature and its Measurement
Olympiad syllabus label: Heat — Thermometers
Ch 8. A Journey through States of Water
Olympiad syllabus label: Water / States of Matter
Ch 9. Methods of Separation in Everyday Life
Olympiad syllabus label: Separation of Substances
Ch 10. Living Creatures: Exploring their Characteristics
Olympiad syllabus label: Body Movements / Getting to Know Plants
Ch 11. Nature's Treasures
Olympiad syllabus label: Air Around Us / Natural Resources
Ch 12. Beyond Earth
Olympiad syllabus label: The Solar System / Stars
The Logical Reasoning section (10 questions) is a separate reasoning spine — verbal and non-verbal reasoning — not tied to the science chapters above.
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Sample questions
Practice questions in the NSO format
Ask us about your child's olympiad
Tell us your child's class and subject, and we'll answer on WhatsApp. A person reads and replies — there is no bot on this number.
- Which paper your child's class and subject sits
- What that paper covers, and how the body marks it
- Which dates and registration cutoffs apply to it
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Related guides
Other olympiad syllabus guides
Science Olympiad Foundation (SOF) · Class 7
NSO Class 7 — science syllabus, dates and pattern
Science Olympiad Foundation (SOF) · Class 8
NSO Class 8 — science syllabus, dates and pattern
Science Olympiad Foundation (SOF) · Class 6
IMO Class 6 — maths syllabus, dates and pattern
Unified Council · Class 6
UIMO Class 6 — maths syllabus, dates and pattern
Keep reading
Guides that answer the next question
Your child qualified for Level 2 — what that actually means
Level 2 means four different things at four different olympiad bodies. At CREST it is the top 55.56% of the class. At SOF it is roughly the top 5%. Here is each body’s published rule, the score it took at SOF last year for Classes 6 to 8, and the two things SOF says about Level 2 that most parents never see.
SOF ISO vs SilverZone iOS: which science olympiad to pick
Two science olympiads, and their registration windows close on the same day — 30 September 2026. But one of those dates is published and the other is worked out from a rule, and the two papers reward opposite habits. Here is the side-by-side for Classes 6, 7 and 8, and what to do if your school offers neither.
Or see every 2026-27 exam date and registration cutoff in one table, or browse all the papers we cover.
Practice these exact chapters, free
Up to 20 olympiad-pattern questions a day free, in each subject, and 200 a day on a paid plan — for Class 6 science, generated from the same NCERT chapters above and written to the shape of the real olympiad papers, then automatically checked before they can be served, the hardest ones re-solved by a second model that has to agree.
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