SOF ISSO Class 7 sample paper, 2026–27
What is actually on the SOF ISSO Class 7 paper for 2026–27: the sections the body itself publishes, how many questions each one carries and what each is worth — read off the body's own site, and stamped with the date we last checked it.
Last verified against Science Olympiad Foundation (SOF)’s own site on 29 September 2026.
Where this stands
Is there a paper to download?
No — OlympAI does not publish a practice paper for this exam. OlympAI’s question bank covers maths, science and English. We hold no social science questions yet, so there is no social science paper to give you — for this body or any other.
The paper
What the body's own paper looks like
| Section | Questions | Marks each |
|---|---|---|
| Section-1 — Social Studies | 45 | 1 |
| Section-2 — Achievers Section | 5 | 3 |
| Total | 50 | 60 marks · 60 minutes |
Three things in this table are worth planning around, and the first one is not in the table at all. SOF ISSO is a ONE-LEVEL exam. SOF says so three times on its own site — twice on the ISSO participation page ("The SOF International Social Studies Olympiad is a single-level exam" and again "SOF ISSO is a single level exam"), and once under its own exam-schedule table, where the note naming which papers get a second level lists SOF IEO, SOF ISO and SOF IMO and then says SOF ISSO, SOF IGKO, SOF ICO, SOF IHO and SOF ICSO will be single level exams. IMO, ISO and IEO all have a second level; this paper does not, so there is no qualifying bar to aim at and the score on the day is the whole result. Second, the Achievers Section is 5 questions at 3 marks: a tenth of the questions carrying a quarter of the marks, and SOF names no topics of its own for it — its syllabus page describes it as higher-order thinking questions on the syllabus of Section 1, so it rewards depth on the same material rather than a wider one. Third, and this is what decides how a family should prepare, Section 1 is 45 of the 50 questions at one mark each. There is no specialist weighting to game: history, geography, civics and economics are not separated at all until Class 9, where SOF splits the paper into four named subject sections. Three more of SOF's own statements about how it runs: the medium is English, it is held during school hours, and the question papers follow the syllabi of boards including CBSE, ICSE/ISC and the state boards. One presentational note, so the table is not read as a running order: SOF's own pattern table lists the Achievers Section first because it numbers sections by PRIORITY, while its participation page numbers the same two as Section-1 Social Studies and Section-2 Achievers Section in the order shown above. Same two sections and the same marks, two orderings. One caution about a fourth SOF page, recorded because a parent will find it: the ISSO overview page describes the syllabus as covering "forest, gender, religion and caste, money and credit, and print culture". Those are Class 10 topics and none of them appears on the Class 6, 7 or 8 syllabus list SOF publishes. Read the class syllabus page, not the overview.
What it covers: Social Science for Class 7
Ch 1. Geographical Diversity of India
Olympiad syllabus label: Climate and Geographical Diversity of India (SOF folds chapters 1 and 3 into one name)
Ch 2. Understanding the Weather
Olympiad syllabus label: Understanding the Weather
Ch 3. Climates of India
Olympiad syllabus label: Climate and Geographical Diversity of India (SOF folds chapters 1 and 3 into one name)
Ch 4. New Beginnings: Cities and States
Olympiad syllabus label: Cities, States and the Rise of Empires (SOF folds chapters 4 and 5 into one name)
Ch 5. The Rise of Empires
Olympiad syllabus label: Cities, States and the Rise of Empires (SOF folds chapters 4 and 5 into one name)
Ch 6. The Age of Reorganisation
Olympiad syllabus label: The Age of Reorganisation
Ch 7. The Gupta Era: An Age of Tireless Creativity
Olympiad syllabus label: The Gupta Era: A Legacy of Art, Science, and Literature
Ch 8. How the Land Becomes Sacred
Olympiad syllabus label: India - A Sacred Land
Ch 9. From the Rulers to the Ruled: Types of Governments
Olympiad syllabus label: The State and the Types of Governments (SOF folds chapters 9 and 18 into one name)
Ch 10. The Constitution of India — An Introduction
Olympiad syllabus label: The Constitution of India
Ch 11. From Barter to Money
Olympiad syllabus label: Barter, Money and the Banks (SOF folds chapters 11 and 20 into one name)
Ch 12. Understanding Markets
Olympiad syllabus label: Understanding Markets
Ch 13. The Story of Indian Farming
Olympiad syllabus label: India's Agricultural Journey
Ch 14. India and Her Neighbours
Olympiad syllabus label: India and Its Neighbouring Countries
Ch 15. Empires and Kingdoms: 6th to 10th Centuries
Olympiad syllabus label: Empires and Kingdoms: 6th to 12th Century (SOF folds chapters 15 and 16 into one name)
Ch 16. Turning Tides: 11th and 12th Centuries
Olympiad syllabus label: Empires and Kingdoms: 6th to 12th Century (SOF folds chapters 15 and 16 into one name)
Ch 17. India: A Home to Many
Olympiad syllabus label: Not named anywhere on SOF’s Class 7 ISSO list
Ch 18. The State, the Government and You
Olympiad syllabus label: The State and the Types of Governments (SOF folds chapters 9 and 18 into one name)
Ch 19. Infrastructure: Engine of India's Development
Olympiad syllabus label: Infrastructure: Lifeline of India's Development
Ch 20. Banks and the Magic of Finance
Olympiad syllabus label: Barter, Money and the Banks (SOF folds chapters 11 and 20 into one name)
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