Frequently asked questions

Any student in Nepal who has completed Grade 12, or who will complete it before the national selection exam. There is no requirement to be enrolled at a university, and no prior competitive programming experience is expected.

The International AI Olympiad sets an age ceiling for competitors. Your date of birth is collected during profile completion and eligibility is confirmed automatically before your registration is approved. The exact cutoff for the current cycle is published with the registration announcement.

Yes. The entire selection process — registration, preparation and the selection exam — runs online. You only need a device with a working camera and a stable internet connection.

Registration for the national selection cycle is free. Should any fee apply in a future cycle, it will be stated clearly on the registration page before you submit.

Every submission is checked by the selection committee against the eligibility criteria and the academic details on your profile. Review normally completes within five working days, and you are notified on your dashboard as soon as the status changes.

Registered candidates get the full preparation library: syllabus notes and study PDFs, recorded lectures, and practice tests that mirror the selection exam format. Practice tests are for self-assessment and do not count towards selection.

Machine learning fundamentals, linear algebra, probability and statistics, and practical programming in Python. The published syllabus is available in the Resources section once you have registered.

The exam is sat online from your own device. Before it begins you complete a system check that verifies your camera and connection. During the exam your webcam feed is monitored, and events such as leaving the frame or switching windows are logged for review by the committee.

Your answers are saved automatically as you work, and the exam timer runs on the server. If you disconnect, reconnect and continue from where you left off — no progress is lost.

No. Flagged events are logged with a timestamp and reviewed by a human panel alongside the recorded snapshots. A single incidental flag does not disqualify a candidate.

Candidates are ranked on the combined score of the objective and subjective rounds. The highest ranked candidates are invited to a training camp, from which the final national team is selected.

Every candidate who sits the national selection exam receives a certificate of participation, available for download from your dashboard once results are published.