Introduction

The British Physics Olympiad is a charitable trust overseen by a committee of trustees. It was initiated in 1979, and has been used as a qualifier for the selection of the UK Physics Team for the International Physics Olympiad from 1983. The BPhO aims to encourage the study of physics and recognise excellence in young physicists through annual physics competitions. In BPhO, all problems are proof-based, so students will need to apply a large range of knowledge, and can choose which question to answer. It’s designed to test understanding and problem-solving skills. Top British candidates will have the opportunities to be chosen for the national team. The “BPhO Round 2” is the final selection for the British Physics Olympiad Team and evaluated by the Department of Physics of the University of Oxford, which is more difficult than the BPhO Round 1. In the UK, only the Top Gold medal winners of the British Physics Olympics (BPhO Round 1) will be invited to attend BPhO Round 2, and the excellent players will be selected to enter the training of the British Physics Olympics National Team.
 
International and British students will compete together for the awards. Please note that international students can not represent the UK national team. However, awarded students will have the chance to participate in the St Catharine’s College, Cambridge Physics Camp or BPhO Asia Camp.
 
Due to BPhO papers being sent to the Physics Department at the University of Oxford for manual grading, global capacity is very limited.

British Physics Olympiad (BPhO)

One of the most competitive physics competitions in the UK

 Top students from around the globe compete together for the top awards

Academic activities officially recommended by Oxford and Cambridge

Questions designed to test scientific reasoning and problem-solving skills required for Oxbridge interviews

Opportunity to be invited to the St Catharine’s College, Cambridge Physics Camp or BPhO Asia Camp

BPhO Round 0

Rules
Language: English
Date: Sept. 30, 2026 (Wed.)
Time: 16:00-17:00 (60 mins) GMT+7, Vietnam Time
Form: Online-based. Students will read the exam questions and put their answers on our examination platform
Format: Individual test; 25 Multiple choice questions
Eligibility: Grade 10 – 12 / Year 11 – 13

* Students possessing British school enrollment status are NOT allowed to register with Geniusstar.
 
Registration Details
Fee: GBP £20 per student (Includes the exam administration, grading, past-papers, certificates)
Registration Deadline: 15 September, 2026

 

BPhO Round 1

Rules
Language: English

Date: Date: Nov. 12, 2026 (Thu.) 120 mins

Form: Online-based with Answer Booklet required. Students will read the exam questions from the exam system and write down their answers in the answer booklet. The answer booklet will need to be scanned into PDF and uploaded through our provided portals/links.

Eligibility: Round 0 qualified students. Students possessing British school enrollment status are NOT allowed to register with Geniusstar.

Format: Individual test; proof-based problems

● Section 1: 18 problems scored with 3-10 points according to the level of difficulty. The overall score is approximately 75 points, but competitors only need to answer problems totally worthing 50 points (If competitors answer problems totaling more than 50 points, then incorrect answers will not be penalized and all correct answers will be scored. But Please note that
the total score will not exceed 50 points for this section.)
● Section 2: 4 problems with several questions for each. Each problem worths 25 points and different questions will have different points. Competitors only need to choose 2 problems to solve.
● The maximum score for the British Physics Olympiad is 100 points.

Requirements: The British Physics Olympiad focuses on problem-solving logic. Competitors must provide detailed steps to prove their answers. Correct answers without proof will not earn points, but incorrect answers with correct proofs will be awarded points based on the detail of the steps shown.

Awards
Global Awards
● Top Gold
● Gold
● Silver
● Bronze I
● Bronze II
*The awarded students have the opportunity to be invited to attend the St Catharine’s College, Cambridge Physics Camp or BPhO Asia Camp. For judging the global awards, British competitors will be ranked firstly by their overall scores, creating boundaries for the top gold, gold, silver, bronze I and bronze II awards. Competitors from other countries will be ranked based on the boundaries, not competing with British competitors.
 
 
Registration Details
Fee: GBP £70 per student (Includes the exam administration, grading, past-papers, certificates)
Registration Deadline: 28 October, 2026

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St Catharine’s College, Cambridge Physics Camp

St Catharine’s College, Cambridge Physics Camp is hosted by St. Catharine’s College, University of Cambridge, and led by Dr. João Rodrigues, a senior physics and mathematics tutor in the Natural Sciences program at the University of Cambridge and the Director of Studies at St. Catharine’s College. The program, based on the Cambridge undergraduate physics syllabus, offers participants the chance to study first-year Quantum Mechanics over one week. It includes six core courses, two lab sessions, guest lectures, challenging tasks, and individual presentations.

Host: St. Catharine’s College, University of Cambridge

Date: August 2027 (TBD)

Location: St. Catharine’s College, University of Cambridge Language: English

Eligibility: BPhO Top Gold and Gold Students

BPhO Asia Camp

The BPhO Camp aims to develop future physicists by offering different experiment-based learning opportunities. These activities will increase students’ interest for exploring physics further. The camp will help improve their key skills in learning physics, such as observation and logical thinking skills. Head coaches from the UK will bring in the most updated learning materials and teaching methods to Asia. Most are experienced physics professors from top universities such as the University of Cambridge and the University of Oxford, as well as head teachers from top high schools. We believe this will become one of the most unique physics learning experiences for students in Asia.

Academic Module:

● Frontier Physics Lectures and Interdisciplinary Perspectives

● Observation and Reasoning in Physics Experiments

● Classic Physics Olympiad Problem Solving

● Computational Physics and Python Programming

● Oxbridge Physics Application Seminars and Mock Interviews

Date: August 2027 (TBD)

Location: TBD

Language: English

Participants: Invited award-winning students in BPhO series

registration form for round 0

Includes the exam, grading, proctor fee, past-papers, certificates.

REGISTRATION DEADLINE FOR ROUND 0: 15th September 2026

Consultation