Intermediate & Senior Physics Challenge (IPC&SPC) - 阿思丹国际学术挑战—

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 since 1983.

Intermediate & Senior Physics Challenge is organised by the British Physics Olympiad. It is very challenging, whichcombines basic physical principles with life and aims to improve students' lateral thinking ability and achieve their physical potential. Different from IPC&SPC，Intermediate & Senior Physics Challenge (MCQ) questions are all multiple-choices questions and only available online, which is preliminary to IPC & SPC. Students can participate both. Intermediate & Senior Physics Challenge (MCQ) is about physics and aims to build students' confidence in physics. This challenge is not only for students who are very good at physics, but also for all students who are interested in physics.

Official website: https://www.bpho.org.uk/

Administration

The University of Oxford

Institute of Physics (IOP)

Sponsorship

Rolls-Royce

Event and training

The University of Cambridge

The University of Oxford

National Physical Laboratory

Texas Instrument

Event Name	Event Time	Form	Type	Suitable for grade
Intermediate Physics Challenge MCQ	Feb. 3, 2027 (Wed.) 17:00-18:00	Online-On Campus/Online	Multiple-Choice Questions	Grade 9-10 or other equivalent grades
Senior Physics Challenge MCQ	Feb. 3, 2027 (Wed.) 17:00-18:00	Online-On Campus/Online	Multiple-Choice Questions	Grade 10-11 or other equivalent grades
Intermediate Physics Challenge	Mar. 5, 2027 (Fri.) 17:00-18:00 （60 minutes）	Paper-On Campus/Online-On Campus/Online	Multiple-Choice Questions, Free Response Questions	Grade 9-10 or other equivalent grades
Senior Physics Challenge	Mar. 5, 2027 (Fri.) 17:00-18:00 （60 minutes）	Paper-On Campus/Online-On Campus/Online	Multiple-Choice Questions, Free Response Questions	Grade 10-11 or other equivalent grades
Intermediate Physics Challenge Final	Jun. 26, 2027 (Sat.)	Online-On Campus/Online	Experimental questions	Grade 9-10 or other equivalent grades
Senior Physics Challenge Final	Jun. 26, 2027 (Sat.)	Online-On Campus/Online	Experimental questions	Grade 10-11 or other equivalent grades

Unlike the Intermediate & Senior Physics Challenge, the MCQ Challenge is a new online activity, all questions are multiple-choice and online only and is a preliminary challenge to the IPC&SPC. Intermediate & Senior Physics Challenge (online) The exam is primarily about physics, but some wider extension of physics knowledge is also encouraged to stimulate interest in physics. This challenge creates an opportunity for students to take part in a national physics thinking challenge and to develop their confidence in the subject. The Challenge is not just for students who are very good at studying physics, but for all students who are interested in studying and developing in physics.

Time: Feb. 3, 2027 (Wed.) 17:00-18:00

Location: Online
Language: English
Type: Multiple-choice questions
Qualifications：
IPC MCQ：Grade 9-10
SPC MCQ：Grade 10-11

* Students possessing British school enrollment status are not allowed to participate in China

Awards: (IPC Online and SPC Online will be awarded separately)

• Gold
• Silver
• Bronze

(For Global awards: British participants will be ranked firstly by their overall scores, which help set the thresholds for each award. Subsequently, participants from other countries outside the UK will be awarded on the basis of the thresholds for each award.)

Deadline: Jan. 25, 2027

Language

English

Date

Mar. 5, 2027 (Fri.) 17:00-18:00

Participants

Intermediate Physics Challenge: Grade 9 - 10
Senior Physics Challenge: Grade 10 - 11

* Students possessing British school enrollment status are not allowed to participate in China

Format

Individual test

Type of Questions

IPC: multiple choice questions, short answer questions, Long answer questions
SPC: multiple choice questions, proof based problems

Academic materials

Problems and solutions from the past years for Intermediate Challenge
Problems and solutions from the past years for Senior Challenge

Exam locations

Paper-based in partnering school (online service application accepted)

1、Can the students bring a calculator to GCSE & AS?

Students can use calculators, but not programmable calculators (ones which include 'solve' or 'integration' functions or the display shows more than 3 lines)

2、Refund policy

If, for some reason, the student is unable to attend after paying the fee, please contact us. If you apply before the registration deadline, 25% of the registration fee will be deducted as academic materials and service fees. If you apply after the registration deadline, no refund will be given.