Asian Physics Olympiad (APhO) — What IP Parents & Students Should Know
Download printable cheat-sheet (CC-BY 4.0)05 Aug 2025, 00:00 Z
> **TL;DR**
> The **Asian Physics Olympiad (APhO)** is Asia's highest-level secondary-school physics contest.
> Each May, ~200 teens from ~30 nations sit one \\(5 \space \text\{h\}\\) **theory** and one \\(5 \space \text\{h\}\\) **experimental** paper; medals follow a strict "top 8-17-25 %" cut-off rule. Singapore selects **8** finalists through the National Physics Olympiad → SPOT training camp pathway, and those Olympiad skills transfer directly to IP topics like vectors, SHM and E-fields.
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## 1 What exactly is APhO?
The APhO was founded in 1999 by Nobel-laureate-to-be Prof. Takaaki Kajita and first held in Jakarta in May 2000.
It mirrors the International Physics Olympiad but limits participation to Asian & Pacific states.
Each delegation sends **up to eight students** plus two leaders.
### 1.1 Paper structure
* **Theory paper:** three multipart questions, \\(5\\space \text\{h\}\\).
* **Experiment paper:** two lab tasks, \\(5\\space \text\{h\}\\).
Both scripts are moderated and double-marked according to statutes.
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## 2 How medals are decided
The statutes fix percentage bands:
\\[
\text\{Gold\} : \le 8\\%,\quad
\text\{Silver\} : 8\\%-25\\%,\quad
\text\{Bronze\} : 25\\%-50\\%,\quad
\text\{Honourable Mention\} : \>50\\% \space (\text\{above median\}).
\\]
That means roughly 1 in 12 contestants earn gold, a harsher ratio than many maths Olympiads.
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## 3 Recent & upcoming hosts
| **Year** | **Host city** | **Notable stats** |
| --- | --- | --- |
| **2022** | Virtual, India | 28 countries, Singapore 5 medals |
| **2023** | Ulaanbaatar, Mongolia | 27 countries, SG ranked #3 overall |
| **2024** | Kampar, Malaysia | 230 students, first on-site after pandemic |
| **2025** | Riyadh, Saudi Arabia | Announced May 2025, 240 projected participants |
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## 4 Singapore's road to APhO
1. **Singapore Physics Olympiad (SPhO)** in November (~1 500 JC/IP pupils).
2. Top ~40 join the **SPOT national training team** (Dec-Mar).
3. After two further tests, the best **8** form Team Singapore for APhO in May.
For IP students, the gateway is a solid distinction in Y3/Y4 school Olympiad CCA or the SPhO "Open" paper.
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## 5 Why APhO physics boosts IP grades
| **APhO staple** | **Mirrors IP/H2 concept** | **WA link** |
| --- | --- | --- |
| Relativistic kinematics | Circular motion energy methods | Sec 3 IP WA 2 |
| Calorimetry lab with sensors | H2 Paper 4 uncertainty table | JC1 Term 2 practical |
| Non-uniform B-fields | Topic 17 Electromagnetic Forces | JC2 Promo |
Training exposes pupils to **multi-step free-body diagrams, error propagation and vector calculus** — exactly the marks that SEAB uses to stretch distinction bands in Physics WAs.
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## 6 Tips for parents & students
1. **Start early:** join school Olympiad club by Sec 2 so SPhO notation (\\(\sigma\\), \\(\varepsilon\\), \\(\nabla\\)) is familiar.
2. **Leverage tuition:** ask your IP tutor for *past APhO lab* snippets — they double as killer practical drills.
3. **Balance load:** Olympiad prep peaks Feb-Apr; sync with IP WA calendar to avoid burnout.
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## 7 Further reading
* [APhO official site](https://www.apho.org)
* [APhO 2024 Malaysia handbook](https://apho2024.utar.edu.my/)
* [APhO statutes (2023)](https://apho2023.edu.mn/statutes.pdf)
* [IPhO vs APhO comparison](https://olympiad.org/physics/overview)
* [SPhO information page](https://www.sps.org.sg/competitions/spho)
* [MOE Saudi announcement 2025](https://www.moe.gov.sa/en/mediacenter/MOEnews/Pages/news2_05052025.aspx)
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### Call-to-action
> **Parents:** slot a 60-min *Olympiad physics sampler* before WA 1 — it previews vectors, SHM and error bars.
> **Students:** download three APhO theory questions tonight, annotate which IP topic each line connects to, and try one part-question under \\(20\\space \text{min}\\) speed.
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