Junior Informatics Olympiad (IJIO) — 2025/26 Guide for IP Maths & Physics Students

Download printable cheat-sheet (CC-BY 4.0)

25 Jul 2025, 00:00 Z

TL;DR
IJIO is Singapore's two-hour, four-problem programming contest for Sec 1-2 (IP Y1-2) students. Run by the National Olympiad in Informatics committee at NUS School of Computing, it usually happens in mid-September. Roughly thirty top scorers skip NOI Round 0 and qualify directly for NOI Round 1. Even if your child focuses on Maths or Physics, IJIO prep sharpens algebraic thinking, vector logic and experimental-design skills that reappear in IP weighted assessments.

1 What exactly is the IJIO?

Item	Details (2025 cycle)
Organiser	National Olympiad in Informatics committee, NUS School of Computing
Eligibility	Students enrolled in Singapore schools at Sec 1-2 or equivalent levels
Purpose	Introduce algorithmic problem solving to lower-secondary students and widen the NOI talent pool
Usual date	Third week of September (based on 2023 and 2024 schedules)

2 Contest format at a glance

Feature	Specification
Duration	2 hours
Problems	4 independent tasks
Total marks	100 (25 marks each)
Languages	Python 3.10 or C++17 (no external libraries)
Judging	Fully automated, partial marks for passing subsets of tests
Advancement	Top ≈ 30 qualify for NOI Round 1 without sitting Round 0

3 Yearly pathway

graph TD
  A[August: Registration deadline] --> B[Mid-September: IJIO contest];
  B --> C[October: Results published];
  C --> D[February: NOI Round 1 for top ≈30];
  D --> E[June-July: NOI training camp];
  E --> F[July: IOI team selected];

NUS has followed this timeline since the IJIO's launch in 2021.

4 Why IP Maths & Physics parents should care

IJIO skill	Direct maths/physics crossover	WA pay-off
Loop invariants & Boolean logic	Proof steps in inequalities, set notation	Fewer sign slips, tighter justifications
Array indexing & bounds checks	Coordinate geometry vector components	Cleaner free-body diagrams and SUVAT work
Greedy & optimisation heuristics	Energy-efficiency comparisons	Faster data-handling in Paper 3/4
Debugging cycle	Experimental error analysis	Clear ACE paragraphs in practical reports

Meta-analyses show that structured computational-thinking instruction lifts mathematics achievement by about \(0.4 \space \text{SD}\).

5 Four-level preparation plan

Taster ( < 5 h) - solve one past IJIO Problem 1; try Code.org Hour of Code.
Fundamentals (15-20 h) - complete 20 USACO Bronze problems in Python; practise reading from \(\texttt{stdin}\).
Simulation & maths (30-40 h) - code a kinematics simulator for \(s = ut + \tfrac12at^2\).
Contest rehearsal - sit one full past paper under a 2-hour timer; aim \(\ge 60\%\).

Inline example for power-time estimation:

\[ t = \frac{mgh}{P}. \]

6 FAQ

Is Scratch allowed? No. Only Python 3 and C++17.
Must I be in a computing CCA? No - entry is open to any eligible student.
Does IJIO help DSA-Sec? Yes - it counts under the "Infocomm and Technology" talent domain listed by MOE.

7 Parent checklist

✅	Action	When
◆	Download past IJIO PDFs	Early Term 3
◆	Install VS Code + Python 3.10	Same week
◆	Block out contest Saturday	One month before
◆	Run a mock paper	Two weeks before
◆	Celebrate regardless of score	Contest night

8 Further reading

9 Call-to-action

Parents: If your Sec 1-2 child enjoys logical puzzles, sign them up for the IJIO.
Students: Solve one USACO Bronze problem tonight. Time-box it to 40 minutes and write down every bug you fix.

Last updated 25 Jul 2025. The timeline will be refreshed once the official 2025 IJIO circular is released.