Q: What is the current status of SJPO 2026? A: The Institute of Physics Singapore (IPS) says the 2026 Singapore Junior Physics Olympiad was held on Thursday 21 May from 3pm to 5pm. School registration closed on 2 April, and individual applications were not accepted. When checked on 19 July 2026, the public SJPO page did not publish a 2026 results notice or result date.
TL;DR The 2026 competition and registration deadline have passed. Entry was through schools only. IPS publishes the syllabus, sample questions, and calculator restrictions, but its public page does not publish the current marking scheme, medal bands, local-student eligibility rule, fee, or results schedule. Ask your school's teacher-in-charge for participant-specific instructions and results communication.
Last reviewed: 19 July 2026.
2026 status at a glance
Item
What IPS publishes
Organiser
Institute of Physics Singapore
Competition date
Thursday 21 May 2026, 3pm to 5pm
Registration deadline
Thursday 2 April 2026
Registration route
Through schools; no individual applications
Calculator rule
Non-programmable scientific calculators allowed; graphing calculators not allowed
Other electronics
Mobile phones, smart watches, and other electronic devices prohibited during the test
Three-page syllabus and four-page sample-question set
Public 2026 results notice
Not present on the SJPO page when checked on 19 July 2026
The IPS page says schools are invited by the organising committee each year. It tells interested students to approach their school's teacher-in-charge.
What the public 2026 page does not establish
The current public SJPO page does not state:
a general local-school age or year-level rule;
a public local-student fee;
the live paper's question count, marks, or negative-marking rule;
medal names, award percentages, or score cut-offs;
a 2026 Special Round;
a result release date or public result list; or
automatic progression to SPhO, APhO, IPhO, DSA, scholarships, or university admission.
Do not fill those gaps with an older circular, a school practice pack, or an unofficial result post. A school circular can contain participant instructions that the public owner page does not show, so follow the circular issued for your own cohort.
Eligibility and registration boundaries
IPS's general page gives one rule that applies publicly: schools register, while individuals cannot apply.
IPS also publishes a separate page for international schools based in Singapore. For that route, participants must study at an academic level equivalent to Singapore Secondary 1 to 5 in the competition year. The principal must approve participation, the school must verify that every participant is its student, and the school handles registration, payment, and invigilation.
Those international-school rules should not be rewritten as a universal local-school eligibility rule. The public general page does not say that SJPO 2026 was limited to Secondary 2 and 3 students.
The international-school page says fees are billed to the school after registration, but it does not publish the amount. It also says late submissions, name substitutions, and refunds for absence were not allowed for that 2026 route.
Official syllabus
The IPS syllabus has seven sections:
mechanics of particles;
mechanics of rigid bodies;
fluid mechanics;
oscillations and waves;
electric charge and electric field;
current and magnetic field; and
thermodynamics.
The document says no question requires the explicit use of calculus, although calculus-based solutions are acceptable. It also warns that questions may use physics not explicitly listed. Higher-level A-Level or university material will usually have associated hints, and one question can combine concepts from different topics.
IPS publishes a four-page resource titled "Sample Questions for Individual Round". It contains 12 multiple-choice questions and an answer table. The examples span mechanics, rotational equilibrium, fluids, thermal expansion, electric fields, optics, and thermodynamics.
This resource is useful for calibrating style and topic integration. It does not prove that the live 2026 paper had 12 questions, used the same marking scheme, or had no negative marking.
Mark every syllabus line as familiar, partly familiar, or new.
Attempt the official sample without looking at its answer table.
For every error, record the missing concept and the step where the reasoning failed.
Rebuild school-level foundations before adding harder competition problems.
Ask the teacher-in-charge for the current instruction sheet before choosing an MCQ guessing strategy.
For school-syllabus support, use the IP Physics hub. For the separate senior competition, use the SPhO guide.
Results and progression
The public SJPO page carried no 2026 result notice or result date when checked on 19 July. This page therefore does not forecast a release window, award list, or Special Round. Participants should ask the teacher-in-charge who handled their school's registration and monitor the official IPS SJPO page.
SJPO and SPhO have separate official pages and school-registration routes. The SJPO owner page does not say that an SJPO result is required for SPhO, or that an SJPO award automatically enters a national training programme. Treat the physics olympiad pathway guide as orientation only, then verify each stage with its organiser.
The organiser also does not assign an admissions value to participation or an award. A DSA school or scholarship provider controls its own current criteria, so do not treat any unpublished medal band as a guaranteed advantage.
Frequently asked questions
When was SJPO 2026?
IPS lists Thursday 21 May 2026 from 3pm to 5pm. The sitting has passed.
Can a student register individually?
No. IPS says registration is through schools and individual applications are not accepted.
Who was eligible?
The general public page does not state one local-school year-level rule. IPS's separate Singapore-based international-school page covers students at an academic level equivalent to Secondary 1 to 5. Ask the local school or IPS for the rule applied to its invitation.
What was the fee?
The public general page does not state an amount. The international-school page says IPS's registration partner bills the school after the deadline, without publishing the amount.
Does SJPO have negative marking?
The public page and sample-question PDF do not state a live marking scheme. Follow the current instruction sheet supplied through the school.
What calculators are allowed?
IPS allows non-programmable scientific calculators and prohibits graphing calculators. Other electronic devices, including mobile phones and smart watches, are prohibited during the test.
Are 2026 results out?
The public SJPO page did not contain a 2026 result notice when checked on 19 July. That finding is limited to the page reviewed; ask the teacher-in-charge for school communication.
What are the medal bands and cut-offs?
The public current page does not publish medal names, percentages, or score thresholds. Do not reuse a previous year's award structure without a current organiser notice.
Does SJPO qualify a student for SPhO or DSA?
The SJPO page does not publish either guarantee. SPhO has its own organiser page and school route, while each receiving school controls its own DSA criteria.
