What you should know before appearing for class 6 maths olympiad

As olympiads approach, they tend to create a terror in the student’s mind. There is a certain uncertainty that accompanies olympiads, this rises from the fact that most students don’t know what they should or should not expect from the upcoming exam. The fear makes the students carry a lot of stress to the exam hall and not perform up to their true potential. 

Well, no one should miss out on scoring well because of a few confusions that could be easily eliminated by a little bit more knowledge. 

So what is it that you need to know to be fully aware of what the olympiad is going to be like?

• The syllabus of the olympiad

You must get a hold of the syllabus of your upcoming olympiad, this will help you in getting started on your preparation. Even if you are not able to prepare all of those topics you would still know what to expect from the olympiad question paper. 

The last thing you would want to be is clueless, so you should go through the syllabus and try to prepare as many topics as you can. 

• The format of the olympiad

It is not just the list of topics that is important for your preparation, but the format of the olympiad paper as well. If you have never appeared for an olympiad before, you should ask someone or go online to check what the format is going to be like. 

You should note the difficulty level of the questions, the type of language that is used, and the marking scheme for the question paper. Taking this step can clear a lot of doubts about the olympiad, and make you more prepared for it.

• The OMR sheet

In an olympiad, you would need to mark the answers on an OMR sheet. So you can figure out how to fill it out properly to be prepared for the olympiad. It might seem like an unnecessary step, but it will help you in saving a lot of time and silly mistakes in the exam. 

A lot of different mistakes are made regarding the OMR sheets, students mark two different answers for one question, or get confused and mark the wrong answers. 

To save yourself from committing these mistakes, you can go through an OMR sheet before the exam, you can practice by filling your name, address, or other details on it. This will help you in being prepared for filling the OMR sheet neatly.

• Sample papers

Performing well in an exam can only be achieved by thorough practice. The best way to practice and understand the olympiad would be to practice on a sample paper. Sample papers are practice papers that are based on the same format as the upcoming exam, sample papers also refer to past year question papers. 

When you practice sample question papers, you get an idea of the common questions that are asked. You will also get to know about the topics that are most asked in the olympiad paper. Solving a few question papers will prepare you in the best way for the exam.

There are a lot of different sample papers available on the internet. The sample papers are available from different years as well so that you can understand the most popular questions from different years. You can get the answer key along with the sample paper. You can practice on the Class 6 IMO Question Paper 2015.

To get the best out of the sample paper, you must treat it as an actual test paper. After the completion of the test, you must check the answers too. Checking the answers will let you know which topics you are prepared for. This can help you in redirecting your practice to the topics that you need to focus more on. 

• Time managing skills

You will need to manage your time efficiently during the olympiad, running out of time can cause a huge problem. You must work on your question-solving speed before the olympiad.

There are a lot of ways in which you can increase your speed before the olympiad, one of the ways is to practice mental maths tricks to solve questions. Solving questions mentally will save you a lot of time during the exam. Even being quick in filling the OMR sheet will increase your overall efficiency in the exam. 

So, practice as much as you can to increase your speed for the olympiad.

 How is the olympiad beneficial to the students since its marks are not included in any report card?

Ans.1) Even though olympiad marks are not included in the school report card, they still hold a lot of importance. Olympiads help the students in practising the same topics as their school syllabus. Moreover, olympiads help the students in building their critical analysis and reasoning skills as well. 

Can anyone appear for an olympiad?

Ans.2) There are two levels of an olympiad. For the first level, anyone who registers and pays the registration fees will be eligible to apply for the exam.

For the second level, only those with exceptional performance in the first level can be eligible to apply. Students who end up scoring the top ranks in their schools or zones will get the chance to appear for the second level. 

Hence, there are a lot of ways to prepare yourself for the olympiad. And there is absolutely no reason to be worried or scared for it. Keep in mind the tips that are mentioned above and you will perform great. 

Other than that, remember to stay focused and not get distracted by anyone else’s performance or work. 

You must remember to recheck all your answers after you have solved the paper to avoid any silly mistakes going by. Remember to carry all the necessary things to the exam hall and to arrive at the exam hall on time.