Overview
The British Informatics Olympiad (BIO) is the UK's programming competition for school students. It has a first round taken in school and a final round, and the top finalists represent Britain at the International Olympiad in Informatics (IOI).
Who can enter
Students must be under 19 and studying full-time at a secondary or further (not higher) education establishment in mainland Britain. A teacher, such as the head of IT or computing, coordinates entries.
Levels or stages
Round 1
A 3-hour paper with three questions, taken in school. Each question is solved by writing a program in any language on any computer, with some written problems as well. For the 2025 competition, schools chose their own day between 4 December 2024 and 17 January 2025, and had to submit marks by 20 January.
Final round
The top 15 first-round students, plus extra candidates for the European Girls' Olympiad in Informatics team, compete in Cambridge around Easter. The final has written and programming problems on Linux machines with C and C++ available.
After the competition
The four highest-scoring finalists represent Britain at the IOI. In 2025 it was held in Bolivia in September.
Fees
The rules page lists no entry fee.
Preparation tips
Practise past BIO papers, which are published on the official site, and get comfortable writing and testing programs within time limits.
Which programming language should I use?
Round 1 allows any language. The final round provides C and C++.
Can I enter on my own?
Entries go through a teacher at your school or college.