About the Indian Computing Olympiad
The Indian Computing Olympiad is a nationwide competition organized annually by IARCS. The goal of the competition is to identify school students with outstanding skills in algorithms and computer programming.
The Indian Computing Olympiad is used to select the team of four students to represent India at the International Olympiad for Informatics (IOI). IOI is one of the twelve international Science Olympiads held annually. Other prominent Science Olympiads include Mathematics, Physics, Chemistry, Biology and Astronomy.
Eligibility
The Indian Computing Olympiad is open to all school students across the country, from any school board.
Any student registered in school upto class 12 during the academic year 2023-2024 is eligible to take part in ICO during 2023-2024.
Stages
The first round of the Indian Computing Olympiad is in two parts.
- The Zonal Informatics Olympiad (ZIO) and Zonal Computing Olympiad (ZCO) is a programming exam held at centres across the country.
- The second round, the Indian National Olympiad in Informatics (INOI) involves programming. The only programming language allowed for INOI is C++. INOI-2024 will be held in January–February, 2024.
- Approximately 30 students are selected from INOI for the IOI Training Camp (IOITC).
Incentives for students
- Chennai Mathematical Institute offers direct admission to students who win gold/silver medals at INOI or are selected for IOITC in Class 11 or 12
- IIIT Delhi offers bonus points to students selected for INOI and IOITC.
- IIIT Hyderabad offers admission via the Olympiad category to students selected for IOITC.
- IIT Gandhinagar offers admission via the Olympiad category to students selected for IOITC.
Exam details
- ZCO-2024 is a programming test. The languages allowed for ZCO-2024 are C, C++, Java and Python. Details about compilers, IDEs and other aspects of the contest environment will be announced soon.
- The syllabus for ZCO is the list of Basic Topics in the ICO Online Study Material
- Previous question papers and solutions are available in the ICO Archives.
- You can also solve some past ZCO questions online at CodeChef's ZCO Practice site.
Exam details
Zonal Computing Olympiad, 2024 (ZCO-2024)
The Zonal Computing Olympiad, 2024 (ZCO-2024) will be held from 2:00 pm to 5:00 pm on Sunday, 7 January, 2024 at centres across the country.
Exam centres
Centres for ZCO-2024 will be organized at the following cities.
Ahmedabad, Allahabad, Bangalore, Bhopal, Chandigarh, Chennai, Cochin, Coimbatore, Delhi NCR, Guwahati, Gwalior, Hyderabad, Indore, Jaipur, Kanpur, Kolkata, Kota, Lucknow, Mangalore, Mumbai region, Nagpur, Patna, Pune, Raipur, Ranchi, Thiruvananthapuram, Visakhapatnam
Individual registration
- To register, use this link.
- The registration fee is Rs 472 (Rs 400 + GST), to be paid online (internet banking, debit card, credit card, UPI).
- Registration for ZCO-2024 is open till 29 December, 2023.
- Admit cards will be available approximately 5 days before the exam.
Bulk registration
- Bulk registration is only available for registering 10 or more participants at the same time. For details, please write to ico@iarcs.org.in.
