Competitions · Chemistry · Avogadro Exam
The Avogadro Exam.
Waterloo runs three contests a student might enter, and this is the one that does not require you to be strong at mathematics. Forty questions in seventy-five minutes, built on the grade 11 chemistry curriculum, at a low entry cost.
At a glance
What the paper is, and who it is for.
The Avogadro Exam is run by the University of Waterloo each May, and is designed specifically around the grade 11 chemistry curriculum rather than against an open olympiad syllabus.
- Organiser
- The University of Waterloo
- Who it is designed for
- Students working through grade 11 chemistry
- Format
- Individual, in person, 40 multiple-choice questions
- Duration
- 75 minutes - just under two minutes a question
- Rounds
- One. There is no qualifying round and no second stage
- Where
- At an accredited high school, supervised by a teacher throughout
- When
- Mid-May, with registration closing about two weeks earlier
- Results
- Within a week. Teachers retrieve and print results and certificates through the organiser’s system
- Content
- Structure of matter, bonding, reactions, solutions and gases, with some investigative and more demanding questions
- Cost
- A comparatively low entry fee, which is part of the case for entering
The positioning
The Waterloo contest for students who are not mathematicians.
This is the most useful thing on the page for deciding whether to enter, and it comes from the organiser’s own framing.
Waterloo’s other contests are demanding differently
Its mathematics and physics papers ask for logical analysis and computational facility. A student who is capable but not exceptional at either can find them discouraging.
This one asks for breadth, not depth
The chemistry paper requires a wide knowledge of the subject at moderate depth. If you have studied the material, reasonable reasoning gets you to the answer.
Which suits a science applicant who is not a mathematician
For a student aiming at a science programme whose mathematics and physics are average, this is an accessible way to show subject ability that the other Waterloo papers would not.
And it is cheap in time as well as money
A student already taking AP or A-Level chemistry can reach a good global percentile here on modest additional preparation. Few contests offer that ratio.
What is examined
Grade 11 chemistry, with some questions that go further.
The syllabus is deliberately aligned to a school course, which makes preparation concrete rather than open-ended.
Structure and bonding
The structure of matter and chemical bonding - the foundation the rest of the paper builds on, and the area most reliably rewarded by revision.
Reactions, solutions and gases
Chemical reactions, solution chemistry and the gas laws. Familiar territory for anyone working through a grade 11 course.
Plus investigative questions
The paper includes some investigative and more demanding items that go past straightforward recall. These are what separate the top of the field.
Under two minutes a question
Forty questions in seventy-five minutes. The pace is brisk but not punishing, which is consistent with a paper testing coverage rather than ingenuity.
Sitting it
Practical arrangements.
The Avogadro Exam has a short and simple set of requirements, which is part of why schools run it.
At an accredited school, supervised
Candidates must sit at an accredited high school with a teacher supervising while they answer. There is no online option.
Results within a week
Turnaround is unusually fast for a contest of this size. Teachers retrieve and print both results and certificates through the organiser’s system.
One sitting, no progression
There is a single round. That makes it a self-contained commitment rather than the start of a season.
International entrants welcome
The paper draws students from Canada and elsewhere, and the result is expressed as a global percentile.
Preparation
How Hanlin prepares students for the Avogadro Exam.
The efficient approach treats this as an extension of the chemistry course a student is already taking.
Run it alongside your course
The paper is built on the grade 11 curriculum, so a student already working through AP or A-Level chemistry is preparing for both at once. No separate syllabus is needed.
Cover breadth, not depth
The paper rewards knowing the whole course rather than mastering part of it. Preparation audits coverage and closes gaps rather than deepening strengths.
Practise at the real pace
Under two minutes a question is quick enough that hesitation costs marks. Timed past papers build the recognition speed the paper assumes.
Meet the investigative questions in advance
The harder items go beyond recall. Working through past papers is the only way to meet that style before the day rather than during it.
Why Hanlin
Preparation for Avogadro Exam at Hanlin is taught by full-time subject tutors, on a course tier chosen by placement paper rather than by year group.
Programme formats
Five ways this is taught.
Group size is the whole difference between these. It decides how much of the tutor's attention a student gets and how far the course can bend to them, so it is worth choosing rather than accepting.
| Format | Group size | What it suits |
|---|---|---|
| One-to-one | One student | Content, pace and emphasis set by what this student actually needs rather than by a syllabus. The only format that can be rebuilt mid-course. |
| Small group | Three to eight | Opens at three. Frequent discussion, and the tutor can slow down or move on according to what the group has absorbed. Most students chasing a higher award are taught in this one. |
| Class | Eight to twelve | Taught by the subject lead or a medal coach. Less back-and-forth, so it suits a student who will say when something is unclear. |
| Large class | Ten to twenty | For students in the middle of the placement range, and a way to try a competition before committing. Students often move to a small group or to one-to-one afterwards. |
| Past-paper class | No cap | Past papers worked through in sequence in the weeks before the sitting. Free to students already enrolled. |
Course length for Avogadro Exam is set after a placement paper. The gap between where a student is and what the paper asks for is what the course has to close, and that gap is not the same for two students in the same year group.
How it runs
Six steps, four people on your side.
The same process for every student, so that nothing depends on one tutor remembering to do it.
Step 1Pre-course assessment
A placement paper before anything is booked, so the course tier is chosen on evidence rather than on a year group.
Step 2Tutor matching
A subject tutor is matched to the result, and their full background is provided before you agree to it.
Step 3Plan and group
A study group opens with four people on one student: the tutor, a planner, a supervisor and an academic manager.
Step 4Scheduled teaching
The teaching office sets the timetable around the competition date and school term, and teaching begins.
Step 5After-class reports
What was covered, and how the student handled it, reported after every lesson.
Step 6Homework follow-up
The teaching assistant and the form teacher both check that homework is done, which is where most preparation quietly fails.
Free resource pack
Past papers and preparation pack
The same material our own Avogadro Exam students work from. Scan the code, say what you need, and an advisor sends it.
Tell an advisor which competition and year group, and the material comes back the same day. Free, and you do not have to enrol in anything. If we do not already hold what you need, we will go and find it.
- PDFPast papers, every year the organiser has released
- PDFWorked solutions, where the organiser publishes them
- PDFThe syllabus on one page - every topic, and how heavily it is examined
- PDFEntry checklist and the dates for the current cycle
Teaching team
Who would teach it.
Three of the twenty-two tutors on the published Hanlin roster - the ones whose subject this is.
Dr Li
A Fudan postdoctoral researcher with a PhD in organic chemistry from HKUST, a master's in medicinal chemistry and nano-engineering from East China University of Science and Technology jointly with Myongji University, and a first degree in pharmaceutics. College Board-accredited.
Qiu
PhD in organic chemistry from the Institute of Chemistry, Chinese Academy of Sciences, after materials physics at East China University of Science and Technology. College Board-accredited, with published papers on organic small-molecule catalysis in internationally recognised journals.
Shi
Master's in water science and engineering from TU Dresden - one of Germany's TU9 institutes - after environmental engineering at Ocean University of China. A researcher in environmental chemistry at the Helmholtz Centre for Environmental Research, a DAAD scholarship holder, and College Board-accredited.
Where it is taught
Hanlin learning centres.
Teaching runs from Hanlin's own centres in Shanghai, Shenzhen, Chengdu and Hangzhou, and online for students elsewhere.
Talk to an advisor
Everything Hanlin does for Avogadro Exam, in one conversation.
Entry, planning, coaching and the past papers. An advisor will tell you which of these a student actually needs, including when the answer is none of them.
Competition entry and planning
Which competitions suit this student, in what order, and by when - then we handle the registration, including the ones that can only be entered through a school or a centre.
Competition coaching
Taught by full-time subject tutors, on a course tier chosen by placement paper rather than by year group.
International curriculum tutoring
IB, AP, A-Level, IGCSE and the US high school curriculum, taught alongside school and timed around the exam calendar.
Competition past papers, free
A large library of past papers, mark schemes and syllabus breakdowns across every competition on this site. No charge and no enrolment.
Scan to add an advisor
Say which competition or course you are asking about. Replies in Chinese or English.
Or call +86 21 6352 6630FAQ
The Avogadro Exam, briefly answered.
What students and families ask before entering.
Who is the Avogadro Exam for?
Students working through grade 11 chemistry. It is designed around that curriculum rather than against an open olympiad syllabus.
What is the paper?
Forty multiple-choice questions in seventy-five minutes, sat in one round with no qualifying stage and no progression beyond it.
What is examined?
Structure of matter, bonding, chemical reactions, solutions and gases, with some investigative and more demanding questions included.
How does it compare with Waterloo’s other contests?
Waterloo’s mathematics and physics papers demand logical analysis and computational facility. The chemistry paper asks for broad knowledge at moderate depth, which makes it accessible to a student whose mathematics and physics are average.
Where do I sit it?
At an accredited high school, supervised by a teacher throughout. There is no online option.
When do results come out?
Within about a week. Teachers retrieve and print results and certificates through the organiser’s system.
Is it worth entering if I already take AP Chemistry?
That is much of the argument for it. The content overlaps what you are studying, so a good global percentile is reachable on modest additional time and a low entry fee.
Is there a second round?
No. It is a single sitting, which makes it a self-contained commitment rather than the beginning of a season.
Related
Other chemistry contests.
What students commonly enter alongside the Avogadro Exam.
Avogadro Exam enquiries
The Waterloo paper that does not need you to be a mathematician.
It tests the chemistry course a student is already taking, at moderate depth, for a low entry cost. Tell us the year group and what chemistry they are studying, and an advisor will map the May entry.