Competitions · Chemistry · BCCO
BCCO, the British Columbia Chemistry Olympiad.
Twenty-five questions in ninety minutes at the end of May, and the only chemistry paper here whose prize is a place at a university summer camp - the provincial olympiad camp run by the UBC chemistry department.
At a glance
What the olympiad is, and who sits it.
BCCO is British Columbia’s chemistry olympiad, run under the Canadian chemistry olympiad committee. ASDAN China introduced it to students in China in 2019.
- What it is
- The British Columbia Chemistry Olympiad - a provincial competition within the Canadian chemistry structure
- Who can enter
- The China-region entry requirement is given as junior-high years one to three, roughly grades 7 to 9. The rules block separately gives grades 8 to 11 and the introduction describes it as aimed at grades 10 and 11. Confirm with the organiser before entering
- Format
- Individual, written, 25 multiple-choice questions, sat in person
- Duration
- 90 minutes
- Language
- English and Chinese
- Where
- At test centre schools in the China region
- When
- The Monday of the last week of May, with registration closing earlier that month
- What top performers get
- An invitation to the provincial chemistry olympiad summer camp run by the UBC chemistry department
- What it prepares for
- The Canadian Chemistry Contest and the Canadian Chemistry Olympiad
- Scope
- Broad coverage across the chemistry curriculum rather than depth in one area
The camp
What actually makes this one worth entering.
Most chemistry competitions award a certificate. BCCO’s headline outcome is a place somewhere, which is a different kind of prize.
A summer camp at UBC
Strong performers are invited to the provincial chemistry olympiad camp run by the University of British Columbia’s chemistry department - time inside a university department rather than a certificate in the post.
Which is the real value at this age
For a student deciding whether chemistry is what they want to study, a week in a university department answers that question better than a result does.
And it sits before the senior route
BCCO is explicitly designed to prepare students for the Canadian Chemistry Contest and the olympiad that follows, so it fits into a sequence rather than standing alone.
A May sitting
Held on the Monday of the last week of May, which puts it after the April contest and well before the September olympiad - a natural mid-year checkpoint.
BCCO and JCCO
Two junior papers, six months apart.
The Canadian route offers two accessible entry points at this level, and they differ in more than timing.
December, then May
JCCO runs in mid-December and BCCO at the end of May. A student can sit both in one academic year, using the first as preparation for the second.
Similar papers
Both are 25 multiple-choice questions in 90 minutes, sat bilingually. The format is close enough that preparation transfers directly.
Different outcomes
JCCO awards global and national medal bands with junior and senior tracks judged separately. BCCO’s distinguishing outcome is the invitation to the UBC camp.
And a different framing
JCCO is described by its organisers as accessible and high-award-rate. BCCO is framed around preparing specifically for the senior Canadian route.
Preparation
How Hanlin prepares students for BCCO.
A 25-question multiple-choice paper across the breadth of the curriculum rewards coverage and steadiness.
Breadth across the curriculum
The paper samples widely rather than testing one area deeply, so gaps anywhere are likely to be found. Preparation audits the whole course.
Three and a half minutes a question
Ninety minutes for 25 questions is generous, which means accuracy rather than speed is what separates candidates. Practice uses the full time.
Using JCCO as the rehearsal
For a student sitting both, the December paper is the best available preparation for the May one - same length, same format, six months of learning in between.
Aiming at the camp
The invitation goes to strong performers rather than to a fixed award band, so the target is a high score rather than a percentile. That is worth knowing when setting expectations.
Why Hanlin
Preparation for BCCO 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 BCCO 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 BCCO 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 BCCO, 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
BCCO, briefly answered.
What students and families ask before entering.
What is BCCO?
The British Columbia Chemistry Olympiad, a provincial competition within the Canadian chemistry structure. Its distinguishing outcome is an invitation to the provincial olympiad camp at UBC.
Who can enter?
Confirm this one before planning. The China-region entry requirement is stated as junior-high years one to three - roughly grades 7 to 9 - while the rules block gives grades 8 to 11 and the introduction describes the contest as aimed at grades 10 and 11. The three do not agree, so check with the organiser.
What is the paper?
Twenty-five multiple-choice questions in ninety minutes, sat in person at a test centre school in English and Chinese.
When is it held?
On the Monday of the last week of May, with registration closing earlier that month.
What do strong performers receive?
An invitation to the provincial chemistry olympiad summer camp run by the University of British Columbia’s chemistry department.
How does it compare with JCCO?
Both are 25 multiple-choice questions in 90 minutes, sat bilingually. JCCO runs in December with global and national medal bands; BCCO runs in May and leads to the UBC camp.
Can I sit both in one year?
Yes, and it is a sensible sequence. December then May, with the first serving as preparation for the second.
What does it prepare for?
The Canadian Chemistry Contest in April and the Canadian Chemistry Olympiad that follows it in September.
Related
The rest of the Canadian route.
The paper before it, and the contests it prepares for.
BCCO enquiries
The prize is a place, not a certificate.
BCCO sends its strongest entrants to a chemistry camp at UBC, which answers the "is this what I want to study" question better than a result can. The published year groups do not agree with each other, so tell us the student’s year and an advisor will confirm eligibility before you plan the May entry.