Competitions · Biology · ASOB
ASOB, the Australian Biology Olympiad.
The most generous clock of any biology paper here - a little over two hours, and the questions come with real experimental data to read. Positioned by its own organisers as the step to take before BBO and USABO.
At a glance
What the olympiad is, and where it sits.
ASOB is the biology component of the Australian Science Olympiads, run by Australian Science Innovation with its headquarters at the Australian National University. The series covers physics, chemistry, biology and earth and environmental science.
- Part of
- The Australian Science Olympiads
- Organiser
- Australian Science Innovation (ASI), based at the Australian National University
- Who can enter
- High-school students in any year
- Format
- Individual, written, in person
- Structure
- Section A - about 15 single-answer questions for 30 marks. Section B - three long questions, each broken into sub-questions of varying value, 30 marks each
- Total
- 120 marks, within a 130-minute window
- Language
- English
- When
- A Saturday afternoon in mid-October, with registration closing about ten days earlier
- What every entrant gets
- A certificate recording their achievement
- Award bands
- High Distinction, Distinction and Credit
- Where it leads
- The series selects and trains Australia’s teams for the international science olympiads
What it asks
Interest and invention, more than recall.
The organisers are explicit that memorised content is not what this paper is looking for, and the question design follows from that.
Creativity over memory
The stated emphasis is on a student’s interest in biology and their inventiveness - extending from what they already know to answer something they have not seen.
Questions arrive with data
Many come with a detailed, real setting and a table, a set of experimental results or an electrophoresis gel. Reading the figure is part of answering the question.
Including things you cannot have revised
Some background is deliberately unfamiliar. It is not meant to be known in advance - only understood from the page during the exam.
And figure-reading is the named skill
The organisers single out interpreting diagrams and experimental thinking as what the paper tests. That is closer to laboratory work than to revision.
Where it fits
The paper to sit before BBO and USABO.
ASOB’s value is largely positional, and the organisers make the argument themselves.
Easier than both
Its difficulty sits below BBO and USABO, which makes it a genuine preparatory step rather than a lesser alternative.
And it lands in October
Right when preparation for BBO in January and USABO in April is under way. It is a checkpoint at exactly the moment a student needs one.
With a much gentler clock
A little over two hours, against USABO’s fifty minutes and BBO’s ninety. On a per-question basis this is the most time any biology paper here gives you.
Close to AP Biology in shape
The structure, question philosophy and scope resemble AP Biology, pitched slightly easier. The range is narrower than A-Level or IB.
How awards are decided
Australian students are marked first.
The same absolute-threshold arrangement used across the Australian and British papers on this site.
Ranked on the Australian field
Australian entrants are marked and ranked first, and the award thresholds are drawn from their scores.
Then applied to everyone else
Students from other countries are measured against those marks rather than ranked into a proportion of their own cohort.
Three bands
High Distinction, Distinction and Credit. Every student who sits the paper also receives a certificate recording their achievement.
And no cap on the China region
Because the thresholds are fixed marks, a strong cohort is not competing against itself for a limited number of awards.
The syllabus
Seven areas, with one caveat worth checking.
The published range is broadly the content of a US high-school biology course, with some questions pitched harder.
Cells, genetics and evolution
Cell biology, and genetics and evolution - the areas that carry most weight in every biology competition on this site.
Ecology, behaviour and taxonomy
Ecology, animal behaviour and biological classification, at the level a school course covers them.
Plants and animals - but check the depth
The syllabus lists plant and animal anatomy and physiology, while a later passage on the same source says animal and plant physiology are essentially not examined. Confirm the current scope with the organiser rather than assuming either.
Read against AP, not A-Level
The organisers position the scope as narrower than A-Level or IB and closer to AP Biology. That is the better guide to what to revise.
Preparation
How Hanlin prepares students for ASOB.
A paper that rewards figure-reading and unfamiliar contexts needs practice that looks nothing like revision.
Working from data
Practice uses questions built on tables, experimental results and gels, because extracting the relevant information is where the marks sit.
Getting comfortable with the unfamiliar
Students meet contexts they have not studied and learn that the page contains what they need. This is a confidence problem as much as a knowledge one.
Using the time properly
The clock is generous, which changes the strategy: careful reading pays here in a way it does not on USABO. Practice is untimed first, then to the full 130 minutes.
Treating it as the January and April rehearsal
For a student aiming at BBO or USABO, October is the moment to test how preparation is going. The result should redirect the next three months.
Why Hanlin
Preparation for ASOB 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 ASOB 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 ASOB 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.
Yu
Master's in bioinformatics and computational biology from UT Dallas and a nutritional sciences degree from Wisconsin-Madison. Second author on an SCI-indexed paper from the Tanumihardjo vitamin-A laboratory, and formerly at ABS Global.
Zhang
Master's in cognitive science at UC San Diego on full scholarship, after double honours in neurobiology and behaviour and in cognitive science at UC Davis. Ten years overseas, a perfect TOEFL speaking score, and named an outstanding education scholar at UCSD.
Li
Biology at Emory, biomedical engineering at Georgia Tech, and a bioengineering master's at the University of Pennsylvania. College Board-accredited, teaching from a cross-disciplinary research base and folding research practice into the classroom.
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 ASOB, 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
ASOB, briefly answered.
What students and families ask before entering.
What is ASOB?
The biology component of the Australian Science Olympiads, the series run by Australian Science Innovation that also covers physics, chemistry and earth and environmental science.
Who can enter?
High-school students in any year.
What is the paper?
Section A is about fifteen single-answer questions for 30 marks. Section B is three long questions, each divided into sub-questions of varying value and worth 30 marks each. That is 120 marks in a 130-minute window.
How hard is it compared with BBO and USABO?
Easier than both. The organisers position it as a preparatory step, and its October date makes it a useful checkpoint while preparing for the other two.
What does it actually test?
Interest and inventiveness rather than memorised content. Questions come with real settings, tables, experimental data and figures, and reading those is part of answering.
What is on the syllabus?
Cell biology, plant and animal anatomy and physiology, animal behaviour, genetics and evolution, ecology and taxonomy - broadly a US high-school course, pitched closer to AP Biology than to A-Level or IB. The source is inconsistent about how far plant and animal physiology are examined, so confirm the current scope.
How are awards decided?
Australian entrants are marked and ranked first and the thresholds for High Distinction, Distinction and Credit come from their scores. Students elsewhere are measured against those marks. Every entrant receives a certificate.
What language is it in?
English.
Can I sit ASOB, ASOC and ASOP?
Yes. All three run in mid-October under the same model, so the preparation habits transfer even though the content does not.
Related
The rest of the series, and where to go next.
What students commonly enter alongside or after ASOB.
ASOB enquiries
The one to sit before the hard ones.
ASOB is easier than BBO and USABO and falls in October, exactly when a student preparing for those two needs to know how it is going. Tell us what the student has already sat and an advisor will map the October entry.