Competitions · Research and innovation · CNAP
The Academic Pentathlon - USAP, now CNAP in China.
Five subjects, one theme, and a demanding English reading load for a team of twelve-year-olds. The middle rung of a ladder that starts at three subjects and ends at seven.
Where it sits
Three subjects, then five, then seven.
The pentathlon is the middle of three programmes that share a structure, a theme and a global stage. Reading the ladder is the quickest way to place a student on it.
| Programme | Year group | Subjects | Reading | Modules |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| CNAT, the triathlon | Grades 4 to 5 | Social science, science, art | Lightest | Four |
| CNAP, the pentathlon | Grades 6 to 8 | The three above, plus literature and mathematics | Middle | Six |
| CNAD, the decathlon | Grades 9 to 12 | The five above, plus economics and music | Heaviest | Six |
The reading load is the dimension to look at. It deepens sharply at each step, which is a better guide to whether a student is ready than their year group is.
At a glance
What the pentathlon is.
USAP is the sister competition to the American academic decathlon, built for middle-school students. Each year one theme is developed across five subjects, and every student on a team takes part in all five - there is no specialising. In China it runs as SKT-CNAP, feeding the IAD global stage.
- Who can enter
- Students in grades 6 to 8
- Team
- Three to six students, deliberately of mixed academic levels
- Everyone does everything
- Each student takes part in all five subject areas. Nobody covers one subject for the team
- Subjects
- Social science, science, art, literature and mathematics
- Language
- English throughout
- Reading load
- All-English subject material, developed by a specialist team around the year’s theme
- Modules
- Six, from a timed objective test to a 36-hour team challenge at the global stage
- Stages
- A preliminary stage, the China station, then the IAD global station
- The theme
- One a year, applied across all five subjects. The current season is Our Changing Climate
- Where it leads
- CNAD, the decathlon, for students moving into grade 9
What makes it work at this age
Everybody does all five subjects.
The rule sounds like a burden and is actually the design. It is what stops a middle-school team turning into five specialists who never speak.
No dividing up the subjects
Every student takes part in all five academic areas. A team cannot assign the maths to the strongest mathematician and forget about it.
And teams are meant to be uneven
Members are expected to be of different academic levels, exactly as in the decathlon. Strong and weaker students learn different things from the same process.
So the theme does the connecting
One question - this season, a changing climate - approached through literature, science, social science, art and mathematics. Students hear nature in the literature and trace its causes in the science.
Which is the point at twelve
A student this age is usually being taught subjects as separate things. A year on one question across five of them is a genuinely different experience of learning.
The six modules
From a vocabulary test to a research project.
Only the first is an examination. The rest are why the programme runs over months rather than a weekend.
| Module | Format | What it asks |
|---|---|---|
| Objective knowledge test | Timed, individual | Vocabulary, core concepts and factual understanding across all five subjects |
| Analytical writing | Timed, online, individual | An argued essay of 150 words or more, on a subject of the student’s choice from four |
| Super Q&A | Timed, team | Moving knowledge between subjects at speed - the module a mixed team is built for |
| Theme speech | Team, prepared | A self-chosen topic within the year’s theme, delivered as a prepared speech with questions afterwards |
| The Boya Museum | Team project | A complete project-based learning cycle: settle the research question, explore it from several angles, then a timed display board and defence at the China station, and a research report and board defence at the global station |
| U20 Youth Voice | Global station only | Cross-cultural teams formed on the day, a self-chosen global issue, and 36 hours from briefing to live defence |
The Boya Museum runs across two stations and is a real research project. For a grade 7 student it is usually their first, which is most of its value.
What the programme provides
Five kinds of support, and one of them is feedback on drafts.
The organisers publish what participants get, and it is more than a reading list.
Feedback on work in progress
The core subjective modules require draft submissions, and the committee gives feedback on them. A team that submits early gets several rounds of comment.
Subject introductions on video
Guided videos covering every chapter of each subject, to make the reading go faster and land better.
And explanations of every module
Official video walkthroughs with worked examples, so that what each module actually requires is clear before a team starts.
Plus practice material
Matching exercises, maps, gap-fills, comprehension questions and past-paper simulations - designed to find the weak spots rather than to fill time.
Preparation
How Hanlin prepares a CNAP team.
Ninety thousand words is the constraint that shapes everything else at this age group.
Making the reading manageable
Ninety thousand words of academic English is a lot for a twelve-year-old. Dividing it, summarising for each other and checking understanding beats five students each reading everything badly.
Building academic English deliberately
The vocabulary is the barrier before the content is. Most of the early work is closing that gap rather than learning subject material.
Rehearsing the team modules
Super Q&A and the theme speech are performances. They improve with practice and not at all with more reading.
And starting the research project early
The Boya Museum cannot be compressed. It runs across the China and global stations and needs a question settled months ahead.
Why Hanlin
Preparation for CNAP 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 CNAP 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
Motions and case-file pack
The same material our own CNAP 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 motions and topic areas
- DOCXA case-file template, ready to fill in
- PDFFormat, speaking times and the judging criteria
- 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 An
Mathematics at Illinois Urbana-Champaign with highest honours and the Elizabeth R. Bennett scholarship, then a PhD in mathematics at Johns Hopkins on full funding with the Owen fellowship and the Joel Dean award for excellent teaching. Years of US university teaching, translating high-level mathematics into language students can use.
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.
Tan
Master's in data science from the University of Sydney after a statistics degree at Simon Fraser University, graduating in the top 5% with repeated chancellor's honours; A-Levels at a Cambridge international school, and formerly a data analyst at Tencent. An AMC-accredited coach, a College Board-accredited AP teacher, and holder of a Math League excellent-teacher award.
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 CNAP, 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 Academic Pentathlon, briefly answered.
What students, teachers and families ask before entering.
Who can enter?
Students in grades 6 to 8, in teams of three to six. Teams are expected to include students of different academic levels.
Is this the same as the decathlon?
It is the middle tier of the same family. The triathlon covers three subjects for grades 4 to 5, the pentathlon five subjects for grades 6 to 8, and the decathlon seven subjects for grades 9 to 12. All three share a structure and feed the IAD global stage.
Which subjects?
Social science, science, art, literature and mathematics. Every student on a team takes part in all five.
Can we divide the subjects between us?
No. Each student participates in all five academic areas, which is the point of the format.
How much reading is there?
Around 90,000 words of English subject material, developed around the year’s theme.
What language is it in?
English throughout - the reading, the writing and the speaking.
What are the six modules?
A timed objective knowledge test; timed analytical writing of 150 words or more; a team Super Q&A; a prepared team theme speech with questions; the Boya Museum team research project; and, at the global station, the U20 Youth Voice 36-hour cross-cultural challenge.
What support does the programme provide?
Feedback on draft submissions for the core subjective modules, guided subject videos covering every chapter, official video explanations of each module with examples, the English subject material itself, and practice exercises and past-paper simulations.
What is the theme this season?
Our Changing Climate - approached through literature, science, social science, art and mathematics rather than as a science topic.
What comes next?
CNAD, the academic decathlon, for students moving into grade 9. It adds economics and music, and the reading load rises to about 400,000 words.
Related
The rest of the family, and where to go next.
The three tiers and what students enter alongside them.
CNAP enquiries
Ninety thousand words, five subjects, one question.
The pentathlon is the middle rung, and the reading load is a better guide to readiness than a year group is. Tell us what the students read now and an advisor will say honestly whether the triathlon or the pentathlon is the right start.