Science Competitions in Australia for Year 7: An Overview

The main science competitions open to Year 7 students in Australia are the Junior Science Olympiad (JSO), the Big Science Competition and ICAS Science. They differ in difficulty and purpose: ICAS and Big Science are broad and accessible benchmarks, while the Junior Science Olympiad is a more targeted extension pathway for motivated students.

The three to know in Year 7

Start broad, then specialise

For most Year 7 students, the sensible order is to begin with a broad competition such as ICAS Science or the Big Science Competition. These are accessible, widely sat, and reveal whether a student enjoys competition science. If they do — and especially if they find the broad competitions easy — the Junior Science Olympiad is the natural next step up.

How the Junior Science Olympiad differs

Big Science and ICAS are broad and accessible; the JSO is more targeted toward a science olympiad pathway. It is a two-hour online exam covering biology, chemistry, physics and Earth science, and it leans harder on applying knowledge to unfamiliar problems. A student does well to treat JSO as an extension benchmark rather than a first competition. Our Big Science vs JSO comparison covers this choice in detail.

What all three reward

Despite different difficulty levels, the same skills help across all three: confident science foundations, careful reading, graph and data interpretation, and the ability to apply an idea to a new context. Building these gives a Year 7 student a strong base for whichever competition comes next — and for senior science later.

Choosing for your child

If your child is new to competitions, start broad and low-pressure. If they already breeze through school science, JSO offers the challenge they need. Either way, use the result as a signal for the next step, not a verdict. For year-round planning, see our competition calendar guide, and verify any official dates on asi.edu.au.

Our JSO course prepares motivated Year 7 students for the extension step once the broad competitions feel comfortable.

Maths competitions in the same year

Many Year 7 families run science and maths competitions together, since the skills reinforce each other. The Australian Mathematics Competition is the obvious maths counterpart — broad, accessible and sat in August — and the careful reading and reasoning it trains carry directly into science. A student who enjoys the JSO often enjoys the AMC too, and pairing them gives a fuller picture of where a child's strengths lie. The competition calendar shows how the dates fall across the year so nothing clashes.

A note on pressure and pacing

One competition at a time is plenty for a student new to them. Entering every available competition in Year 7 can turn an exciting experience into a treadmill. A better approach is to start with one broad competition the student is curious about, see how they respond, and add others only if the appetite is there. The aim in Year 7 is to build a positive, lasting relationship with hard problems — that long-term curiosity matters far more than collecting certificates early. Self-paced courses (science from A$399, AMC maths from A$199) let families add preparation gradually rather than all at once.

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