Official Rules

Eligibility

• •Open to all high school students (grades 9-12 or international equivalent).
• •Participants must be currently enrolled in a secondary school at the time of the competition.
• •There are no geographic restrictions. Students from any country may participate.
• •The competition is individual; no team entries are accepted.
• •Participation is completely free of charge.

Registration Requirements

• •All participants must register before the published deadline.
• •Registration requires a valid email address.
• •Participants under 18 should have parental or guardian awareness of their participation.
• •Each individual may only register and compete once per competition cycle.

Academic Integrity & Honour Code

The IUPO takes academic integrity seriously. By participating, all competitors agree to the following:

• •All work submitted must be your own. No collaboration with other individuals during the competition.
• •Use of AI tools (ChatGPT, Claude, etc.) is strictly prohibited during the competition.
• •No sharing of competition questions or answers during or after the competition window.
• •Plagiarism of any kind will result in immediate disqualification.
• •The use of unauthorized external resources during the timed competition is not permitted.
• •Violations may result in disqualification, score invalidation, and a ban from future competitions.

Competition Day

• •The General Round is conducted entirely online and completed in a single sitting.
• •The General Round lasts about 2.5 to 3 hours.
• •A stable internet connection is required for the duration of the General Round.
• •Once the General Round timer begins, it cannot be paused or restarted.
• •Finalists complete Round 2 live on a video call with our judges, at a scheduled time slot.