SOF International Social Studies Olympiad (ISSO) FAQS

The full form of SOF ISSO is the International Social Studies Olympiad.

SOF ISSO is a prestigious annual competition for high school students from around the world who are interested in Social Studies. Participants compete in a series of challenging problems that test their aptitude of Social Studies. The competition aims to test the proficiency of the students in terms of their awareness on History, Geography, Political Science, and Economics.

Schools in India, Bangladesh, Bhutan & Nepal have to pay SOF a registration fee of INR 125 and for other countries, it is USD 11 (including GST) per student / Olympiad towards the cost of the examination.

Students can register for the SOF ISSO International Social Studies Olympiad through their respective schools only. Individual registrations are not accepted.

Participants of Olympiads are ranked on the basis of marks obtained. Hence, after taking the test, students can judge themselves academically at five different levels - within the school, at city level, at zonal level, at region level and above all at International level.

Each student is provided a Student Progress Report (SPR). The SPR analyses the strong and weak areas of the student and also gives a detailed performance comparison of the student vis-à-vis other students at School, City, Zonal and International level. Analysis of the student’s past years’ performance is also provided.

Students are suitably awarded/provided scholarship based on their International, State and School ranking. Prizes are announced annually and include cash awards/scholarships, medals, gifts, certificates etc. Selective International toppers from each class are awarded/provided scholarship at a grand prize distribution ceremony held in Delhi, presided over by eminent personalities. Prizes for zonal winners and school winners are sent to their respective schools. For the year 2024-25, a sum of Rs. 24 Crores was spent towards awards/scholarships, felicitations, scholarships etc.

Students of classes 3rd to 10th are eligible to appear for the SOF ISSO. There is no other eligibility criterion like minimum marks. SOF ISSO is a single level exam.

All the relevant information is sent to the schools registered with us across countries, along with prospectus, registration forms, posters and other details before the exam. The students come to know about the necessary details from their school teachers or through the SOF official website www.sofworld.org or through the SOF facebook page www.facebook.com/sofworld.

Please let us know the name, e-mail ID, complete address of your school along with name and contact details of the Principal. We will send detailed information and registration forms to your School so that your Principal / Olympiad Teacher-in-charge can register your names for the exam.

The syllabus of the Olympiads is the syllabus as prescribed by the CBSE, ICSE and various state boards. The details of syllabus are also posted on the Foundation’s website. Please click following link to access the syllabus ISSO Syllabus.

In general, NCERT books/course books prescribed by the CBSE/ICSE/STATE BOARDS may be referred to for the preparation. We also have following books/testseries/resource material for Olympiad preparation:

The above books/materials related to Olympiad are published by MTG – the official academic partner of SOF. Website:www.mtg.in 

Certainly. This will give you an opportunity to improve your previous rankings, and if you are successful in doing so, you will again be eligible for certificates and prizes. 

You can request your school authority to send your relevant details and fee immediately to us. We will accept it if it reaches us before the last date of registration (usually 30 days before the exam).

Sample Papers are sent to all schools registered for Olympiad exams. SOF website also contains these papers. please refer to the link ISSO SAMPLE PAPERS

For details please click following link: Structure and pattern

Results of Olympiads are declared within 8 weeks of each examination. The results are sent to the schools concerned. The results are also made available on our website. 

Although conducted by the same Foundation, ICSO, NSO, IMO, IEO, IGKO, ISSO, IHO & ICO are completely different competitions. Students can register for all the Olympiads in a year as per class eligibility.

All the important information regarding Olympiads, Seminars, etc., like date, time and venue is available on our website. So it is beneficial for you to visit our site www.sofworld.org and facebook.com/sofworld. 

As soon as we finalize the date and venue of the presentation ceremony, we send out the information to the schools concerned and also share the dates on our website www.sofworld.org and on our Facebook page www.facebook.com/sofworld. So please be in touch with your previous school or/and access our website regularly. 

Please request your Principal / Social Studies Teacher to inform us about the non-receipt of the above. We will send duplicate copies to your school as soon as we hear from them.

Send us the complete address of your school in the following format and we will send relevant information and registration forms to you at the appropriate time.
School Name, Postal Address, School E-mail, Principal’s Name, Phone Number & Principal’s E-mail ID.

Yes.

Please click the following link to know criteria for Ranking.