International Greenwich Olympiad (IGO)

The International Greenwich Olympiad is called an Olympiad, but its central activity is not a timed examination. Students develop a project, submit research or descriptive material and then present their work online or in London. North London Grammar School organises the event, and the category list extends well beyond conventional laboratory science to engineering, computing, energy, health, social science, film, photography, performance and public speaking. That breadth creates opportunity and ambiguity. A project must fit one category, align with the UN Sustainable Development Goals except in specified categories, and be understood well enough for live questions. The official science judging criteria reward a focused question, method, data, interpretation, originality and oral explanation. A large display or an ambitious social claim cannot compensate for evidence that does not support the conclusion. Our view is that IGO is best treated as a project-and-presentation programme with several participation packages, not as a simple medal contest. The online route reduces travel but still carries fees and requires a recorded explanation plus live judging. The London route combines the competition with a multi-day programme whose cost is substantial. Families should first decide whether the project format and feedback experience are worth the work; only then should they compare packages. The word “international” is not, by itself, a reason to spend heavily.