Skip to main content
NC Science Olympiad

Team Size and Composition

For a Division A team there is a maximum of 15 students and a limit of 5 sixth graders on a team.

For a Division B team:  A team may have up to fifteen (15) members.  Because middle schools that do not have grades 7, 8 or 9 are at a slight disadvantage, they may invite any combination of up to five (5) of their last year’s 6th, 7th or 8th grade students to be part of the team. Possible examples/scenarios:

  • A school with grades X-9 can only have 5 students from grade 9 (in their current enrollment)
  • A school with grades X-8 can only bring back 5 students from grade 9 (from the previous year’s enrollment of 8th grade students)
  • A school with grades X-7 can only bring back 5 students from grade 8 or 9 (who had been previously enrolled in that school as a 7th grade student)
  • A school with grades X-6 can only bring back 5 students from grades 7, 8 or 9 (who had been previously enrolled in that school as a 6th grader)

For a Division C team: A team may have up to fifteen (15) members. A maximum of seven (7) 12th grade students is permitted on a Division C team.

Students must choose 1 team per division to compete with for the season.  (e.g.  A student may not be on 2 separate Division A teams that compete on 2 different weekends).  *NC policy – New for 2020 Season

6th graders are permitted to participate on both a Division B team and a Division A team as long as the teams compete on different tournament weekends.

Technically sixth-grade students can still compete on the elementary school team they attended after they moved to their middle school and ninth grade students can still compete on the middle school team they attended after they moved to their high school. While this is allowed, it is encouraged for these students to compete in the school they are currently attending. If the school the students are attending does not have an Olympiad team we encourage them to start one! 

Membership is open to all schools without regard to race, religion, sex, or ethnic origin.

Please contact the State Office if you have any questions related to eligibility of students with special circumstances.