A single paper — taken in 120 countries.

The International Astronomy and Astrophysics Competition is the most globally accessible astronomy paper for school students. Three online rounds, three age groups, and a predictable URL pattern for every past paper from 2019 to today.

1 competition 40K+ participants 120+ countries

In This Department

One paper, for now.

Audit

Astronomy · Three Rounds

International Astronomy and Astrophysics Competition

Qualification → Pre-Final → Final.

Three age groups — Junior, Youth, Senior. Founded in 2019. Past problems and solutions confirmed for 2022–2026 with a predictable URL pattern.

IAAC e.V. · April–June →

Future Volume

International Olympiad on Astronomy & Astrophysics

IOAA · the official international ladder.

The IOAA selects via national olympiads (US, China, India, Russia). Coverage scheduled for Volume II, alongside USAAAO.

Scheduled · MMXXVII ⁂

An editor's note

If your country has no national olympiad — start here.

Astronomy is one of the harder subjects to access at school level. National olympiads exist (USAAAO, BAAO, AstroChallenge) but most have a gating mechanism — a regional center, a school sign-off — that makes them difficult for an unaffiliated student to enter. IAAC has no such gate.

The Qualification round is a 60-minute online MCQ test, sat any time inside a one-week window. The Pre-Final and Final are progressively harder. The papers themselves are written in a generous, syllabus-light style — closer to a physics olympiad with astronomical flavour than to a memorise-the-constellations test.

Past-paper coverage

IAAC past problems and solutions confirmed for 2022–2026 (partial 2026). The bulk-download for 2019–2026 is the next planned slice.

— The Editors