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Arrangements for Round 1 and Round 2 tests

Rounds 1 and 2 are held in schools, so the arrangements are the responsibility of the teacher. UKLO’s requirements vary according to the level:
  • Round 1 Advanced and Round 2: strict, like GCSE or A-level
  • Round 1 Breakthrough, Foundation or Intermediate: relaxed
Round 1 Advanced and Round 2
These are high-stakes tests which lead to the selection of the teams that the UK sends to the International Linguistics Olympiad, so
  • The time allowed should be strictly adhered to:
    • 2.5 hours for Advanced
    • 3.5 hours for Round 2
    • Both periods should be continuous.
  • The room used should be quiet and free of distractions.
  • The competitors should be invigilated by an adult, and should not have access to the internet or to mobile phones.
  • The competitors must work strictly alone and should have separate desks or tables so they can’t see each other’s work.
  • Each competitor should have a copy of the test material, and should have access to spare sheets of paper.
  • Competitors should put their name on each sheet of the answer paper.
  • At the end of the competition, all the material, including the question paper, should be collected in. (You may want to keep the question papers so that you can give them back once the material is generally released.)
  • As soon as possible after the end of the test, scan all the answer sheets and (for Advanced) upload them to the portal or (for Round 2) upload them to a Dropbox address which we will provide when we send out the test material.
Round 1 Breakthrough, Foundation and Intermediate
This is a low-stakes test where the main point is the experience.
  • Allow 1.5 hours for the 3-problem test of Breakthrough and  2 hours for the two 4-problem tests  (but vary this as you see fit).
  • Allow competitors to work in teams of 2-4. When recording scores, treat each competitor as a separate individual and give all competitors in a team the same score.
  • Allow competitors to talk to others in their team, but not to members of other teams.
  • Decide whether to provide a copy of the test material for each competitor or for each team. Allow each team to fill in a single answer paper, provided all the team members’ names are on the paper.