In this blog post, I will examine how South Korea’s Science Olympiad is operated and what factors contribute to its outstanding performance in international competitions. I will also discuss the underlying issues of private tutoring and inequality of opportunity, as well as future directions for improving the system.
What is the Science Olympiad?
In August 2012, the nation’s attention was focused on the 2012 Summer Olympic Games held in London. As people watched the athletes display their fighting spirit after four years of grueling preparation, they shared in their tears and laughter. Just like the Olympics, there are competitions where young scientists from various countries gather to showcase their skills—these are the Science Olympiads.
In various fields of mathematics and science—including mathematics, physics, chemistry, biology, astronomy, computer science, and earth science—international Olympiad competitions are held under the auspices of international organizations and academic societies in each respective field. While the timing varies by subject, these international competitions are generally held in the summer, and the host country changes with each event. Each country sends a set number of student representatives for each subject, and eligibility is determined based on criteria such as age and enrollment in secondary school, in accordance with the regulations of each competition. In 2012, South Korea achieved a remarkable feat: all 15 competitors who participated in mathematics, physics, and chemistry won gold medals, securing first place in the overall standings for all three subjects. In this article, I will discuss what specific circumstances in South Korea led to these results and outline the path forward. Since the format of national and international Olympiads is largely similar across all subjects, I will use the chemistry subject as an example.
How is the Korean Chemistry Olympiad organized?
The Korean Chemical Society operates the Chemistry Olympiad in two divisions: the Korean Middle School Chemistry Competition (KMChC) for middle school students and the Korean Chemistry Olympiad (KChO) for high school students. The Society currently runs both middle and high school Chemistry Olympiad programs, and both the KMChC and KChO are scheduled to take place in 2026 as well. For the middle school division, a written exam is administered once a year to evaluate the scores of applicants in grades 7 through 9, and awards are presented based on their rankings. Taking 2012 as an example, 2,929 students took the exam, resulting in a total of 755 award recipients: 1 Grand Prize winner, 67 Gold Medalists, 147 Silver Medalists, 222 Bronze Medalists, and 318 Honorable Mentions.
In contrast, a major difference between the high school division and the middle school division is that the high school division operates a system called “seasonal schools.” At that time, the Korean Chemical Society divided students into first-year and second-year high school groups and held Winter School and Summer School every winter and summer, respectively. Approximately 50 first-year students and 20 second-year students were admitted at a time, selected based on their scores on a qualifying exam administered prior to each seasonal school. In addition, some students who demonstrated outstanding performance at the previous seasonal school were given priority selection for admission to the next one. At the seasonal schools, students received education for chemistry gifted students through lectures by professors majoring in chemistry at leading domestic universities and laboratory instruction from teaching assistants enrolled in master’s and doctoral programs in the chemistry departments of those universities. Furthermore, at the final seasonal school—the Winter School for high school sophomores—four student representatives to participate in that year’s international competition were selected through theoretical and experimental evaluations. The current Korean Chemistry Olympiad also continues its educational and selection process centered on summer and winter schools, and the selection method for International Chemistry Olympiad representatives has been revised starting with the 2025 selection cycle to incorporate both the final exam and an evaluation of candidates admitted to the winter school.
What is the relationship between science Olympiads and private tutoring?
One surprising fact, however, is that the difficulty level of the selection exam questions for the seasonal schools—as well as the lectures given during the programs—is comparable to some content in the first-, second-, and even third-year undergraduate chemistry curriculum. Is it really possible for students who are only in their first or second year of high school to grasp such advanced undergraduate material without difficulty? Behind this lies South Korea’s private tutoring market. After the perception spread that performance in high school Olympiads is recognized as a so-called “impressive credential” for college admissions in science, engineering, and medical fields, some students and parents began strategically preparing for science Olympiads to gain an advantage over other students in the college admissions process. As a result, numerous cram schools have emerged that teach university-level material to help students achieve high scores in the Olympiads.
In fact, the majority of students preparing for the Olympiads attend at least one such cram school, and by the time national team selections take place, some have acquired more knowledge than first-year undergraduate students majoring in chemistry. Since private tutoring has raised the overall standard of students’ abilities, it goes without saying that competition to be selected as a representative for international Olympiads is fierce. Just like in archery or short track speed skating, it has become a situation where “being selected for the national team is more difficult than winning a gold medal at an international competition.”
What are the systemic challenges behind these outstanding achievements?
In short, the outstanding achievements demonstrated by South Korean high school students at international competitions can be attributed not only to the individual efforts of the students, the support of their parents, and the systems put in place by the Korean Chemical Society, but also to the additional education provided by the private tutoring market. Furthermore, when combined with South Korea’s college admissions system—which utilizes results from international competitions in the student selection process—there is inevitably a difference in mindset between South Korean representatives participating in these competitions and those from other countries.
Although South Korea continues to achieve good results in international competitions, this system is not entirely free of problems. Furthermore, it has been pointed out that the involvement of the private tutoring market in the process of selecting and training students to compete in national-level competitions can lead to adverse effects such as a lack of systematic structure, unequal opportunities, and an increased financial burden from private tutoring expenses. Therefore, it would be worth considering the creation of a new type of Science Olympiad system through close consultation among the various groups involved in the competitions. In particular, the fact that the current Korean Chemistry Olympiad provides separate support guidelines for students from socially disadvantaged backgrounds aligns with the trend toward institutionally addressing such opportunity gaps.
