OVERVIEW
Hippo International English Language Olympiad (hereinafter referred to as The Olympiad) is open to Primary 1 (7 years old) to Secondary 4 (16 years old) from the whole world. Students participating in The Olympiad will take their tests at an approved venue (state school and schools that are part of the formal education system, as well as private schools.
OBJECTIVE
The aim of The Olympiad is to promote the English language, challenge students around the globe to compete in English language knowledge, and to improve cooperation between teachers. The Olympiad encourages the development of a shared sense of identity and integration, serves as a role model for young people living together as one community.
The main goal is to create and nourish friendly relations, international understanding and a spirit of sporting competitiveness between young people interested in English language from all around the world.
FORMAT OF THE TEST
The Olympiad will run in three(3) rounds namely: preliminary round, semi-final round & final round. The scheduled exam topics are as follows:
Singapore/Hong Kong/Macau/China:
PRELIMINARY ROUND – 22 Feb – 28 Feb 2021 (in Singapore)
SEMI-FINALS ROUND – 21 Mar 2021 (in Singapore)
FINALS ROUND – 19 Sep – 21 Sep 2021 (in Venezia-Jesolo, Italy)*
India:
PRELIMINARY ROUND – 1 Apr – 2 Apr 2021 (in India)
SEMI-FINALS ROUND – 14 May – 15 May 2021 (in India)
FINALS ROUND – 19 Sep – 21 Sep 2021 (in Venezia-Jesolo, Italy)*
CANDIDATES REGISTRATION and FEES
Every participating school needs to appoint one of their staff as The Olympiad person-in-charge officer (PICO). The PICO will be in charge of applications and will need to ensure that all The Olympiad examination regulations are adhered to.
For Hippo 2021 Online Applications, all schools will receive login details for the Hippo Online Platform where they will have to register the candidates by entering the required details. After the registration end date, no further amendments can be made.
AWARDS
PRELIMINARY ROUND
Perfect Score – Award (Full marks) – qualifies as a significant award for IJHS
Gold Award (Top 8%) – qualifies as a significant award for IJHS
Silver Award (Next 12 %)
Bronze Award (Next 20%)
Honorable Mention Certificate (Next 10%)
Certificate of Participation (Next 50%)
SEMI-FINAL ROUND
– Certificate of Participation
FINAL ROUND
– INTERNATIONALLY RECOGNISED CERTIFICATE IN ENGLISH (SCORE OF 50% MINIMUM)
Category
The participants will compete in 9 categories (6 regular and 3 special) based on the Common European Framework. The categories will be as follows:
OLYMPIAD – PRELIMINARY ROUND
The preliminary round will consist of three(3) parts namely:
READING – a test of reading comprehension (MCQ) questions
LISTENING – a test of listening comprehension
USE OF ENGLISH – a test on the use of English
OLYMPIAD – SEMI FINAL ROUND
The semi-final round will consist of two(2) parts :
READING – a test of reading comprehension (MCQ) questions
WRITING – a test of a free-writing task (100-200 words) & 30 MCQ questions
There is only one(1) correct answer to every question. There are no negative marks. Ranking is based on the average number of marks achieved on both reading and the writing test.
OLYMPIAD – FINAL ROUND
In the final round, candidates will be taking a Gatehouse Awards exam, all four(4) skills included. The test samples / past papers are available on http://www.hippo-olympiad.org. The exam level for the final round will be one CEFR level higher than the one in the preliminary round that is the same as the semi-final round test.
In addition to the four-skill GA examinations, candidates take a Use of English test consisting of 30 questions. The results of this test will be used for final round ranking purposes and will not affect the GA examination qualification score.
All candidates need to be accompanied by their English language teacher from their school. Parents who wish to accompany their child(ren), need to make their own travel and accommodation arrangements as the hotels where the students are accommodated are booked exclusively for the Olympiad participants.
The programme of the final round will be available on http://www.hippo-olympiad.org one(1) week before the final round at the latest and will include the Olympiad final round schedule as well as sightseeing options.