National OLYMPIAD KEY DATES AND MILESTONES
Schools are invited to register their interest
Schools and organisations serving high school learners are invited to register their interest to participate. A promotional flyer is available in the section below for downloading, printing and sharing.
Send an email to info@saaio.org before 15 Dec 2025 if you have any queries or require support.
You may skip this step and proceed directly to registration step.
School registration & participant self-registration
The registration window is currently open. Schools may register several students using the bulk registration template available on the site (https://saaio.org)
The closing date for bulk school registrations will be the 17th January 2026.
Individual registrations by participants/parents/educators will be accepted on the Google form until 6th February. The first round will close on 7th February 2026.
Rounds 1 & 2 (Participation windows extended)
Format: Multiple-choice questions (MCQ)
Assessment: Assess participants’ foundational understanding of artificial intelligence concepts, machine learning and problem solving. Theory-based, this round is designed to evaluate general knowledge and comprehension of key AI principles and and applications of AI and includes logic, sequencing and analytical problems — no coding required!
Participants scoring a minimum of 50% in round 1 will progress to round 2.
Round 1: Open from 1 December 2025 to 7th February 2026
Round 2: Open from 10 to 17 February 2026
Participants may complete their 1–2 hour online test at any time during the respective round’s participation window.
Round 3
Format: MCQ and a Practical Submission
Assessment: Theory and practical submission, requires the ability to analyse data.
Round 3 takes place from 20 February to 2 March. Participants can make their submissions online any time during the round 3 participation window.
National Finals
Format: Multi-round MCQ and Practical Submissions
Assessment: Theory and practical submissions and includes programming tasks.
The national finals date is TBC and will take place towards end March/beginning of April 2026.
Final Results
The results of the SAAIO national finals will be published in April 2026.
International Competitions
The shortlisted participants and training schedule for international competitions will be announced in April 2026.
Training typically takes place over a number of weekend online camps and at least 1 on-site training camps.