Schedule
High-School Division
Middle-School Division
Eligibility and Restrictions
High-School Division
Applicants must meet all of the following requirements:
- Be a national of the Republic of Korea.
- Be 20 years of age or younger as of July 1, 2027 (born on or after July 2, 2006).
- Have been enrolled in an educational institution at some point on or after December 1, 2026.
- Applicants who are not currently enrolled must not have graduated from high school or obtained an equivalent qualification as of December 1, 2026, and must be pursuing an educational program leading to such a qualification.
- Be eligible to represent the Republic of Korea at IOAI 2027 or APOAI 2027.
- Be able to participate in the national team selection process and training program.
- Be able to attend the entire official schedule of IOAI 2027 or APOAI 2027.
Exemption from the Stage 1 review for the High-School Division is limited to:
- IOAI 2026 national team members.
- Candidates who advanced to the KOAI 2026 High-School Division national team selection round.
- KOAI 2026 Middle-School Division Grand Prize or Gold Prize winners.
Middle-School Division
Applicants must meet all of the following requirements:
- Be enrolled in middle school in 2027 or be a youth with an equivalent status (born between 2012 and 2014, inclusive; students who have entered high school are not eligible).
- Out-of-school youth, non-enrolled applicants, and students attending international schools, foreign schools, or unaccredited schools are subject to the same birth-year restriction (2012–2014).
- Applicants who have passed the middle-school equivalency examination are not eligible.
- Note: Students seeking to participate in the International Olympiad in Artificial Intelligence must apply to the High-School Division.
Stage 1 Document Review Criteria
Required Documents
- Copy of school records
- Students in high-school grade 1 or below must submit their middle-school records.
- Students in high-school grades 2 and 3 must submit their high-school records.
- Applicants unable to obtain official school records may instead submit a transcript from their current school or an equivalency examination score report, etc.
- Personal statement download form
- Question 1. Describe your motivation for applying for selection to the International Olympiad in Artificial Intelligence. (200 characters maximum)
- Question 2. Describe your learning experiences in artificial intelligence or information science, the efforts you have made, and your strengths and achievements in these fields. (400 characters maximum)
- Question 3. Describe an experience in which you collaborated with other team members to solve a problem or achieve a common goal. (400 characters maximum)
- AI Activity Portfolio
- Using a free format, compile projects, competition awards, relevant learning experiences, etc. in artificial intelligence or information science and submit them as a single website, such as Notion, GitHub Pages, or Google Docs.
Review Criteria
Stage 2 Online Written Examination and Coding Test
Test Structure
- Session 1: Both divisions will be tested on the full scope of Subjects 1–4 in the syllabus (80 multiple-choice questions and 10 written-response questions; 3 hours; 1,000 points total).
- Session 2: Both divisions will be tested on the full scope of Subjects 1–4 in the syllabus (2 coding questions; 3 hours; 500 points per question).
Recommended Study Materials
- Sample written examination questions
- Syllabus
- Kaggle Learn
- PyTorch Tutorials
- Stanford CS231n: Deep Learning for Computer Vision
- Stanford CS224n: Natural Language Processing with Deep Learning
- Dive into Deep Learning
- Deep Learning Book (Ian Goodfellow et al.)
- Deep Learning with Python
- Practical Deep Learning for Coders
- Google Machine Learning Crash Course
Accepted Identification Documents
Please refer to the Accepted Identification Documents page.
APOAI / IOAI National Team Selection: In-Person Interview and Coding Test
Approximately the top 10 candidates based on Stage 2 scores will be invited to an in-depth interview and coding test. Four final team members and one reserve will be selected.
APOAI National Team Selection Schedule
Saturday, February 20, 2027
IOAI National Team Selection Schedule
Tentatively scheduled for mid-March 2027
Interview Format
- Conducted by a panel of experts from academia and industry.
- Individual in-depth interviews (conducted in a combination of Korean and English).
- AI coding test based on the syllabus.
Evaluation Criteria
Awards (Planned)
High-School Division
Awards will be determined based on the Stage 2 online written examination and coding test.
Approximately the top 10 candidates will advance to the national team selection round and receive an exemption from the Stage 1 document review of the KOAI High-School Division held within one year (KOAI 2028).
Middle-School Division
Grand Prize and Gold Prize winners will receive an exemption from the Stage 1 document review of the KOAI High-School Division held within two years (KOAI 2028 and KOAI 2029).
Registration Fee Refund Policy
To request a refund, please email koai@kitpa.org with the name, phone number, email address, school, registration division, and bank account for the refund provided during registration. We will assist you with the cancellation.
- A full (100%) refund is available for requests submitted within seven days, calculated from 00:00 on the registration date.
- High-School Division example: If payment is made at 17:00 on December 15, the refund deadline is 23:59 on December 22.
- High-School Division example: If payment is made at 17:00 on January 5, the refund deadline is 17:59 on January 8.
- Middle-School Division example: If payment is made at 17:00 on December 15, the refund deadline is 23:59 on December 22.
- Middle-School Division example: If payment is made at 18:00 on January 20, the refund deadline is 23:59 on January 22.
Inquiries
Telephone inquiries regarding the competition are not accepted.
Email inquiries: KITPA Education Planning Division, KOAI Organizing Committee, koai@kitpa.org
KakaoTalk inquiries: KITPA KakaoTalk Channel (open chat)
KakaoTalk inquiries: KITPA KakaoTalk Channel (open chat)