SOF Olympiads · IMO · ISO · ICSO · Logical Reasoning

The Olympiad section nobody is taught

The IMO paper opens with fifteen questions that aren't in any school syllabus.

Logical Reasoning is Section 1 of the paper and a quarter of the marks. SOF's own class syllabus names it simply "Verbal and Non-Verbal Reasoning" and lists no chapters under it — because there aren't any. That is exactly why it can be trained.

For students in Classes 5 to 10 sitting SOF IMO, ISO or ICSO — and for the parents helping them prepare.

Fifteen of the fifty questions, and they come first. SOF publishes a separate reasoning workbook for this one section — because it isn't taught anywhere else. Source: SOF, Pattern of Questions and Marking Scheme, and the class-wise IMO syllabus.

Logical Reasoning in IMO, Classes 5–10

15
questions — Section 1 of the paper
25%
of the marks on the paper
60 min
for all fifty questions
~72 sec
per question, if you use every second
A tree growing inside a mind Why start now

Everything else on the paper is taught. This part isn't.

The maths on an olympiad paper is the student's own syllabus — met in class, practised at home, revised from the textbook. Then the paper begins with a section on patterns, figures and relationships that no class covers and no textbook explains.

That section is a skill, not a subject. It grows the way skills grow — a little each day, spread over months — and it doesn't fade the week after the exam, because it was never memorised in the first place.

It is also the same thinking the NMMS Mental Ability paper tests, and the same thinking every reasoning section from Class 8 onwards keeps asking for. Worth starting early, for reasons much larger than one olympiad.

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What · the exam

Fifty questions. Fifteen of them are a skill.

Three sections of the IMO paper are the class syllabus in another form. One is not taught anywhere.

The school half

Sections 2, 3 and 4 · the syllabus

35 questions · 45 marks
  • Mathematical Reasoning — 20 questions
  • Everyday Mathematics — 10 questions
  • Achievers Section — 5 questions, 3 marks each
  • All of it drawn from the class syllabus
Revised the ordinary way — class textbook, SOF's own sample papers.
The trained half

Section 1 · Logical Reasoning

15 questions · 15 marks · first on the paper
  • Series completion, patterns and analogies
  • Direction sense, ranking and time sequence
  • Mirror images, embedded figures, cubes and dice
  • Coding, mathematical operations, analytical reasoning
SOF's syllabus calls it "Verbal and Non-Verbal Reasoning". There is no chapter for it.
How · train the section

A section with no textbook is trained, not revised.

You can't read your way into Logical Reasoning. It's a thinking skill, built by practising the right questions, the right amount, over time — verbal and non-verbal both, which is exactly the pair SOF names in its own syllabus, and exactly what Master Mental Ability trains.

◎

Adapts to the student

Harder as they improve, easier when they slip. No time wasted on what they've already got.

↻

Back before you forget

Spaced repetition returns a question right as it's about to fade — so it's still there on exam day.

✎

Solve first, then see

They reason it out before the answer shows. That effort is where recognition gets built.

☁

Calm before the clock

A moment to settle before each session. The same calm an exam hall takes away.

What this doesn't cover: we train the Logical Reasoning section, and only that. Mathematical Reasoning, Everyday Mathematics, Science and the Achievers Section are school subjects and school work, best revised with the class textbook and SOF's own sample papers. And not every olympiad has this section: IMO carries 15 Logical Reasoning questions for Classes 5 to 10, ISO and ICSO carry 10 each, and IEO, IGKO, ISSO, ICO and IHO have none at all. In NSTSE, the comparable Critical Thinking section is 5 questions of 60.
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Open it in the phone's browser and start at once. One tap adds it to the home screen — it sits there like any app. Works on an older phone, a shared phone, any phone. No app store, nothing to chase, no space taken up.

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In 2007, in his second year at IIT Delhi, Vineesh wrote a book — Master Mental Ability in 30 Days. It has sold year after year ever since, without the publisher ever marketing it.

In the years since, he built other learning products and spent a decade working with children of every background in a holistic learning centre.

This app goes far beyond that book — everything he's learned about how people actually learn, built into something you practise, not just read.

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Don't trust us. See it work.

1

Try free

Solve a full session, no registration. Decide nothing yet.

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Register

Like it? Sign up for 2 more days free. No payment, no auto-debit.

3

Practise daily

A little each day. The app decides what to practise and when to bring it back.

4

Share to keep learning free

Invite a friend preparing for the SOF Olympiads — you both earn more free days.

Your questions

Common questions

Is it really free? Will money get taken from my account?

It's free to try — no signup to start, no card, no auto-debit, nothing taken silently. Later, one payment unlocks all the content for a full year — it's a one-time payment, not a subscription, and never an auto-debit. Exact pricing is coming soon. And you'll always be able to try free first — and share the app to keep learning free.

Is this app enough to prepare for the Olympiad?

No — and it isn't meant to be. We train the Logical Reasoning section. The maths, science and Achievers questions are school subjects, best revised from the class textbook and SOF's own sample papers. The same honesty applies to NSTSE: its Critical Thinking section is 5 questions of 60 — the same kind of thinking, but a small part of that paper, and we'd rather say so than sell you something.

Which SOF olympiads have a Logical Reasoning section?

IMO carries the most — 15 questions for Classes 5 to 10, and 10 for Classes 1 to 4. ISO and ICSO carry 10 for Classes 5 to 10. IEO, IGKO, ISSO, ICO and IHO have no Logical Reasoning section at all, so this app won't help with those papers.

There's very little time before the exam. Is this any use?

Some. Practice always beats no practice. But be honest about what an hour for fifty questions means: recognition is built over months, not in a week. Start anyway — this section returns every session, and every reasoning paper after school asks for the same thing.

Is the app in Hindi?

The full app is coming in Hindi — questions and solutions both. For now it's in English, which is also the language SOF publishes its syllabus and sample papers in.

When are the SOF olympiads, and how do we register?

Through the school, and only on SOF's own website, sofworld.org — never through an agent and never through us. SOF publishes an exam schedule each session with the Level 1 dates, and schools register their students. NSTSE is separate and registers through unifiedcouncil.com.

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