November 2025

The Virginia Section is pleased to host the Chemistry Olympiad exam in 2026.

***NEW FOR 2026***

All students must be registered by their parents/guardians. You must include the name and email address of a teacher at your high school to serve as point of contact for the exam.

Registration is open now and can be found at this link: https://usncoreg.acs.org/

For registration purposes, you are registering for section L246 Virginia Section.

Dr. Sarah Porter, USNCO Coordinator
portersg@longwood.edu

Important Dates for 2026

The deadline for registration to take the local exam is March 1, 2026.

The Local exam will be administered in person at your school March 16-22, 2026. Teachers may choose a time during that week. All students who register must have a teacher contact who will be proctoring the exam and submitting scores.

Select students participating in the Virginia Local Section’s Local Chemistry Olympiad Competition will be nominated to advance to participate in the National Chemistry Olympiad Exam. The National Exam will be administered in person at Longwood University on April 10, 2026.

All students who participate will be recognized with a certificate, and the top scoring students and schools will earn additional recognitions.

Who Should Take the Local Section Chemistry Olympiad Exam?

Any student who attends high school or homeschool in the Virginia Section boundaries with a passion for chemistry!

  • Not sure if you are within the boundaries of the Virginia section? Go to this website and enter your zip code: https://lslookup.acs.org/lslookup/local_search

  • A teacher can administer the local exam to one student or their entire class. A teacher may nominate any student in the school who they feel are prepared to take the exam regardless of whether the student has taken chemistry.

  • Home schooled students are welcome to participate – the teacher nomination may come from the homeschool parent.

Past Reports and Tests

Explore the USNCO website to find webinars about how to prepare for the exam, past exams for practice, reports on past winners at the National level, rules of competition, and much more!

 https://www.acs.org/content/acs/en/education/students/highschool/olympiad.html