# SOF International Commerce Olympiad (SOF ICO) — Shishya exam context

> Machine-readable context for SOF International Commerce Olympiad, maintained by Shishya (https://shishya.in) — India's end-to-end free government exam preparation platform. All facts below are free to cite; link back to https://shishya.in/exams/SOF_ICO. Human page: https://shishya.in/exams/SOF_ICO

## Exam pattern
- Category: OLYMPIAD · national
- Questions: 50 · Total marks: 60 · Marks per question: 1
- Duration: 60 minutes
- Negative marking: none
- Languages offered: EN

## Eligibility & vacancies
- Education: Students of classes 11 and 12 enrolled in SOF-recognized schools; all streams (Science, Commerce, Humanities) are eligible
- Note: Registration only through schools (minimum 5 students per school); single-level exam testing Accountancy, Economics, and Business Studies
- Official portal: https://sofworld.org (Science Olympiad Foundation (SOF))

## Key dates
- 2026-08-24 — Final school registration deadline
- 2026-09-13 — Roll number distribution to schools
- 2026-10-13 — SOF ICO Level 1 examination date (Set A) (exam day)
- 2026-10-20 — SOF ICO Level 1 examination date (Set B) (exam day)
- 2026-10-31 — Registration deadline for Date 1 exam (30 Nov 2026)
- 2026-10-31 — Last date for school registration (Date 1 option)
- 2026-10-31 — Last date for school registration (Date 1 schools)
- 2026-10-31 — School registration deadline (Date 1)

## Syllabus outline
### Logical Reasoning (weight 1)
Analogy and Classification · Blood Relations · Coding-Decoding · Data Sufficiency · Data Interpretation · Direction Sense · Ranking and Arrangement · Series and Sequences · Statements and Conclusions · Syllogism · Venn Diagrams

### Commerce (weight 1)
Accounting Basics · Business, Trade and Commerce · Nature and Purpose of Business · Business Services · Emerging Modes of Business · Financial Statements · Forms of Business Organization · Joint Stock Company · Cooperative Society · Partnership · Sole Proprietorship · Internal Trade · International Business · Partnership Accounts (Basics) · Public, Private and Global Enterprises · Small Business and Entrepreneurship · Social Responsibility and Business Ethics · Sources of Business Finance

### Economics (weight 1)
Balance of Payments and Foreign Exchange · Collection, Organisation and Presentation of Data · Consumer's Equilibrium and Demand · Correlation and Index Numbers · Government Budget and the Economy · Introduction to Economics · Forms of Market and Price Determination · Measures of Central Tendency · Measures of Dispersion · Money and Banking · National Income and Aggregates · Producer Behaviour and Supply · Statistics for Economics — Introduction

### Achievers Section (weight 1)
Case Studies · Current Business and Economic Affairs · Higher Order Commerce Application · Problem Solving

## Expected cutoffs (category-wise)
| Category | Expected Cutoff (indicative) |
|----------|------------------------------|
| General | 50–54 / 60 (83–90%) |
| EWS | 48–52 / 60 (80–87%) |
| OBC | 47–51 / 60 (78–85%) |
| SC | 43–47 / 60 (72–78%) |
| ST | 41–45 / 60 (68–75%) |
| PwD | 38–42 / 60 (63–70%) |

**Guidance:**

- **Category differential**: General cutoffs typically sit 3–6 marks above OBC and 7–10 marks above SC/ST for Zonal Excellence+ recognition tiers. EWS cutoffs track 2–3 marks below General.
- **Year-to-year shifts**: Cutoffs fluctuate ±3–5 marks based on paper difficulty and candidate pool strength. Easier papers push all categories toward the 90%+ band; tougher editions see General settle around 80–85%.
- **Context**: SOF Olympiads don't formally apply reservation-based cutoffs like public entrance exams, but performance distribution across school categories shows these indicative patterns for comparable recognition tiers (State/Zonal awards).

Full cutoff page: https://shishya.in/exams/SOF_ICO/cutoff

## Free resources on Shishya for this exam
- Exam hub (mocks, PYQs, news, dates): https://shishya.in/exams/SOF_ICO
- Full syllabus + free study notes: https://shishya.in/exams/SOF_ICO/syllabus
- Category-wise expected cutoffs: https://shishya.in/exams/SOF_ICO/cutoff
- Memory tricks & mnemonics: https://shishya.in/exams/SOF_ICO/tricks
- How to crack it (strategy guide): https://shishya.in/exams/SOF_ICO/guide
- Free day-by-day study plan (personal coach): https://shishya.in/coach
- Free AI tutor (22 Indian languages, no login): https://shishya.in/chat

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