How it works

Students must use their ingenuity to solve puzzles such as deciphering Egyptian hieroglyphics, decoding numerical spy codes, and interpreting ancient Mayan poetry.

The AILO competition is comprised of two rounds:

• The Preliminary Round : This portion of the competition will be held in participating schools in late January online. The paper will be emailed out to teachers for printing and must be taken under exam conditions. Student answers are via an online submission. Schools and individual students can register here. You must have a teacher contact to undertake AILO unless you are home-schooled.

• AILO Final : The top 100 students of the preliminary round (regardless of age) qualify to compete at the National Final of AILO in a Dublin university in March. During this final the students will participate in an individual round as well as a team round. The top 4 students of the individual round will qualify to represent Ireland at the International Linguistics Olympiad (IOL) in July.

• International Linguistics Olympiad : The IOL typically takes place in July every year and the location changes every year. Training for the Irish team will begin once the four students are selected. For more information on IOL click here. Team training will  begin with a meet up of the team followed by online sessions once a month after the national final. A 3-day training session will take place before the beginning of the IOL. To see some IOL Puzzles click here.