Logic & Linguistics
SLLO
Sri Lanka Logic Olympiad
Registration is open for Sri Lanka's national competition in pure reasoning and the route to the International Olympiad in Linguistics.
- Registration
- Open
- Online round
- 5 Dec 2026
- Team places
- Four
- Entry fee
- Free
The olympiad
The Sri Lanka Logic Olympiad is the national competition in pure reasoning and Sri Lanka's selection pathway for the International Olympiad in Linguistics. Its first edition begins online in December 2026, and four students will represent Sri Lanka at the IOL in Bangkok in 2027.
Linguistics olympiad problems are self-contained logic puzzles. You are given a fragment of a language you have never seen, maybe its numbers or its verbs or its writing system, and you have to work out the rules from the evidence in front of you. There is nothing to memorise and nothing to look up. Every problem carries everything you need to solve it.
Every problem is available in English, Sinhala and Tamil, with the three versions checked against one another so that no language is easier. Entry is free and no prior study of logic or linguistics is needed.
Who can enter
- Any student enrolled in a school in Sri Lanka
- Every grade and stream is welcome
- No prior study of logic or linguistics needed
What it covers
- Deductive reasoning
- Pattern recognition
- Morphology & syntax
- Phonology
- Writing systems
- Number systems
The path
How SLLO runs
2 competition rounds, each one cutting the field down further.
- 015 Dec 2026
Opening Round
OnlineAnswer 25 multiple-choice reasoning problems online in two hours, from wherever you are in Sri Lanka. Nothing is deducted for a wrong answer.
- 02Late Jan 2027
Onsite Final
OnsiteAt most 30 of the highest scorers are invited to Colombo for five written problems over three hours, marked for the reasoning as well as the answer, and then join the training programme.
After the competition rounds
What happens after the final round, on the way to the IOL.
Training
From February 2027 finalists join a free training programme of online sessions, past international papers and marked practice, and the team of four is selected from that group on performance in selection tests.
Team Sri Lanka at the IOL
Four students represent Sri Lanka at the International Olympiad in Linguistics in Bangkok in July 2027.
Questions
SLLO, answered
The things students and teachers ask us most often.
- What is the Sri Lanka Logic Olympiad?
- It is Sri Lanka's national competition in pure reasoning and the selection pathway for the International Olympiad in Linguistics, run by IFSET. The first edition begins in December 2026 and will send Sri Lanka's first team to the IOL in 2027.
- Do I need to have studied linguistics?
- No. Linguistics olympiad problems are self-contained logic puzzles: you are given a fragment of a language you have never seen and work out the rules from the evidence in front of you. Every problem carries everything you need to solve it.
- How many rounds does the Sri Lanka Logic Olympiad have?
- Two competition rounds: an online opening round on 5 December 2026 and an onsite final in Colombo in late January 2027. At most 30 students are invited to the final.
- How many students represent Sri Lanka at the IOL?
- Four students will represent Sri Lanka at the IOL in Bangkok in July 2027. Finalists join a training programme before the national team is selected.
- Is it free to enter?
- Yes. Like every IFSET olympiad, entry is free and open to any school in Sri Lanka.
- When is registration?
- Registration is open now and closes at the end of 28 November 2026. The online opening round is on 5 December 2026.
Also from IFSET