What’s On

The Irish Science Teachers’ Association (ISTA) Senior Science Quiz is an annual event as part of Science Week for Leaving Certificate students which will take place in 16 locations around Ireland on the evening of Thursday November 13th 2025. All quizzes will be begin at 7:00pm in the various venues. Teams of three compete in a traditional table quiz format; there are 8 rounds of 6 questions, drawn from the Leaving Certificate Biology, Chemistry and Physics courses but also including general science knowledge / recent science news. The top performing teams in each location will qualify for the national final, which will take place in Trinity College Dublin on Saturday December 6th.

 

In addition to the main sponsor, BioPharmaChem Ireland, the following have sponsored student and teacher spot-prizes for each local event: Explorium, Royal Society of Chemistry, StudyClix, Gill Books and Institute of Physics.

Schools can enter up to three teams at a regional round (two in Dublin and Cork). The entry fee is €20 per team. Applications for entries in 2025 are being processed online.

Rules for the Competition:

• Each team will consist of three members from the Leaving Certificate Year. Fifth Years or repeat year students are not permitted to take part.
• Entry fee of €20 per team.
• Up to three teams are allowed to enter the quiz from any one school except, unfortunately, for the Dublin and Cork venues, where a maximum of two teams are permitted per school.
• Teams must be accompanied by a current member of ISTA. Failure to do so will mean disqualification. Teachers whose membership has lapsed can renew via the ISTA website in advance.
• The Quiz will follow the standard table quiz format, with questions drawn from Leaving Certificate syllabi in Physics, Chemistry, Biology and general scientific knowledge.
• Each Regional Final will be given the same set of questions.
• The Quiz will consist of 8 rounds of 6 questions.
• The winning teams from each venue will be invited to the National Final on Saturday, December 6th 2025 in Trinity College Dublin. The number of winning teams will depend on the number of entries at the venue –the quiz organiser will inform you of this on the night.
• In the event of a tie, sudden death tiebreaker questions will be used.
• The Adjudicators’ decisions will be final.
• No calculators, mobile phones or other electronic devices will be permitted.
• Students who study Science through the medium of Irish are permitted to bring an Irish – English dictionary.
• The organisers reserve the right to alter these rules if necessary!

The Limerick round of this year’s quiz will take place in the Millennium Theatre at Technological University of the Shannon (TUS) Moylish Park Campus.
In order to register for the event, please contact Mairead Dennehy of TUS at mairead.dennehy@tus.ie.