Selective programmes

Every route runs backwards from a date.

Give a child’s age and a destination. The map shows the rungs between the two — what is still ahead, what has already gone, and where the preparation exists.

This map is a suggestion, not a schedule. It shows one sensible way to build practice and proficiency toward a destination — every child prepares differently, and reaching a rung is never a guarantee of a place.

Year 7 · summit endpoint
9rungs still ahead

Summit endpoint · Astronomy

International Olympiad on Astronomy and Astrophysics

The next thing is the Physics Year. It runs for one academic year from August and prepares the transition the route ahead assumes — four of the destinations on this map begin with it.

1 of 11 rungs are already behind. Of those, 1 sat on the main line — Astro Pi Mission Zero. What remains is a compressed route, and it is shown in full below.

Of the 9 rungs still ahead, Troupe prepares 1.


The line

Ahead of youPriming yearNot yet taughtAlready behindInterchangeDestination
THE PUPIL, NOWY37Astro Pi MissionZero14 Sep 2026 – 22 Mar 2027,Y48Y59Y610Y711Astro Pi MissionSpace Labentry Sep 2026 · ISS runY812Y913The Physics YearOne academic year · from4Y1014IOAA-jr2027 TBC · 2026 wasIAAC — InternationalAstronomy andAstrophysicsrounds Jun – OctY1115Y1216BAAO Astro ChallengeSep / Oct 2026 · date TBCBAAO Astro Round 1Nov 2026 · date TBCBAAO Astro Round 2Jan 2027 · date TBCBPhO Senior PhysicsChallengeprov. Fri 5 Mar 20274Y1317Oxford Astro EastercampEaster 2027 · dates TBCIOAA 2027host and dates TBC

Astro Pi Mission Space Lab

Y7–Y9 · Still nothing ranked

entry Sep 2026 · ISS run spring 2027

What it asks forWrites a proposal that survives external screening, works in a team of up to six over months, and accepts a technical constraint as part of the problem rather than an obstacle to it.
PreparationNot yet offered