<!-- Deleted image removed: thumb|right|A diploma awarded in the Republic Student Olympiads, in the [[Kazakh SSR, 1989]] -->

Soviet Student Olympiad was an annual set of contests for students in the USSR. There were two separate multi-round competitions every year: for higher education (universities) and general education (starting from 7th to 10th/11th grade). Both competitions had several rounds, and winners from lower rounds would go to the next round. Not only individual members, but teams were awarded too. The main difference between two Olympiads was that the school one had separate threads for every grade, while the university one was for all students.

History

Academic competitions among schools modeled after the Olympic Games emerged in the Soviet Union during the interwar period. They were called "Olympiads" despite the fact that they took place annually rather than once every four years.