Past Exams
Exams are normally released shortly after they are administered, published here for prospective students to prepare for the National Open Exam, Training Camp, and IESO. Summaries of student performance are available from 2021 onward. See Preparation for our syllabus and study tips.
Direct exam-related questions to [email protected]
National Open Exams
All registrants take the Open Exam in the spring. It assesses a wide variety of Earth science topics in a single sitting and helps determine those selected to attend the Training Camp.
Check our home page for registration info.
Training Camp Exams
Among projects and fieldwork, students at the Training Camp further show their abilities through several exams.
See Training Camp for details.
Past Open Exams
Section I Exam (Color) | Section I Exam (B/W)*
Section II Exam (Color) | Section II Exam (B/W)*
Section I Solution | Section II Solution
*2024 exams were administered in black and white only
Past Camp Exams
Disclaimer: Past exams do not necessarily reflect topic distributions or exam formats in future USESO editions. Further, some solutions may have errors due to mistakes that were later corrected but not reflected here.
IESO Exams
Past IESO exams may be found at the IESO site as well as in a convenient, compiled form (special thanks to Jonathan Lee USESO ’20 for translating 2018-2019). Note that the content covered by each IESO edition can vary widely from year to year.