Olga Boytsova  — Doctor of Sciences in Politics, Professor at the Philosophy of Politics and Law Department, Faculty of Philosophy, Lomonosov Moscow State University; Deputy Chairman of the Central Subject-Specific Methodology Board of the Russian School Student Olympiad in Social Theory. Address: GSP-1, Faculty of Philosophy, Shuvalov Building, Lomonosov Moscow State University, Lenin Hills, 119991 Moscow, Russian Federation. E-mail: olga.boitsova@gmail.com

Dmitry Nosov  — Candidate of Sciences in Philosophy, Professor, School of Philosophy, Faculty of Humanities, National Research University Higher School of Economics; Chairman of the Central Subject-Specific Methodology Board of the Russian School Student Olympiad in Social Theory. Address: 20 Myasnitskaya Str., 101000 Moscow, Russian Federation. E-mail: dnossov@hse.ru

Valeriya Torop  — Candidate of Sciences in History, Associate Professor, Head of the Final State Examination Maintenance Department of the Center for Training Subject-Specific Teachers at Moscow Institute of Open Education; Chairman of the Moscow Subject-Specific Committee for Basic State Examination in Social Theory; member of the Central Subject-Specific Methodology Board of the Russian School Student Olympiad in Social Theory. Address: 36, Timiryazevskaya Str., 127422 Moscow, Russian Federation. E-mail: valeriya73@yandex.ru

Being members of the Central Subject-Specific Methodology Board for the Russian School Student Olympiad in Social Theory and members of the jury for its final round, we discuss the specific aspects of teaching social theory at school and preparing for the Unified State Examination and the Russian Olympiad in that subject. We examine different kinds and types of tasks offered in different rounds of the Olympiad, analyze their pitfalls and ultimate objectives, and discover the opportunities, prospects and challenges of applying the competency-based approach in preparing students for the Russian School Student Olympiad in Social Theory.