Australian Mathematics Competition
Date
We 2 to Fr 4 August 2023
Time
Primary divisions: 60 minutes
Secondary divisions: 75 minutes
Cost
AUD$8 per student
First run in 1978, the Australian Mathematics Competition is Australia’s longest running, largest and most well-known maths competition for school students.
Like all our competitions, the AMC contains unique problems designed each year by leading educators and academics to challenge and extend your students’ problem-solving skills.
Key Dates
Printed paper entries close:
Fr 14 July 2023 NT, QLD, SA, TAS, WA
Fr 21 July 2023 ACT, NSW, VIC
Fr 30 June 2023 INTERNATIONAL
Online entries close:
Tu 1 August 2023
Submission of student answer sheets for printed paper entries closes:
We 9 August 2023
Late submission of student answer sheets close:
Fr 1 September 2023
* Student answer sheets received after the submission deadline may not be included in the cut-off scoring which may disadvantage some students. Results will be processed after the late submission deadline.
* Student answer sheets received after the late submission deadline will be processed at the end of the school year, based on earlier cut-off scores.
* Results and adjustments received after 1 December 2023 will not be processed.
Sign Up
Find out how to register your students for this competition.
What teachers and students think
Divisions
- Middle Primary – Australian Years 3 and 4
- Upper Primary – Australian Years 5 and 6
- Junior – Australian Years 7 and 8
- Intermediate – Australian Years 9 and 10
- Senior – Australian Years 11 and 12
Topics
May include:
- Basic arithmetic
- Fractions and ratios
- Algebra and pre-algebra
- Geometry
- Measurement
- Statistics and probability
- Problem-solving (including enumeration)
Question and Answer Format
- 30 questions – 25 multiple-choice, 5 integer
Delivery Format
Online
Printed paper
More Information
- Questions 1–10
3 marks - Questions 11–20
4 marks - Questions 21–25
5 marks - Questions 26–30
6, 7, 8, 9, 10 marks - Total 135 marks
There is no penalty for incorrect responses.
All students receive an award according to the criteria below.
Participation
Awarded to a student who has participated in the competition and received no higher award.
Proficiency
Awarded to a student who has received a pre-set score and received no higher award.
Students who achieve proficiency have demonstrated competency at mathematical problem solving to Australian standards.
Credit
Awarded to a student who is in the top 55% of their year and region (60% for Senior division) and has received no higher award.
Distinction
Awarded to a student who is in the top 20% of their year and region (25% for Senior division) and has received no higher award.
High Distinction
Awarded to a student who is in the top 3% of their year and region (top 5% for Senior division) and has received no higher award.
Prize
Generally awarded to no more than 1 student for every 300 students within a region and year group. Prize winners are given a lapel pin and a voucher for our online shop. The value of the voucher may vary year by year.
Best in School
Awarded to the student with the best overall result in a school, after adjustment for year level. It is only awarded if the achievement is at least a Distinction, and there are at least 50 entries (secondary divisions) or 30 entries (primary divisions) in the school. There may be more than one winner if adjusted scores are equal.
Cheryl Praeger Medal (Secondary divisions only)
Awarded to the female student with the highest score in Australia, in each year level, where preset criteria are met.
AMC Medals (Secondary divisions only)
Awarded to a student with outstanding results within their year group for their state, territory or country. Generally, no more 1 in 5000 students receive a medal.. Medals are awarded at the discretion of the Australian Maths Trust.
Peter O’Halloran Award (formerly BH Neumann Certificate of Excellence)
Awarded to any student who achieves a perfect score, irrespective of other awards given. This award is named in honour of the founding Executive Director of the Australian Maths Trust, Mr Peter O’Halloran.
Cut-off scores for awards are determined by comparing a student’s results with other students in the same year level and region (Australian state/territory, or country). Cut-off scores are approximate and will vary year by year depending on the difficulty of the competition. For small regions, year levels may be combined for determining cut-off scores
Try our sample sets for a taste of some typical AMC problems.
Each set includes 6 problems and worked solutions drawn from previous competition papers.