International Mathematical Olympiad

selection process
This article describes the selection process, by coun- of two four-hour papers held over two consecutive days.
try, for entrance into the International Mathematical There are four questions in each exam for a total of eight
Olympiad.
questions. Entry is by invitation only with approximately
The International Mathematical Olympiad (IMO) is an 100 candidates per year.
annual mathematics olympiad for students younger than A month after the AMO, the Asian Pacic Mathematics
20 who have not started at university.
Olympiad is held (APMO) and the top 25 from the AMO
Each year, participating countries send at most 6 students. are invited to sit the exam. It is a four and a half hour
The selection process varies between countries, but typ- exam with ve questions.
ically involves several rounds of competition, each pro- The top 12 students from the AMO and APMO (along
gressively more dicult, after which the number of can- with another 12 or so junior students) are then invited to
didates is repeatedly reduced until the nal 6 are chosen. a ten-day camp held in Sydney in the April school holiMany countries also run training events for IMO poten- days. During this camp, two four-and-a-half hour selectials, with the aim of improving performance as well as tion exams are held, each with four questions. The top
six candidates along with a reserve are then announced as
assisting with team selection.
part of the team based on their results in the four exams.

In 2011, there were three selection exams, each with three

questions in four-and-a-half hours to better simulate the
conditions of the IMO.

IMO Selection process by country

1.1

1.3 Bangladesh

Argentina

The selection process is organised by Bangladesh Mathematical Olympiad. There are three levels of selection
in Bangladesh. In rst two levels the students participate
in four academic categories: primary, junior, secondary
and higher secondary.

In Argentina, the Olimpada Matemtica Argentina is organized each year by Fundacin Olimpada Matemtica
Argentina. All students that took and passed the National
Finals (fth and last round of the competition) exams,
usually held in November; and were born before July 1
21 years ago, are allowed to take two new written tests to
be selected for IMO, usually in May. From the results of
that tests, six titular students and a number of substitutes
are selected to represent Argentina at the International
Mathematical Olympiad.

1.2

Divisional: Currently(2011) the country is divided

in 13 regions for divisional Olympiad. The number
of divisions may increase later. Except Dhaka division, roughly 1000 students participate each of the
divisional Olympiads and 60 are selected for the next
level. In Dhaka division, where number of students
are more than the others, 1600 students participate
and 100 to 120 students are selected.
All problems in the divisional test are To nd
problems. The students need not to write down the
solution, only the answer is necessary. The test is
usually one hour long.

Australia

In Australia, selection into the IMO team is determined

by the Australian Mathematics Trust and is based on the
results from four exams:
The Australian Mathematics Olympiad

National: The national Olympiad is 3-4 our test

depending on the category. In this test the students must write down the solutions of the problems. Some of the winners from junior, secondary
and higher secondary categories of this level are selected for the next level.

The Asian Pacic Mathematics Olympiad

two IMO selection exams
The Australian Mathematics Olympiad (AMO) is held
annually in the second week of February. It is composed
1

1 IMO SELECTION PROCESS BY COUNTRY

The camps: More than one camps are arranged to
select students for IMO. The selection process in
the camps are not so straight forward as it is in the
Olympiads. The students in the camps are closely
monitored by the previous campers and coaches and
four to six students are selected for IMO.

1.4

Brazil

The Brazilian participants are selected in a two phase

process: 1st.
The contestants that are awarded
medals or honorable mentions in the Brazilian Mathematical Olympiad (OBM) (Olimpada Brasileira de
Matemtica)of the year before the IMO are selected to
participate in a training process to the IMO. 2nd. The
contestants take a series of tests, which have IMO-like
level, and the top students are invited to join the Brazilian team that goes to IMO.

1.5

Belgium

The Belgian team is bilingual. The Dutch-speaking community selects three participants during the Vlaamse
Wiskunde Olympiade. The French-speaking community
selects their three participants through the Olympiade
Mathmatique Belge and additional tests at training
weekends.

1.6

Canada

High school students must rst write the Canadian

Open Mathematics Challenge, which takes place around
November. Should they score high enough in the
COMC(normally 70+), they will be invited to write the
Canadian Mathematics Olympiad (CMO), Asian Pacic
Mathematics Olympiad (APMO), and unocially write
the USAMO.
The students with the top scores (conditions permitting)
will make the Canadian team and travel to the location
of the IMO in that year. Although the team is made up
of students from all over Canada, Toronto and its suburbs have produced the most people for the team due to
its high population density. The Canadian Mathematical
Society is the organization which selects team leaders and
members for the IMO team.

1.7

CMO will have a training campus; and then, the 6 students with top scores will form the Chinese team. China
has been very successful in recent years at the IMO.

1.8 Colombia
In Colombia the selection and preparation of students for
math competitions is organized by Olimpiadas Colombianas de Matemticas. The process begins with the
regional competitions which are held in October and
November. The best students of these competitions are
invited to the January Training Session. In early March
the National Competition or Olimpiada Colombiana de
Matemticas begins. It consists of a sequence of four examinations: the classicatoria, the selectiva, the seminal and the ronda nal. The latter contains a (prior)
training session and then two days of IMO-style papers.
Every Colombian high school student can take part in the
rst classifying examination but afterwards students are
invited to compete according to their results on the previous examination. The three best students of the three
dierent high school levels of the nal round examination are the winners of the Colombian Math Olympiad.
Although in principle students of the lower levels may be
selected to go to the IMO, it generally takes many years
before they can compete with students of the highest level
or nivel superior. After the National Competition the
twenty best students of each level are invited to the June
Training Session where students undergo the IMO selection process.

1.9 Cuba
In Cuba the selection process consists (depending on regional conditions of availability of resources, participants
and organizers) six levels. Competitions are held to select
the best candidates from each school, then from each municipality, then from each province who then are allowed
to take part in the National Competition (Concurso Nacional in Spanish). The gold and silver medals (around
20 participants) take a number of further exams closer to
the level of International competitions. Thirteen of these
are selected to form the National Pre-Selection that trains
for up to three months taking also exams out of which the
best 6 are selected to form the National team. In a number of years the lack of nancial support has allowed only
the rst member of the team to actually travel and compete in the International mathematical Olympiad.

China

In mainland China, high school students have the annual

National Highschool Mathematics Competitions, held on
the second Sunday of October. A few competitors of
each province with best scores, usually the top 3 to 5,
will be invited to participate in the China Mathematics
Olympiads. Approximately the top 20 competitors of

1.10 Cyprus
Main articles: Cyprus_Mathematical_Society High
School (Lyceum) Competitions and High School
(Lyceum) Maths Competitions in Cyprus

1.15

Greece

In Cyprus Four provincial competitions and a National

(Pancyprian) competition are held every year. During
this procedure 30 students are selected and Four Team
Selection Tests are held to determine who will be the six
member of national team for IMO

3
exams are invited to a training program consisting of
ve seminars, where lectures are given and seven team
selection tests are written - 4-hour exams determining
the actual IMO contestants (additional tests are possible
if the team is not uniquely determined after the seven
exams).

In every competition or test there are four problem

usually covering geometry, number theory, algebra,
and combinatorics (elementary level) and last four 1.15 Greece
hours each.
(Thalis) - rst round

1.11 Czech Republic

(Euklidis) - second round

(Archimidis) - third round

After successfully completing the school and regional

rounds, roughly 50 best participants are invited to the national round, where 10 best students are selected to participate in a week-long selection campus. Each day they
solve a set of 3-4 problems, taken mainly from the past
national olympiads of various countries. On the last day
they have to nd the answers (this time in form of a number) to rather large set of shorter problems under significant time-pressure. After that the team is selected and
before the actual IMO, it competes in traditional CzechSlovak-Polish Mathematical Contest where the participants can practise their skill under almost identical conditions to IMO.

In Hong Kong, the International Mathematical Olympiad

Preliminary Selection Contest is held every year. Around
60 students are selected to receive further training, after
three phases of which six students will be selected as the
Hong Kong team members, and six will be selected as
reserve members. The further training is also known as
phase four training.

1.12 Denmark

1.17 India

In Denmark a national contest open to all high school

students is held every year called Georg MohrKonkurrencen (the Georg Mohr Contest) named after
a Danish mathematician. The top 20 of this contest are
then invited to another contest where the nal team is selected.

The Indian National Mathematics Olympiad (or INMO)

is held every year. This is an invitational exam, and
only students who qualify the Regional Mathematics
Olympiad (or RMO) are invited to appear for it. Students qualifying the INMO get to attend the IMO Training Camp at the Homi Bhabha Centre for Science Education at the Tata Institute of Fundamental Research,
where further selection tests are used to identify the top
six students who will represent the country. The students
are also trained by some of the top mathematicians of
India. The camp usually runs throughout the month of
May. There are two batches of students in the camp, the
seniors and juniors. If a student has come to the camp
for the rst time, he/she is a junior. There can be atmost
6 juniors from class 12. For those who have been to the
camp at least once, the INMO is not necessarily required,
and they are selected based on their performance in certain postal problem sets.

1.13 France
The Association Animath, and more precisely the
Olympiade Franaise de Mathmatiques prepares and selects the French IMO team. Students who succeed at a
preselection test can get from Animath a year-long training, after which the team is selected by an IMO-like test.

1.14 Germany
IMO team selection in Germany is based on the
main national mathematical competitions:
The
Bundeswettbewerb Mathematik (BWM, the former
west German olympiad), the Deutsche MathematikOlympiade (DeMO, the former east German olympiad),
and Jugend forscht (a research competition). Students
successful in any of these competitions (e. g. a prize
in the second round of the BWM) write two 3-hour
exams at their schools, and the 16 best scorers of these

1.16 Hong Kong

Hong Kong rst joined IMO in 1988.

1.18 Indonesia
In Indonesia, National Mathematical Olympiad is held as
a part of National Science Olympiad (Olimpiade Sains
Nasional), and has been held annually since 2002. About
100-120 students who pass the province-level test will
be eligible to participate in the National Mathematical Olympiad, which is held at August or September.

1 IMO SELECTION PROCESS BY COUNTRY

About thirty students are chosen to get into the rst training camp, which is held at October through November.
About half of them will go to second training camp and
participate in the Asian Pacic Mathematics Olympiad.
At the end, six students are selected to represent the country. The selection depends on the results of regular tests
held every week in every training camp, IMO simulation
test and APMO.

1.19 Ireland
In Ireland, the top scorers in the Junior Certicate (a state
exam taken around the age of 15-16) are invited by the
various universities to take part in the Irish Mathematical
Olympiad. The IrMO is held simultaneously in May in
each of these universities. The test consists of two threehour papers, each containing ve questions, run on the
same day. The top six students are selected for the national team.

1.20 Italy
In Italy, the Mathematical Olympiad is held every year;
the full selection process is made up of four stages:
the so-called Archimedean games, held as a
multiple-choice test in all participating high schools
in November
the regional stage, held as a mixed test (multiple
choice, numerical answers and proof-writing) in ca.
100 sites in February
the national stage, held in Cesenatico at the beginning of May, composed of six problems requiring a
full proof
the team selection test, held in Pisa at the end of May
after a ve-day stage, composed of two sessions each
containing three problems requiring a full proof.

1.22 Latvia
In Latvia a national contest open to all high school students takes place each year. The best participants of regional contests are allowed to participate in the national
olympiad held in Riga. The top students are further tested
to select the national team.

1.23 Malaysia
The selection is based on the Olimpiad Matematik Kebangsaan, OMK (National Mathematical Olympiad) and
the subsequent training camps. Top OMK performers are
selected to attend the training camps, and the nal IMO
representatives are selected based on the students performance in the camps and race.

1.24 Mexico
The selecting process in Mexico has 3 stages and is organized by the Mexican Mathematical Olimpiad. At rst
stage, each of the 31 states and the Distrito Federal select a team of up to 6 students (10 in the case of the Distrito Federal) which will represent the state in the national
contest. The contest is hold once at year, in the month of
November. According to the results of this contest, at
least 16 students are selected, who will continue to the
second stage of the selecting process, the national trainings, which are hold from November to April in which
the group of 16 students gets reduced to approximately
10. In May the third stage of the contest is hold, in which
the six students that will represent Mexico in the next
IMO. In similar process the teams for the Centroamerican and Caribbean Mathematical Olimpiad (OMCC)
and Iberoamerican Mathematical Olimpiad (OIM) are
selected. In March the test for the APMO is solved.

1.25 Netherlands

The six-person team competing in the IMO is determined

In the Netherlands the selecting process consists of three
by summing up the scores of four dierent competitions:
rounds.
the senior national stage, held each September in Pisa, the
Balkan selection test held each February in Pisa (also se The rst round takes place on high schools. It conlecting the team competing in the BMO and in the RMM)
tains 8 multiple-choice questions, and 4 open quescomposed by two papers with three problems, four and a
tions.
half hours each, and then the national stage and the May
stage held in Pisa.
The second round takes place at the Eindhoven University of Technology. It contains 5 open questions.

1.21 Japan

Then there is a training and at the end of the training

the students make a test: the best 6 students will go
to the IMO. The test contains 5 open questions.

In Japan, Japan Mathematical Olympiad(JMO) is held

every year. JMO has two rounds: the rst one in January and the second one in February. The best 20 scorers
in JMO are invited to the spring training camp in March. 1.25.1 External links
The top six students in several tests at this camp are se Ocial site in English.
lected for the national team.

1.29

The Philippines

1.26 New Zealand

selected which join the NMTC top 20 students in Second

Camp. This test is held after the result of the First Camp
The rst selection is based on the September Problems, of NMTC is announced. Students who do not qualify the
where the top 24 students are selected and invited to a First Camp of NMTC can still take the NMO if they wish
residential one week training camp. At the end of the to come to the Second Camp.
camp, approximately 12 students are selected as a squad. Sometimes, the selection process may involve more than
The squad receives regular assignments to complete every three camps and the number of students selected per
few weeks as well as sitting the British Maths Olympiad, camp can vary from the gures provided above.
Australian Maths Olympiad and the APMO. The nal six
candidates plus one reserve are later selected based on
results of the assignments and these tests.
1.28.1 External links

1.27 Norway
In Norway, the Niels Henrik Abels Matematikkonkurranse is held each year. The rst selection, usually in
September, consist of a multiple-choice exam with 20
problems. One is given 5 points for each correct answer,
1 point for each unanswered problem and 0 point for a
wrong answer. Approximately 10% of the competing students are selected for the second selection, which is held
in February. The examination consist of 10 problems,
giving 10 points for each correct answer, who are integers between zero and one thousand. 20 students are then
selected for a nal four-hour long examination consisting
of four problems. While usually the 3 best students are
automatically chosen for the nal team, the rest 3 are decided by their results in the Nordic Mathematical Contest,
which they will compete in afterwards.

Ocial site of Science Olympiads in Pakistan, in

English.
Ocial site of the Abdus Salam School of Mathematical Sciences, the home institution for the training/selection of IMO in Pakistan, in English.

1.29 The Philippines

The selection process starts with the Philippine Mathematical Olympiad (PMO), which includes a regional
level, an area level, and a national level. The top twenty
students in the national level of PMO will be invited to a
one-month training camp. The top students (at most six)
in the selection tests given during this training camp will
make up the IMO team.

1.28 Pakistan
In Pakistan, selection for the IMO participants is quite
similar to that in other countries. The process starts one
and a half year before a particular IMO; and a test (also
known as NMTC - National Mathematics Talent Contest)
is taken by the high school students which is organized by
the Higher Education Commission of Pakistan. The test
is held in January and the results are announced by April
or May. About fty students out of a 4000 are selected
which are called by Abdus Salam School of Mathematics, Government College University, Pakistan - usually in
September. The fty selectees are taught at the school for
a week or two and are then tested at the last two days of
the camp. This process, involving the top 50, is known as
First Camp. Based on the performance in the test, about
20 students are further selected for the Second Camp, and
the rest are dropped. These 20 students are joined by 30
students (from NMO - National Mathematics Olympiad)
in the Second Camp. Ten students from the 50 are then
selected, again based on their performance in a test. Third
Camp is the nal camp, and 5 are screened out of these
10. These would be the nalised participants for IMO.

1.30 Portugal
In Portugal, there are four selection steps. The three rst
are the exams of the Portuguese Mathematics Olympiad
and the last is composed of several exams made by
Projecto Delfos, who also prepares the students for international competitions.

1.31 Romania

In Romania those that enter the Romanian National

Team on Mathematical Olympiad are selected from four
rounds: School, City, County and National. In the case
of Bucharest, being some 5 times larger than the largest
county, as well as having larger schools, the rounds are:
school, sector (a borough, roughly), city and national.
From the rst two rounds the advancing pupils are chosen
using a minimum grade threshold (usually 8.00/10.00).
From the city/county round advance the top ve (fewer
in certain cases), with a playo round organised if necAlternatively, high school students from all over Pakistan essary. The national round oers fteen medals (ve of
take NMO (National Mathematics Olympiad) which is each colour). A team (plus reserve) is selected from the
organized by Abdus Salam School itself. About 30 are medal winners, usually following a playo round.

1 IMO SELECTION PROCESS BY COUNTRY

1.32 Russia
Russia has very extensive system of selecting and training participants for IMO. Dierent aspects of solving
mathematical problems are studied and revealed: combinatorics, logics, structural arrangement and proofs. All
problems are evaluated from 7 points. Top participants
obtain certicates of 3 degrees (1st, 2nd and 3rd
diploma) and often additional commendable certicates. Totally up to half of participants (in the last 3
rounds) gain diplomas.
The ocial rounds (each picking about 1/3 top of the previous) are: School, Borough, Region, Okrug (a district,
roughly) and national. More details:

camp (usually in the December holidays) at Stellenbosch

University. A number of rounds of monthly problem
sets are issued by the University of Cape Town which
are taken into consideration, along with the camp marks
to select the top fteen/sixteen to go to a nal selection
camp at Rhodes University, Grahamstown or more recently the University of the Free State, Bloemfontein in
April. A nal training camp takes place at the University
of Cape Town or more recently, the University of Pretoria just before the IMO. The Asian Pacic Mathematics
Olympiad has been used informally as a test, along with
an IMO selection test written at the schools of the top
fteen in the event of indecision.

1.34 Spain

School round (Russian: , I stage)

is a public stage - every interested pupil of 4-11
In Spain there are two rounds. The rst one is held in each
grade can participate. Completely organized by evuniversity district. There are two written tests, in which
ery school this competition aimed more at popularsix or eight problems are to be solved, depending on the
isation than at selection.
region. The rst three participants in each district go to
Borough round (Russian: , II the national round. This one also consists of two written
stage) for some schools (specically ones that has tests, three and half hours long each, with a total of six
winners of region round) is equal to the School problems. The top six scorers go onto the International
Olympiad.
round.
Region round (Russian: , III
stage) is the rst which brings together participants
in one place to live for some days. It has two rounds
on its own. In Moscow they are separated with process of selection, but in less populated regions pupils
take part in both. In present days problems for all
rounds starting with region round are created by special central committee. There are juries in each region of roughly constant membership. Winners of
the region rounds usually have privileges for highschool entering.
Okrug round (Russian: ,
, IV stage) is an intermediate before the nal
round. Problems usually corresponds to non-trivial
mathematical facts, often to recent discoveries or
their particular cases. Singular schools (e.g. Saint
Petersburg Lyceum 239) have the right to present
their pupils directly to okrug round.

1.35 Sweden
In Sweden, a mathematics contest called Skolornas
Matematiktvling is held every autumn. Those who
qualify to the nale are invited to participate in a correspondence course in problem solving as well as the Nordic
Mathematical Contest. From the combined results of the
qualication round, the correspondence course and the nale and NMC, the six highest achievers of the Swedish
nalists are invited to join the Swedish IMO team.

1.36 Taiwan

In Taiwan, the selection process consists of three sessions,

starting from April to the mid of May. Students who rank
among the top 25 in the APMO can participate the rst
session. During each session students will be tested by six
National round (Russian: , V IMO-style problems, and top six students will be selected
stage) aimed at selection the most prominent pupils as the members of the Taiwanese IMO team. The training
for participation in IMO. For this sake about 14 top sessions will be held during May and June.
of national round from 10th and 11th grades (usually
1st diplomas) are combined in following summer
and winter gatherings for special training and fur- 1.37 Thailand
ther selection.
In Thailand, the selection of the IMO representatives is
the responsibility of the organization The Promotion of
Academic Olympiad and The Development of Science
1.33 South Africa
Education Foundation. There are many branches of this
In South Africa those who would be members of the team organization around the country. At the end of August,
must pass through a nation-wide talent search by corre- a 30-question exam is open to all high school students
spondence, after which the top fty or so are selected for a to select 200 students to join a camp in each branch of

7
the country in October for promoting mathematics skills,
known in Thailand as POSN Camp 1. The topics include Algebra, Geometry, Number Theory, Combinatorics and Inequality. After the camp, an exam is given
in each of the preceding topics to evaluate the skills.
A number of students, usually 50 or 100, are selected
to join another camp in March, known in Thailand as
POSN Camp 2. The topics include Algebra, Geometry, Number Theory and Combinatorics in an advanced
level, and Functional Equation. After the camp, an exam
is given and 18 students are selected from each branch
of the country to compete in the Thailand Mathematical
Olympiad. Anyone with gold medal will continue to the
camp known as IPST Camp 1, and an exam is given,
and some are selected to IPST Camp 2, nally, only 6
students will compete in the International Mathematical
Olympiad.

1.38 United Kingdom

In the UK, selection is through competitions and training
camps under the auspices of the United Kingdom Mathematics Trust, starting with the multiple-choice Senior
Mathematical Challenge (SMC). The SMC is followed
by the British Mathematical Olympiad (BMO), held in
two rounds, but candidates who did not take part in the
SMC or did not achieve the qualifying score may enter the
BMO on payment of an entry fee and so be considered
for the IMO team. After the two rounds of the BMO,
20 potential team members, chosen primarily based on
BMO results, are invited to a training and selection camp
held in Trinity College, Cambridge, during which further
examinations are held, allowing the number of potential
team members to be reduced to eight or nine. A nal
camp is subsequently held at Oundle School, after which
six students are chosen as the team and the remaining
two or three as reserves. In addition to this formal selection process, there is further training during the year
for a squad of potential team members, including the 'Advanced Mentoring Scheme', practice exams and an annual
training camp in Hungary; information from exams at
the Hungary camp may be considered in selection where
available.[1][2]

1.39 United States

In the United States, the team is selected through the
American Mathematics Competitions, which are open to
all high school students. Final determinations for team
members are based largely on the United States of America Mathematical Olympiad and an IMO-style Team Selection Test. Note: It has lately become more complicated with the addition of a TSTST, which essentially selects the top 18 in contention for the next years IMO.

2 References
[1] BMOS/BMOC. The British Mathematical Olympiads.
Retrieved 2010-09-12.
[2] BMOS/BMOC. Olympiad Training. Retrieved 201009-12.

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