Competitions · Mathematics · CCL
CCL, the Continental Calculus League.
The one competition here that tests a single subject: calculus, and nothing else. Thirty-two questions in four sections, pitched to sit alongside AP Calculus AB - which makes it the rare contest whose preparation is also revision for an exam a student is already taking.
At a glance
What the paper is, and who sits it.
CCL was founded in 1980 by two mathematics coaches with more than thirty years’ teaching experience between them. Its stated purpose is to bring students into calculus rather than to sort the very top of a field.
- Founders
- Joseph Quartararo and Henry Hull, both long-serving mathematics coaches
- History
- Over forty years, with more than a hundred schools and around 5,000 students taking part each year
- Who can enter
- Students in grades 10 to 12, particularly those preparing AP Calculus AB
- Subject
- Calculus only - derivatives, antiderivatives and limits among other topics
- Format
- 32 questions in four sections of eight, mixing multiple choice and fill-in answers
- Duration
- 160 minutes - five minutes a question
- Calculators
- Permitted, provided the model has no programming function
- Language
- English
- Where
- At partner schools
- When
- A Saturday afternoon in April, with registration closing at the end of March
- What the fee covers
- The paper, the marking and the certificate
Why this one is different
A contest that doubles as exam preparation.
Most competition mathematics sits beside the school curriculum. CCL sits inside it, which changes the arithmetic of whether to enter.
The syllabus is one you already have
CCL is written to accompany AP Calculus AB. A student preparing for that exam is preparing for this paper at the same time, so entering costs almost no additional study.
Five minutes a question
A hundred and sixty minutes for thirty-two questions is generous by contest standards. The paper rewards accuracy and completeness rather than speed, which is also what an AP paper rewards.
Calculators are allowed
Any model without a programming function may be used. That is unusual on this site - most contests here ban them outright - and again mirrors AP conditions.
Four sections of eight
The paper is divided rather than continuous, which makes pacing concrete: eight questions and forty minutes per section is an easy target to keep track of during the paper.
Individual awards
Recognition down to the top seventy per cent.
The bands are far broader than most contests award, which fits a competition built to encourage students into a subject rather than to filter them out of it.
Beyond the individual paper
The school award, and the perfect score.
Two awards sit outside the percentile bands, and one of them is a reason to enter a group rather than an individual.
A school is scored on its best six
The global school award sums each school’s six highest individual scores. A school entering only two or three strong students leaves the award out of reach regardless of how well they do.
Which rewards depth over a star
Because six scores are counted, a school with six competent candidates will beat one with two exceptional ones. Entering a whole class is the strategy the award is designed to encourage.
A perfect score carries a medal
Full marks earns a CCL medal in addition to the certificate - the only physical award the competition gives beyond the standard recognition.
Everything else is a certificate
The four percentile bands are certificate awards. With honourable mention reaching the top 70%, most students who sit the paper come away with one.
Preparation
How Hanlin prepares students for CCL.
The efficient way to approach CCL is to treat it as part of AP Calculus preparation rather than as a separate project.
Run it alongside AP Calculus AB
The content overlap is the point. Students already working toward AB should not be building a separate CCL syllabus - the same derivatives, antiderivatives and limits serve both.
Section pacing, not question pacing
Four sections of eight makes a natural checkpoint every forty minutes. Timed practice uses those checkpoints rather than counting individual questions.
Working with a permitted calculator
A non-programmable calculator is allowed, and students should practise with the exact model they will bring. Discovering a function is missing during the paper costs marks.
Entering six, not one
Because the school award counts six scores, a school considering CCL gets more out of entering a group. That decision is worth making at registration rather than afterwards.
Why Hanlin
Preparation for CCL at Hanlin is taught by full-time subject tutors, on a course tier chosen by placement paper rather than by year group.
Programme formats
Five ways this is taught.
Group size is the whole difference between these. It decides how much of the tutor's attention a student gets and how far the course can bend to them, so it is worth choosing rather than accepting.
| Format | Group size | What it suits |
|---|---|---|
| One-to-one | One student | Content, pace and emphasis set by what this student actually needs rather than by a syllabus. The only format that can be rebuilt mid-course. |
| Small group | Three to eight | Opens at three. Frequent discussion, and the tutor can slow down or move on according to what the group has absorbed. Most students chasing a higher award are taught in this one. |
| Class | Eight to twelve | Taught by the subject lead or a medal coach. Less back-and-forth, so it suits a student who will say when something is unclear. |
| Large class | Ten to twenty | For students in the middle of the placement range, and a way to try a competition before committing. Students often move to a small group or to one-to-one afterwards. |
| Past-paper class | No cap | Past papers worked through in sequence in the weeks before the sitting. Free to students already enrolled. |
Course length for CCL is set after a placement paper. The gap between where a student is and what the paper asks for is what the course has to close, and that gap is not the same for two students in the same year group.
How it runs
Six steps, four people on your side.
The same process for every student, so that nothing depends on one tutor remembering to do it.
Step 1Pre-course assessment
A placement paper before anything is booked, so the course tier is chosen on evidence rather than on a year group.
Step 2Tutor matching
A subject tutor is matched to the result, and their full background is provided before you agree to it.
Step 3Plan and group
A study group opens with four people on one student: the tutor, a planner, a supervisor and an academic manager.
Step 4Scheduled teaching
The teaching office sets the timetable around the competition date and school term, and teaching begins.
Step 5After-class reports
What was covered, and how the student handled it, reported after every lesson.
Step 6Homework follow-up
The teaching assistant and the form teacher both check that homework is done, which is where most preparation quietly fails.
Free resource pack
Past papers and preparation pack
The same material our own CCL students work from. Scan the code, say what you need, and an advisor sends it.
Tell an advisor which competition and year group, and the material comes back the same day. Free, and you do not have to enrol in anything. If we do not already hold what you need, we will go and find it.
- PDFPast papers, every year the organiser has released
- PDFWorked solutions, where the organiser publishes them
- PDFThe syllabus on one page - every topic, and how heavily it is examined
- PDFEntry checklist and the dates for the current cycle
Teaching team
Who would teach it.
Three of the twenty-two tutors on the published Hanlin roster - the ones whose subject this is.
Dr Zhang
PhD in theoretical mathematics from the University of Rochester and a postdoctoral fellow at the Shanghai Center for Mathematical Sciences at Fudan. An AMC-accredited coach, ASDAN-accredited for DMM and ITCCC, and an accredited UKMT BMO2 and PUMaC coach. His students have gone on to read mathematics and physics at Harvard, MIT, Princeton, Caltech and Cambridge.
Dr Zhuang
PhD in mathematics from the University of Denver, working in mathematical logic, after a first degree in applied mathematics at Southeast University. A repeat conference speaker on his research, with three years lecturing and assisting on undergraduate mathematics at Denver.
He
A Cambridge master's after a computer science degree with a mathematics minor at the University of Nebraska-Lincoln, and a US high school GPA of 4.13. Six years overseas and teaches entirely in English, across AMC, Math League, AP Computer Science and AP Calculus.
Where it is taught
Hanlin learning centres.
Teaching runs from Hanlin's own centres in Shanghai, Shenzhen, Chengdu and Hangzhou, and online for students elsewhere.
Talk to an advisor
Everything Hanlin does for CCL, in one conversation.
Entry, planning, coaching and the past papers. An advisor will tell you which of these a student actually needs, including when the answer is none of them.
Competition entry and planning
Which competitions suit this student, in what order, and by when - then we handle the registration, including the ones that can only be entered through a school or a centre.
Competition coaching
Taught by full-time subject tutors, on a course tier chosen by placement paper rather than by year group.
International curriculum tutoring
IB, AP, A-Level, IGCSE and the US high school curriculum, taught alongside school and timed around the exam calendar.
Competition past papers, free
A large library of past papers, mark schemes and syllabus breakdowns across every competition on this site. No charge and no enrolment.
Scan to add an advisor
Say which competition or course you are asking about. Replies in Chinese or English.
Or call +86 21 6352 6630FAQ
CCL, briefly answered.
What students and schools ask before entering.
Who is CCL for?
Students in grades 10 to 12, and particularly those preparing AP Calculus AB. It is written as a supplement to that course rather than as a separate body of material.
What is on the paper?
Calculus - derivatives, antiderivatives and limits among other topics. Thirty-two questions in four sections of eight, mixing multiple choice and fill-in answers.
How long is the paper?
A hundred and sixty minutes, which is five minutes a question. It is a paper that rewards accuracy rather than speed.
Can I use a calculator?
Yes, provided it has no programming function. That is unusual among the contests on this site and mirrors AP examination conditions.
What are the award bands?
Gold for the top 15%, silver for the top 30%, bronze for the top 45% and an honourable mention for the top 70%. A perfect score additionally earns a CCL medal.
Is there a school award?
Yes. Each school is scored on the sum of its six highest individual results, so entering a group of six or more is what makes the award reachable.
What does the entry fee cover?
The examination, the marking and the certificate.
Can we get a refund if a student withdraws?
Contact the organiser. Before the registration deadline, 25% of the fee is retained for academic materials and service. After the deadline the fee is not refundable.
Related
The course it accompanies, and other options.
What students taking CCL are usually studying alongside it.
CCL enquiries
If a student is already sitting AP Calculus AB, this is nearly free.
CCL tests the course they are taking anyway, allows a calculator, and recognises the top 70%. Tell us how many students are studying AB, and an advisor will set out the April entry and the school award.