Competitions · Mathematics · AMO
AMO, the American Mathematical Olympiad.
A ninety-minute online paper for grades 2 to 12, sat by close to 150,000 students across thirty countries. More than half the field comes away with an award - and where a student lands in that half decides which of two international finals they can enter next.
At a glance
What the paper is, and who sits it.
AMO dates its founding to 1977 and was substantially rebuilt in 2021, when the Illinois STEAM Center led a redevelopment of the papers against the US Common Core standards.
- Scale
- Close to 150,000 students a year, in around 6,000 teams across thirty countries and regions
- Who can enter
- Students in grades 2 to 12. Candidates register for the grade they were in that June
- Difficulty levels
- Ten, one per year group, with grades 11 and 12 sharing a paper. Grade 2 is the youngest entry point
- Format
- 25 questions in three sections, sat online
- Duration
- 90 minutes
- Marks
- 100
- Language
- English and Chinese - the questions carry a Chinese translation
- Calculators
- Not permitted at any point
- Marking
- No penalty for a wrong answer, which makes leaving a question blank strictly worse than attempting it
- Award coverage
- Over half the field receives an award
- What it leads to
- Two separate international finals, depending on the award band reached
The paper
Three sections, rising in value.
Twenty of the twenty-five questions are multiple choice. The final five ask for an answer rather than a selection, and carry the most marks each.
| Section | Questions | Type | Marks each | Section total |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| A | 15 | Multiple choice | 3 | 45 |
| B | 5 | Multiple choice | 5 | 25 |
| C | 5 | Short answer | 6 | 30 |
Because nothing is deducted for a wrong answer, every question should carry one. On Sections A and B a guess is free; on Section C an attempted answer costs nothing either.
Awards
Six bands, and where they lead.
The bands are cumulative percentiles of the field. Two of them are gates to something further rather than simply recognition.
What each band opens
The bands are gates, not just certificates.
This is the part worth planning around: two different international finals sit behind two different thresholds, and the harder final needs the higher band.
Everyone receives something
All candidates receive an electronic certificate. Bronze and above additionally receive a printed certificate and a medal, so the physical recognition begins at the top 40%.
Bronze opens SIMOC
A bronze or better qualifies a student for the Singapore International Math Olympiad Challenge - a five-day global final in Singapore drawing competitors from around 48 countries.
Silver opens IJMO
Silver and above qualifies for the International Junior Math Olympiad, whose problems are harder than SIMOC’s. Only the top fifth of the AMO field reaches this gate.
Gold opens the honour society
Gold and perfect-score candidates may join the International Junior Honour Society and its leadership academy, which is where the scholarship and mentoring routes begin.
SIMOC
A global final that assembles your team for you.
SIMOC is not a conventional final, and its team format is the most unusual thing about the whole SIMCC route.
Five days in Singapore
Competitors from around 48 countries gather each July for individual and team events across five days. Reaching it needs a bronze at AMO, which is the top 40% of the field.
Teams are assigned, not chosen
The organisers build each team so that its members come from different countries and different ability levels. You do not arrive with a team and you cannot pick one.
Which changes what is being tested
A deliberately mixed team means the strongest mathematician in it has to explain as much as solve. The format is designed around cross-cultural collaboration rather than raw scoring.
And IJMO sits above it
IJMO is set harder than SIMOC and rotates around Asian host countries. It needs a silver rather than a bronze, so the two finals are genuinely different destinations.
Beyond the contest
What the honour society actually offers.
The IJHS membership that comes with a gold is the least visible part of AMO and, for a student aiming at American universities, potentially the most consequential.
Named university awards
Two full scholarships worth a combined US$270,000 across two to four years are offered for undergraduate study at Southern Illinois University, alongside an international student grant available to members that is usable only there.
Recommendation letters
The organisers’ professor committee meets active members and helps prepare recommendation letters. That access is reserved for members who actually take part rather than for anyone who simply joins.
Community project credit
Members can earn credit through a Community Improvement Project run under the society, which is a structured route to the service record American applications ask about.
Read the conditions
The benefits are described as available to active members, and the scholarship places are specific and few. Treat them as opportunities to pursue rather than entitlements that follow a medal.
Preparation
How Hanlin prepares students for AMO.
A paper with no penalty marking and a paper with penalty marking demand opposite habits, and students in the SIMCC family will meet both.
Answer everything
Nothing is deducted for a wrong answer, so a blank is always the worst option. Students practise ensuring every question carries a response before time is called, which is a habit rather than a skill.
Choosing the right band to target
Bronze and silver open different finals. Preparation is planned against the band a student can realistically reach, since aiming at silver changes how much of the paper has to be secured.
Common Core as the map
The 2021 redevelopment aligned the papers to the US Common Core, so the syllabus is knowable rather than open-ended. Preparation follows it per year group.
Twenty-five questions, ninety minutes
Three and a half minutes a question sounds comfortable until the six-mark section arrives. Timed practice concentrates on banking Sections A and B quickly.
Why Hanlin
Preparation for AMO 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 AMO 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 AMO 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 AMO, 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
AMO, briefly answered.
What students and families ask before entering.
Who can enter AMO?
Students in grades 2 to 12, registering for the grade they were in that June. There are ten difficulty levels, one per year group, with grades 11 and 12 sharing a paper.
What is on the paper?
25 questions in 90 minutes for 100 marks: 15 multiple-choice at 3 marks, 5 multiple-choice at 5 marks, and 5 short-answer at 6 marks.
Is there a penalty for a wrong answer?
No. Nothing is deducted, so leaving a question blank is always worse than attempting it. Note that this differs from IJMO, where two of the three sections do deduct marks.
Is the paper in English?
Yes, with a Chinese translation of the questions provided alongside. It is sat online.
What are the award bands?
Gold for the top 8%, silver from 8 to 20%, bronze from 20 to 40%, honourable mention from 40 to 50%, and participation below that. A separate award goes to perfect scores.
What does a bronze or silver actually get me?
Bronze and above qualifies for the SIMOC global final in Singapore. Silver and above qualifies for IJMO, which is set harder. Bronze and above also brings a printed certificate and a medal.
Can I use a calculator?
No, at no point during the paper.
What is the International Junior Honour Society?
A body founded by the Singapore academic trust behind the contest, open to gold and perfect-score candidates. It offers leadership roles, community project credit, named university scholarships and help with recommendation letters, with benefits directed at members who take an active part.
Related
The rest of this family.
The contests that feed into and out of AMO.
AMO enquiries
Decide which final you are aiming at first.
Bronze opens SIMOC and silver opens IJMO, and the difference is the top 40% against the top 20%. Tell us the student’s year group and where they currently sit, and an advisor will set a realistic target.