Competitions · Mathematics · CLMC
CLMC, the Canada Lynx Mathematical Competition.
The middle rung of the Canadian Mathematical Society’s three-level series, sat by students in grades 9 to 12. Fifteen multiple-choice questions, drawn deliberately close to the textbook - and built as the run-up to COMC rather than as a contest that stands alone.
At a glance
What the paper is, and where it sits.
The Canadian Mathematical Society was founded in June 1945 to promote the discovery, learning and application of mathematics. It runs three levels of national assessment, and CLMC is the middle one.
- Organiser
- The Canadian Mathematical Society (CMS)
- Where it sits
- The intermediate level of a three-part series: CJMC at junior level, CLMC in the middle, and COMC at senior level
- What it is for
- Explicitly a pre-assessment challenge for COMC, and practice for students intending to sit that paper in October
- Who can enter
- Students in grades 9 to 12
- Format
- 15 multiple-choice questions, sat individually
- Duration
- Published with each season’s entry notice - confirm with the test centre
- Syllabus
- Deliberately close to the grade 9 to 12 textbook. This is a curriculum-aligned paper, not an olympiad one
- Language
- Chinese and English
- When
- Early October, with registration closing about ten days before
- Where
- At partner schools, with an online option available to schools that apply for it
- What the fee covers
- The paper, marking, the certificate, invigilation and one online mock examination
The point of it
A contest designed not to be intimidating.
CLMC is unusual in stating its purpose as building confidence rather than sorting a field. That shapes the paper and who should sit it.
The syllabus is the syllabus
Questions are drawn close to the grade 9 to 12 textbook. A student who knows their school course can attempt every question, which is not true of most contests at this age.
An unhurried clock
The timing is generous by the standard of contests at this age. The paper rewards care and completeness rather than speed, which again is deliberate.
For any skill level
The organisers state the aim as building interest and confidence regardless of ability. It works as a whole-class entry rather than as something only the strongest students attempt.
And as preparation for something harder
For a student intending to sit COMC in October, CLMC is the rehearsal - same organiser, same season, far gentler paper.
What it leads to
The route through COMC.
CLMC has no progression of its own. Its value is that it prepares a student for the paper that does.
COMC is the senior paper
The Canadian Open Mathematics Challenge draws close to ten thousand Canadian entrants and forms the first round of Canada’s olympiad team selection.
Fifty places, for Canadian nationals
The top fifty Canadian-national scorers at COMC are invited to the second selection round and compete for places at the national training camp.
And a route for candidates in China
Candidates in China who reach the Canadian second-round standard are also invited to that round and ranked alongside Canadian entrants - authoritative evidence of ability for a North American science application.
Which is why the practice matters
COMC is a written-solution paper reaching well beyond the curriculum. Arriving at it having already sat a CMS paper under timed conditions is worth a great deal more than arriving cold.
Awards
Two ladders, so a student is judged twice.
Awards are made both across the whole entry and within each year group, which gives a younger candidate a second, fairer comparison.
Overall, across all entrants
Gold, Silver and Bronze International awards, an International Honour Roll, and separate recognitions for Performance with Distinction and Performance with Honours.
And again within each grade
Gold, Silver, Bronze and Honour Roll are also awarded within each individual year group, so a grade 9 student is measured against other grade 9 students as well as against the whole field.
Which matters on a curriculum paper
Because the syllabus runs to grade 12, an overall ranking naturally favours older students. The per-grade ladder is what makes the result meaningful lower down.
What everyone receives
The entry covers the certificate along with the paper, marking and invigilation, so every candidate comes away with a record of having sat it.
Preparation
How Hanlin prepares students for CLMC.
CLMC needs less preparation than almost anything else here, which is the argument for entering it rather than against.
Your school course is the syllabus
The scope is stated as the grade 9 to 12 textbook. Preparation is consolidation of material a student has already met rather than a new body of content.
Practising the multiple-choice discipline
The generous clock means there is time to check every answer. Students practise using that time rather than finishing early.
Using the included mock
The entry covers one online mock examination. Sitting it properly, under timed conditions, is the single most useful thing available before the day.
Planning the October pair
CLMC and COMC sit in the same season. Students aiming at COMC plan both together, since the gentler paper is most useful when it is genuinely treated as a rehearsal.
Why Hanlin
Preparation for CLMC 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 CLMC 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 CLMC 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 CLMC, 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
CLMC, briefly answered.
What students and families ask before entering.
Who can enter CLMC?
Students in grades 9 to 12. It is the intermediate level of the Canadian Mathematical Society series, sitting between CJMC at junior level and COMC at senior level.
What is on the paper?
Fifteen multiple-choice questions, drawn close to the grade 9 to 12 textbook. It is a curriculum-aligned paper rather than an olympiad one.
How does it relate to COMC?
CLMC is described by the organisers as the pre-assessment challenge for COMC, and as practice for students intending to sit that paper in October.
Can I bring a calculator?
Confirm with the organiser. The published FAQ answers this question for COMC, where calculators are prohibited in every round, but does not state CLMC’s own rule.
How difficult is it?
Deliberately approachable. The organisers state the aim as building interest and confidence in students of any skill level, and the clock leaves time to work carefully.
What awards are given?
Gold, Silver and Bronze International awards plus an International Honour Roll, awarded both across all entrants and separately within each year group. Performance with Distinction and Performance with Honours are also recognised.
What does the entry cover?
The examination, marking, the certificate, invigilation, and one online mock examination before the day.
Can we get a refund?
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 rest of the Canadian series.
Where CLMC sits, and the papers around it.
CLMC enquiries
The point is what you sit next.
CLMC is a curriculum paper designed as the run-up to COMC, and it is most useful to a student who intends to sit both. Tell us the year group and an advisor will map the October pair.