Competitions · Mathematics · SASMO
SASMO, the Singapore and Asian Schools Math Olympiad.
Twenty-five questions in ninety minutes, with a separate paper for every year from grade 1 to grade 12. It is written for the top 40% of students rather than the top 1%, and the problems are deliberately non-routine - the aim is mathematical intuition and reasoning rather than speed through familiar drills.
At a glance
What the contest is, and who it is written for.
SASMO was founded in 2006 and has grown from 155 local entrants to more than 20,000 across nineteen countries. It sits deliberately between a school test and an olympiad.
- Organiser
- The Singapore International Mathematical Contest Centre (SIMCC)
- Running since
- 2006
- Who can enter
- Students from grade 1 to grade 12. Every year group sits its own paper, so a grade 3 candidate is only ever compared with other grade 3 candidates
- Who it is aimed at
- The top 40% of students rather than a small elite. The stated purpose is to build intuition, reasoning, logic, and creative and critical thinking
- Format
- 25 questions in 90 minutes, in two sections. Sat online or in person - the paper is the same either way
- Language
- A bilingual Chinese and English paper
- Calculators
- Not permitted at any level
- Registration
- Candidates in China, the United States, Canada, the United Kingdom and Australia may register through the China region, but results are counted and ranked for their own country
- One entry only
- A candidate may sit one paper in one region. You may register for a year group above your own, but never below it
- What it feeds
- Award winners are invited on to SIMOC and IJMO, and the strongest results carry points toward the YALA leadership academy
Marking
Two sections, two different penalties.
The mark scheme is the thing to understand before the day: wrong answers cost you in Section A and cost you nothing in Section B, so the two halves of the paper should be attempted differently.
| Section | Questions | Marks each | Wrong answer | Section total |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Section A | 15 multiple choice | 2 | Costs 1 mark. A blank costs nothing | 30 |
| Section B | 10 short answer | 4 | Costs nothing, the same as a blank | 40 |
| Starting credit | - | - | Every candidate begins on 15 marks so that no score can go negative | 15 |
| Paper total | 25 | - | - | 85 |
Because a wrong answer in Section B costs nothing, every Section B question should carry an answer. Section A is the opposite: a blind guess among the options is a losing trade, and a question you cannot start is better left.
Syllabus
What each band of year groups is asked.
The content grows year by year, but one strand runs through every paper: non-routine problem solving, covering number patterns, divisibility tests, spatial visualisation, logic problems and cryptarithms.
Grades 1 to 4
Arithmetic and statistics, geometry and measurement, and word problems solved by the model method or any other non-algebraic approach. Non-routine problems appear from the very first paper, with cryptarithms kept simple at this level.
Grades 5 and 6
The same ground, but word problems may now be solved by any method including algebra, and the cryptarithms are no longer restricted to simple cases. This is the band where the model method and algebra sit alongside each other.
Grades 7 and 8
Arithmetic and algebra, geometry, graphs and measurement, and statistics. Pythagoras’ theorem enters at grade 8, which is the first genuinely new tool the series introduces rather than a deepening of an old one.
Grades 9 to 12
Arithmetic and algebra, geometry, graphs and measurement, Pythagoras and trigonometry, and statistics with probability. The non-routine strand continues unchanged, which is what keeps the senior papers from becoming a school exam.
Awards
Every entrant takes something home.
The award bands are cumulative and sum to the whole field: gold 8%, silver 12%, bronze 20%, honourable mention 10% and participation the remaining half.
What an award opens
SASMO is a gateway more than a destination.
The reason to care about which band you land in is that the bands are invitation thresholds for four further programmes.
Top 40%: a medal and SIMOC
Gold, silver and bronze winners receive a certificate and a medal, and are invited to the Singapore International Math Olympiad Challenge - which adds team-based mathematical games and puzzle events to a conventional written round.
Top 20%: an invitation to IJMO
Gold and silver winners are invited to the International Junior Math Olympiad, which is used in part to select reserve members for the International Mathematical Olympiad.
Gold and silver: STEAM AHEAD
Perfect-score, gold and silver winners are invited to the STEAM AHEAD global competition. A global individual silver or better there earns points toward both the honour society and the YALA leadership academy.
Two golds: the leadership route
YALA is a leadership academy for grades 4 to 12. Entry to the associated honour society requires at least two gold medals across the previous year’s SIMCC contests, or one gold plus an individual silver at SIMOC or STEAM AHEAD.
Preparation
How Hanlin prepares students for SASMO.
SASMO is not won by knowing more mathematics than the syllabus. It is won by handling unfamiliar problems calmly, which is a trainable skill and a different one.
Non-routine problems, deliberately
Number patterns, divisibility, spatial reasoning, logic and cryptarithms appear on every paper at every level. These are rarely taught in class, so they are worked through explicitly rather than left to be picked up.
Playing the two mark schemes
Answer everything in Section B, where a wrong answer is free; be selective in Section A, where it costs a mark. Students practise switching between the two mindsets halfway through a paper, which is harder than it sounds.
Choosing the year group
A candidate may enter a level above their school year but never below. For a strong student the choice changes both the paper and the field they are ranked against, so it is settled with a past paper rather than a guess.
Past papers by level
Papers are published for each grade band and year. Working them at the intended level is the most reliable preparation, and it also gives an honest reading of which award band is realistically in reach.
Why Hanlin
Preparation for SASMO 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 SASMO 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 SASMO 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 SASMO, 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
SASMO, briefly answered.
What students and families ask before registering.
Who can enter SASMO?
Students from grade 1 to grade 12. Each year group sits its own paper, so entrants are only ever ranked against others in the same grade.
Can my child enter a different grade level?
They may register for a grade above the one they are currently in, but never below it. A candidate may sit only one paper - you cannot enter several grades or several regions in the same year.
Which region do we register in?
Candidates in China, the United States, Canada, the United Kingdom and Australia can register through the China region, but the result is counted and ranked for the country where the school is. A student at a school in China is ranked with the China region.
How is the paper marked?
Section A is 15 multiple-choice questions at 2 marks each, where a wrong answer costs 1 mark and a blank costs nothing. Section B is 10 short-answer questions at 4 marks each, where a wrong answer costs nothing. Everyone starts with 15 marks, so no score can be negative. The paper is out of 85.
Should my child guess?
In Section B, always - a wrong answer there is free. In Section A, only after eliminating options, because a wrong answer costs a mark that was already banked.
How likely is an award?
Every entrant receives something. Gold goes to the top 8%, silver to the next 12%, bronze to the next 20% and honourable mention to the next 10%; the remaining half of the field receives a participation award.
What does winning lead to?
The top 40% are invited to SIMOC and the top 20% to IJMO. Perfect-score, gold and silver winners are also invited to the STEAM AHEAD global competition, and results there carry points toward the YALA leadership academy.
What equipment is needed for the online paper?
Two devices. The exam itself must be taken on a desktop or laptop with a camera - tablets and phones are not accepted for it - while a phone or tablet is used separately for invigilation, positioned behind and to one side.
Can we get a refund if we withdraw?
Before the registration deadline, a place can be cancelled and the fee is returned to the original payment account. After the deadline it is not refundable, and changing registration details attracts an administrative fee.
Related
The rest of the SIMCC series.
SASMO is the entry point to a family of contests that feed into each other.
SASMO enquiries
Decide the grade level before you register.
Entering a year above is allowed and sometimes right, but it changes the paper and the ranking. Tell us the student’s school year and how they handle unfamiliar problems, and an advisor will recommend a level and a sitting.