This article describes the selection process, by country, for entrance into the International Mathematical Olympiad.
The International Mathematical Olympiad (IMO) is an annual mathematics olympiad for students younger than 20 who have not started at university.
Each year, participating countries send at most 6 students. The selection process varies between countries, but typically involves several rounds of competition, each progressively more difficult, after which the number of candidates is repeatedly reduced until the final 6 are chosen.
Many countries also run training events for IMO potentials, with the aim of improving performance as well as assisting with team selection.
In Argentina, the Olimpíada Matemática Argentina is organized each year by Fundación Olimpíada Matemática Argentina. All students that took and passed the National Finals (fifth 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.
In Australia, selection into the IMO team is determined by the Australian Mathematics Trust and is based on the results from the following exams:
The Australian Mathematical Olympiad (AMO) is held annually in the second week of February. It is composed of two four-hour papers held over two consecutive days. There are four questions in each exam for a total of eight questions. Entry is by invitation only with approximately 200 candidates per year, from Australia and New Zealand. [1]
A month after the AMO, the Asian Pacific Mathematics Olympiad is held (APMO) and the top 25 from the AMO are invited to sit the exam. It is a four-and-a-half-hour exam with five questions.
About 80 students are chosen for the AMOC Selection School which is held in April of each year. Students are invited to either the Senior, Intermediate, or Junior Stream. At this school, the Senior students take Team Selection Tests (consisting of 12 questions with 3 in each 4-hour test) and 6 students plus one reserve are selected for the International Mathematical Olympiad (IMO). There is a mentor program for the Australian teams prior to the EGMO and IMO. [2]
The selection process is organised by Bangladesh Mathematical Olympiad. There are four levels of selection in Bangladesh. The students can participate in four academic categories: primary, junior, secondary and higher secondary.
Cut-marks depend on overall performance of every participants in this level.
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) (Olimpíada Brasileira de Matemática)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.
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 Mathématique Belge] and additional tests at training weekends.
High school students must first write the Canadian Open Mathematics Challenge, which takes place around November. If they score high enough in the COMC(normally 70+), they will be invited to write the Canadian Mathematics Olympiad (CMO), Asian Pacific Mathematics Olympiad (APMO), and unofficially 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.
In mainland China, high school students have the annual National Highschool Mathematics Competitions, held on the second Sunday of September. The top-scoring competitors from each province, usually 3 to 5 (but for very strong provinces, such as Beijing, it can be up to 15), will be invited to participate in the China Mathematics Olympiads. Approximately the top 60 competitors of CMO will go to a training campus; After two tests, the top 15 competitors in the campus will stay and take another four tests. In the end, the 6 students with highest scores will form the Chinese team. China has been very successful at the IMO in the past 20 years.
In Colombia the selection and preparation of students for math competitions is organized by Olimpiadas Colombianas de Matemáticas. 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 Matemáticas begins. It consists of a sequence of four examinations: the classificatoria, the selectiva, the semifinal and the ronda final. 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 first "classifying" examination but afterwards students are invited to compete according to their results on the previous examination. The three best students of the three different high school levels of the final 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.
Hrvatsko matematičko društvo invites about 20 contestants who performed best at the national level (national level competition is separated by age) to the Croatian Mathematical Olympiad (Hrvatska matematička olimpijada, HMO) which consists of 2 days, 4 problems each. The best ~10 are invited to the IMO test, the rest to the MEMO test. The best six at the IMO test and HMO combined are selected for IMO.
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 financial support has allowed only the first member of the team to actually travel and compete in the International mathematical Olympiad. [citation needed]
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Main articles: Cyprus Mathematical Society § High School (Lyceum) Competitions, and High School (Lyceum) Maths Competitions in Cyprus |
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
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 find 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 Czech-Slovak-Polish Mathematical Contest where the participants can practise their skill under almost identical conditions to IMO.
In Denmark a national contest open to all high school students is held every year called "Georg Mohr-Konkurrencen" (the Georg Mohr Contest) named after a Danish mathematician. The top 20 of this contest are then invited to another contest where the final team is selected.
The Association Animath, and more precisely the Olympiade Française de Mathématiques prepares and selects the French IMO team. Students who succeed at a preselection test can get from Animath a year-long training. The team is selected based on the results of numerous IMO type tests throughout the year.
IMO team selection in Germany is based on the main national mathematical competitions: The Bundeswettbewerb Mathematik (BWM, the former west German olympiad), the Deutsche Mathematik-Olympiade (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 exams are invited to a training program consisting of five 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).
Hong Kong first joined IMO in 1988.
Students can join IMO Training if they meet (at least one) of the requirements below:
A total of 60-70 students will be selected to receive further training. Students are placed in either Level 1 (about 50 students) or Level 2 (about 20 students) training, while the students who completed Level 1 in the previous year are usually promoted to Level 2. There are three Phases in the training (Phase I: July to August; Phase II: September to December; Phase III: January to March). The Phase tests are:
18 students are then chosen according to their results in all the Phase tests and Prelim to attend the additional tests, Test 3 and Test 4 in late April or May. 6 HK Team members and 6 alternate team members are then selected to join the Pre-IMO Intensive Training (also known as ‘Phase IV’) according to their results in all the tests mentioned above. The six HK team members will then join IMO.
In addition, 6 students are selected to join the Chinese Mathematical Olympiad (CMO) according to their results in the Phase tests in Phase I and II, and Prelim.
In the past, students are selected to join the China Western Mathematical Olympiad (CWMO), but IMOHKC has stopped sending representatives to CWMO.[1]
Iceland first joined the IMO in 1985.[2]
In Iceland, the Icelandic Mathematical Olympiad for Secondary School Students (Stærðfræðikeppni Framhaldsskólanema) was first held in the winter of 1984-1985, and it has been an annual occurrence ever since. It is hosted by the Icelandic Mathematical Organization and the Natural Sciences's Teacher Association. Its goals include increasing the interest of Icelandic secondary school students towards mathematics, and other fields built on a mathematical foundation.
The contest is held in two parts every winter. First, a qualifier held in October of every year on two difficulty levels; upper level, and lower level. The lower level is intended for first year secondary school students, and the upper level for older students. Those who do well in the qualifier are invited to the final competition, held in March.
Alongside honours and awards, the top students are selected to perform in various mathematical olympiads, including the Baltic Way, the Nordic Mathematical Contest, and the International Mathematical Olympiad.[3]
India has been participating in the IMO since 1989.[4] The National Board for Higher Mathematics (NBHM) is in charge of the mathematical olympiad activity which has put Homi Bhabha Centre for Science Education (HBCSE) in-charge for the implementation.[5]
The selection process consists of four stages: However the programme itself is of six stages.[6]
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 in August or September. About thirty students are chosen to get into the first training camp, which is held at October through November. About half of them will go to second training camp and participate in the Asian Pacific 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.
In Ireland, the top scorers in the Junior Certificate (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 three-hour papers, each containing five questions, run on the same day. The top six students are selected for the national team.
As of 2023, the Weizmann Institute of Science is the academic institution that is responsible for the selection process.
The selection process is based on the four main national math competitions in Israel:[7][8]
To qualify for the final stage of the selection process, students must excel in one of these competitions. Approximately 100-200 students are invited to participate in the final stage, which is conducted at the Weizmann Institute of Science. The top 50 scoring students in this stage compose Israel's national mathematics team.
In Italy, the Italian Mathematical Olympiad is held every year; the full selection process is made up of four stages:
The six-person team competing in the IMO is determined by summing up the scores of four different competitions: the senior national stage, held each September in Pisa, the Balkan selection test held each February in Pisa (also selecting the team competing in the BMO and in the RMM) composed by two papers with three problems, four and a half hours each, and then the national stage and the May stage held in Pisa.
In Japan, Japan Mathematical Olympiad (JMO) is held every year. JMO has two rounds: the first one in January and the second one in February. The best 20 scorers in JMO are invited to the spring training camp in March. The top six students in several tests at this camp are selected for the national team.
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.
The Liechtenstein team is selected via performances in the Swiss Mathematical Olympiad.
The selection is based on the Olympiad Matematik Kebangsaan, OMK (National Mathematical Olympiad) and the subsequent training camps. Top OMK performers are selected to attend the training camps, and the final IMO representatives are selected based on the students' performance in the camps and race.
The selecting process in Mexico has 3 stages and is organized by the Mexican Mathematical Olimpiad. At first stage, each of the 32 states select a team of up to 6 students which will represent the state in the national contest. The contest is held 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 held 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 held, 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.
In the Netherlands the selecting process consists of three rounds.
The first selection is based on NZMO1, after which some of the students are invited to take the NZMO2. The top 24 students are then selected and invited to a residential one week training camp. At the end of the camp, approximately 12 students are selected as a squad. The squad receives regular assignments to complete every few weeks as well as sitting the British Maths Olympiad, Australian Maths Olympiad and the APMO. The final six candidates plus one reserve are later selected based on results of the assignments and these tests.
In Norway, the Niels Henrik Abels Matematikkonkurranse is held each year. The first selection, usually in November, 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 January. 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 final four-hour-long examination consisting of four problems. While usually the 3 best students are automatically chosen for the final team, the rest 3 are decided by their results in the Nordic Mathematical Contest, which they will compete in afterwards.
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 fifty students out of a 4000 are selected which are called by Abdus Salam School of Mathematics, Government College University, Pakistan - usually in September. The fifty 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 final camp, and 5 are screened out of these 10. These would be the finalised participants for IMO.
Alternatively, high school students from all over Pakistan take NMO (National Mathematics Olympiad) which is organized by Abdus Salam School itself. About 30 are selected which join the NMTC top 20 students in Second Camp. This test is held after the result of the First Camp of NMTC is announced. Students who do not qualify the First Camp of NMTC can still take the NMO if they wish to come to the Second Camp.
Sometimes, the selection process may involve more than three camps and the number of students selected per camp can vary from the figures provided above.
The selection process starts with the Philippine Mathematical Olympiad (PMO), which includes a qualifying stage, an area stage, and a national stage. The National Finalists (roughly the top twenty) of the PMO will be invited to a two-month training camp. The top students (at most six) in the selection tests given during this training camp will make up the IMO team.
In Poland the selection is based on the results of the Polish Mathematical Olympiad (Olimpiada Matematyczna), which includes a qualifying stage, a regional stage, and a national stage. Top 6 students of the national stage qualify to the IMO. In case of a draw, either the results of a regional stage or the run-off during a training camp for the IMO can be used.
In Portugal, there are four selection steps. The three first 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.
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 first 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 five (fewer in certain cases), with a playoff round organised if necessary. The national round offers fifteen medals (five of each colour). A team (plus reserve) is selected from the medal winners, usually following a playoff round.
Russia possesses a very extensive system of selecting and training participants for IMO. Different 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 certificates of 3 degrees ("1st", "2nd" and "3rd diploma") and often additional "commendable certificates". Totally up to half of participants (in the last 2 rounds) gain diplomas.
The official rounds (each picking about 1/3 top of the previous) are: School, Borough, Region, and national. More details:
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Main article: Singapore Mathematical Olympiad |
In Singapore, the SMO (Singapore Mathematical Olympiad) is held with three sections- Junior (Grade 7 and 8), Senior (Grades 9 and 10) and Open (Grades 11 and 12). There are two rounds and the top 20 from the first 2 rounds sit 2 National Team Selection tests where they are selected for the final IMO team.
In South Africa those who would be members of the team must pass through a nationwide talent search by correspondence, after which the top fifty or so are selected for a 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 fifteen/sixteen to go to a final selection camp at Rhodes University, Grahamstown or more recently the University of the Free State, Bloemfontein in April. A final training camp takes place at the University of Cape Town or more recently, the University of Pretoria just before the IMO. The Asian Pacific Mathematics Olympiad has been used informally as a test, along with an IMO selection test written at the schools of the top fifteen in the event of indecision.
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Main article: International Mathematical Olympiad selection process in Spain |
In Spain there are two rounds.
The first one is held in each university district. There are two written tests, in which six or eight problems are to be solved, depending on the region. The first three participants in each district go to the national round.
This one also consists of two written tests, three and half hours long each, with a total of six problems. The top six scorers go onto the International Olympiad.
In Sweden, a mathematics contest called "Skolornas Matematiktävling" is held every autumn. Those who qualify to the finale are invited to participate in a correspondence course in problem solving as well as the Nordic Mathematical Contest. From the combined results of the qualification round, the correspondence course and the finale and NMC, the six highest achievers of the Swedish finalists are invited to join the Swedish IMO team.
In Switzerland, the Swiss Mathematical Olympiad consists of four rounds. The first two rounds narrow down the field to 25 students, who then take the third round in March to determine national medals. Medalists take the Swiss Team Selection Test in May, where the six best performers are picked for the Swiss IMO team.
In Taiwan, the selection process consists of three sessions, starting from mid March to the end of April. Students who rank among the top 30 in the Taiwanese Mathematical Olympiad test can participate the first session. During each session students will be tested by six IMO-style problems, and top six students will be selected as the members of the Taiwanese IMO team. The training sessions will be held during May and June.
In Thailand, the selection of the IMO representatives is the responsibility of the organization "The Promotion of Academic Olympiad and The Development of Science Education Foundation". There are many branches of this organization around the country. At the end of August, a 30-question exam is open to all high school students to select 60 students to join each camp (there are about 20 camps) in each branch of the country for promoting mathematics skills, known in Thailand as "POSN Camp 1". The topics include Algebra, Geometry, Number Theory, Combinatorics, and Logic. After the camp, an exam is given in each of the preceding topics to evaluate the skills. A number of students, usually 30, 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, Functional Equation, and Inequality. After the camp, an exam is given and 6 students are selected from each branch of the country to compete in the Thailand Mathematical Olympiad. Anyone with gold or silver medal (about 40 students) will continue to the camp known as "IPST Camp 1", and an exam is given, and some, usually 25, are selected to "IPST Camp 2", finally, only 6 students will compete in the International Mathematical Olympiad.
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 final 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.[10][11]
In the United States, the team is selected through the American Mathematics Competitions.
In Vietnam, the Mathematics division of the National Scholastic Competition (HSGQG), a yearly competition for Vietnamese high school students is used as basis for IMO team selection. In HSGQG, different aspects of solving mathematical problems are studied and revealed: combinatorics, logics, structural arrangement and proofs. The Math division of the HSGQG is colloquially called the Vietnam Mathematical Olympiad (VMO). After VMO, the top 48 scorers, plus past IMO contestants who have not graduated from high school will participate in the international Olympiads selection tests, commonly called TST. Six students with the highest scores on this test will be the competitors for IMO. The same process is used for the selection of contestants for IPhO, IChO, IBO and IOI, alongside APhO and APIO, with varying numbers of top scorers selected for the TST.
There are two math associations: ATCCM (Association Tunisienne de Culture et Competitions Mathematique) and ATSM(Association Tunisienne des Sciences Mathematiques) . Each one has its own tests and have the right to choose 3 competitors for IMO, until 2019: they chose together 6 competitors. The arrangement changed this May.[how?]