Your key dates, by age group
Here are the dates that matter for your child — find their tier and read down. The follow-on rounds only apply if they qualify from the Challenge, but it pays to know when they land. The full season, and the rhythm behind it, follow below.
- JMC Wed 5 May 2027
- Junior Kangaroo Tue 15 Jun 2027
- Junior Olympiad (JMO) Tue 15 Jun 2027
- IMC Wed 27 Jan 2027
- Grey / Pink Kangaroo Thu 18 Mar 2027
- Cayley · Hamilton · Maclaurin Thu 18 Mar 2027
- SMC Wed 7 Oct 2026
- Senior Kangaroo Wed 18 Nov 2026
- BMO Round 1 Wed 18 Nov 2026
- BMO Round 2 Wed 20 Jan 2027
The maths year has a fixed rhythm
You don't need to memorise a fresh calendar every year. The UKMT season always runs in the same order, in roughly the same weeks — the seniors go first in autumn, the intermediates sit in deep winter, and the juniors round off the year in late spring. Only the precise dates shift by a week or two.
🍂Autumn = Seniors
The Senior Challenge and the British Mathematical Olympiad open the season from October.
❄️Winter = Intermediates
The Intermediate Challenge lands in late January, with its follow-on rounds in March.
🌱Spring = Juniors
The Junior Challenge comes in early May, and the junior follow-on rounds close the year in June.
💡 Each tier follows the same two-step shape: everyone sits a multiple-choice Challenge first, then top scorers are invited weeks later to a follow-on round — a Kangaroo (speed) or an Olympiad (written proofs). New to the structure? Start with our guide to the UK maths challenges.
The 2026–27 season, in full
Here's the complete UKMT calendar for the year ahead. Read it top to bottom and you'll see the rhythm: seniors in autumn, intermediates in winter, juniors in spring and summer.
Autumn 2026 · the seniors open
| Date | Competition | Who sits it |
|---|---|---|
| Tue 22 Sep 2026 | Mathematical Olympiad for Girls (MOG) + Mathematical Competition for Girls (MCG) | Senior |
| Wed 7 Oct 2026 | Senior Mathematical Challenge (SMC) | Senior · Yr 12–13 |
| Wed 18 Nov 2026 | Andrew Jobbings Senior Kangaroo | Senior follow-on |
| Wed 18 Nov 2026 | British Mathematical Olympiad — Round 1 (BMO1) | Senior olympiad |
Winter 2027 · the intermediates begin
| Date | Competition | Who sits it |
|---|---|---|
| Wed 20 Jan 2027 | British Mathematical Olympiad — Round 2 (BMO2) | Senior olympiad |
| Wed 27 Jan 2027 | Intermediate Mathematical Challenge (IMC) | Intermediate · Yr 9–11 |
Spring 2027 · intermediate follow-ons, then the juniors
| Date | Competition | Who sits it |
|---|---|---|
| Thu 18 Mar 2027 | Grey & Pink Kangaroo | Intermediate follow-on |
| Thu 18 Mar 2027 | Cayley, Hamilton & Maclaurin Olympiads | Intermediate olympiad |
| Wed 5 May 2027 | Junior Mathematical Challenge (JMC) | Junior · Yr 8 & below |
Summer 2027 · the juniors close the year
| Date | Competition | Who sits it |
|---|---|---|
| Tue 15 Jun 2027 | Junior Kangaroo | Junior follow-on |
| Tue 15 Jun 2027 | Junior Mathematical Olympiad (JMO) | Junior olympiad |
When to start preparing
The dates only matter if you work backwards from them. A few rules of thumb that hold every year:
Seniors, use the summer. The SMC is one of the first competitions back — early October — so the real preparation window is the summer before, not the autumn term.
Give the Challenge 6–8 weeks. For Intermediate and Junior entrants, a focused run of timed past papers across the half-term before the Challenge is the single highest-return habit.
Follow-on rounds come fast. BMO1 is only about six weeks after the SMC, and the intermediate olympiads follow the IMC by weeks — strong students should train for the proof round before Challenge results even arrive.
Juniors have the longest runway. With the JMC in early May, the whole spring term is available — ideal for building problem-solving from scratch without last-minute pressure.
Want a term-by-term plan around these dates?
Our coaches are IMO and BMO medallists who train students to peak on the day that matters — mapped to the exact rounds your child is aiming for. Book a free consultation and we'll build the timeline with you.
Dates above are the official UKMT 2026–27 competition calendar and shift by a week or two each year — always confirm the current year's dates at ukmt.org.uk before entering. This calendar covers the individual challenges and olympiads; the UKMT also runs team events on separate dates. This guide is an independent overview by Arcvision Education and is not affiliated with the UK Mathematics Trust.