What is the UKMT?
The UK Mathematics Trust is a charity that runs the country's biggest school maths competitions. The point isn't the curriculum — it's problem-solving: clever ideas over memorised methods.
🧩Insight, not memory
Questions reward a spark of insight — rarely anything beyond your school year.
🎯Open to everyone
Early questions suit all abilities. About half of all entrants earn a certificate.
🚀A ladder up
Do well and you're invited to Kangaroo and Olympiad rounds — the route to the IMO.
The ladder at a glance
Every student sits a multiple-choice Challenge. Score well and it branches two ways:
Kangaroo
Another timed, multiple-choice round for high scorers — speed and accuracy under pressure.
Olympiad
Two hours, a handful of hard problems, full written proofs. This is the road to the IMO.
Three tiers, same shape
The ladder repeats at three age levels — join at the one that matches your school year.
One route or the other — never both. About the top 1,000 JMC scorers are invited to the Olympiad; roughly the next 10,000 to the Kangaroo. Cut-offs set each year.
One route or the other — never both. Grey and Pink are simply the Kangaroo split by year group; Cayley, Hamilton and Maclaurin are the Olympiad split by year. You sit the one paper that matches your school year.
One route or the other — never both. The top SMC scorers sit BMO Round 1; a wider band sit the Senior Kangaroo. From there: Round 1 → Round 2 → IMO selection.
Scoring & awards, in full
Now the full picture, one level at a time. Every student sits a multiple-choice Challenge; strong scorers go on to a Kangaroo or an Olympiad. Challenges and Kangaroos give certificates; only the Olympiads give medals (plus Distinction and Merit certificates). Every figure is approximate and re-set each year.
1 · Junior — Year 8 & below
| Certificate | Mark |
|---|---|
| 🥇 Gold certificate | 75+ |
| 🥈 Silver certificate | 59+ |
| 🥉 Bronze certificate | 47+ |
Top ~50% earn a certificate (Bronze : Silver : Gold ≈ 3 : 2 : 1).
Then one route only — the Kangaroo or the Olympiad, never both:
| Certificate | Share | Mark |
|---|---|---|
| 🥇 Gold certificate | top 10% | ≈ 114+ |
| 🥈 Silver certificate | next 20% | ≈ 100+ |
| 🥉 Bronze certificate | next 30% | ≈ 80+ |
| Award | Who | Mark |
|---|---|---|
| 🥇 Gold medal | top 40 | 51+ |
| 🥈 Silver medal | next 60 | 42+ |
| 🥉 Bronze medal | next 100 | 35+ |
| ✦ Distinction certificate | top 25% | 31+ |
| ✦ Merit certificate | next 40% | 19+ |
Every medallist also receives a book prize.
2 · Intermediate — Years 9–11
| Certificate | Mark |
|---|---|
| 🥇 Gold certificate | 61+ |
| 🥈 Silver certificate | 46+ |
| 🥉 Bronze certificate | 35+ |
Top ~50% earn a certificate.
Then one route only — the Kangaroo or the Olympiad, never both:
| Certificate | Share | Grey (Yr 9–10) | Pink (Yr 11) |
|---|---|---|---|
| 🥇 Gold certificate | top 10% | ≈ 101+ | ≈ 85+ |
| 🥈 Silver certificate | next 20% | ≈ 85+ | ≈ 73+ |
| 🥉 Bronze certificate | next 30% | ≈ 67+ | ≈ 59+ |
| Award | Who | Cayley (Yr 9) | Hamilton (Yr 10) | Maclaurin (Yr 11) |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 🥇 Gold medal | top 20 | 44+ | 33+ | 40+ |
| 🥈 Silver medal | next 30 | 39+ | 23+ | 34+ |
| 🥉 Bronze medal | next 50 | 31+ | 17+ | 31+ |
| ✦ Distinction certificate | top 25% | 29+ | 14+ | 29+ |
| ✦ Merit certificate | next 40% | 15+ | 6+ | 15+ |
3 · Senior — Years 12–13
| Certificate | Mark |
|---|---|
| 🥇 Gold certificate | 72+ |
| 🥈 Silver certificate | 57+ |
| 🥉 Bronze certificate | 46+ |
Top ~two-thirds earn a certificate.
Then one route only — the Kangaroo or the Olympiad, never both:
| Certificate | Share | Mark |
|---|---|---|
| 🥇 Gold certificate | top 10% | ≈ 70+ |
| 🥈 Silver certificate | next 20% | ≈ 55+ |
| 🥉 Bronze certificate | next 30% | ≈ 40+ |
| Award | Who | Mark |
|---|---|---|
| 🥇 Gold medal | top 20 | 48+ |
| 🥈 Silver medal | next 30 | 37+ |
| 🥉 Bronze medal | next 50 | 31+ |
| ✦ Distinction certificate | top 25% | 18+ |
| ✦ Merit certificate | next 45% | 7+ |
💡 The top ~100 from BMO Round 1 go through to Round 2 (4 problems, 3½ hours) — the final step before UK International Mathematical Olympiad squad selection.
How to actually do well
Bank the easy marks. Questions 1–15 win most certificates — slow down and get them right before chasing the hard ones.
Practise against the clock. Timed past papers build the speed and nerve that theory alone never will.
Learn to write proofs. On Olympiad rounds the marks are in clear reasoning — not just the final answer.
Climb one rung at a time. Each round builds on the last; steady progress up the ladder beats cramming.
Aiming past the certificate?
Our coaches are IMO and BMO medallists who've climbed this exact ladder — and now teach it in small live groups. Book a free consultation and we'll map your child's next step.
Scores and thresholds shift slightly each year to keep the intended proportions earning each award — always check ukmt.org.uk for the official, current numbers. This guide is an independent overview by Arcvision Education and is not affiliated with the UK Mathematics Trust.