Adding up the top math competitions for students in 2025-26
Lifestyle
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11:30 AM on Tuesday, October 7
By Tatyana Felikson for RSM, Stacker
Adding up the top math competitions for students in 2025-26
The back to school season means more opportunities for students to participate in engaging and challenging math competitions.
Math competitions are beneficial for students of all ages and levels. These tests are a great way for students to demonstrate their math knowledge in a timed and competitive environment. Math competitions can also be a confidence booster and are helpful to include on college applications. Discover upcoming math competitions for the 2025-2026 school year and learn about registration and contest dates via this guide from RSM.
Date: Feb. 3, 2026 (Registration opened Oct. 1, 2025)
Grade(s): 1-8
About the Contest: The International Math Contest (IMC) is a celebration of the beauty of mathematics and the joy of learning it. Designed to be both fun and challenging, the IMC offers students a unique opportunity to showcase their math skills in a dynamic and engaging competition setting.
The competition features thought-provoking problems based on leading math curricula from around the world, allowing contestants to benchmark their knowledge against international standards. The contest is 75 minutes long and features exciting prizes, making the IMC not only a fun and enriching experience, but a rewarding one as well!
Date(s):
MOEMS Contest 1: Nov. 10, 2025 - Dec. 1, 2025
MOEMS Contest 2: Dec. 8, 2025 - Dec. 29, 2025
MOEMS Contest 3: Jan. 5, 2026 - Jan. 26, 2026
MOEMS Contest 4: Feb. 2, 2026 - Feb. 23, 2026
MOEMS Contest 5: March 2, 2026 - March 23, 2026
Grade(s): 4-8
About the Contest: Math Olympiads for Elementary and Middle Schools (MOEMS) is a large and popular mathematics competition for students in grades 4 through 8. It is held yearly from November through March with one test administered each month. Tests are given at individual schools and results are sent to MOEMS for scoring.
MAA Competitions
Date(s): Jan. 22 - 28, 2026
Grade: 8
About the Contest: The American Mathematics Contest (AMC) is a challenging and prestigious national competition, administered by the Mathematical Association of America (MAA). Recommended for students in grade 8, the AMC 8 consists of 25 problems – all based on knowledge and logic.
AMC 10 A and AMC 12 A Date: Nov. 5, 2025
AMC 10 B and AMC 12 B Date: Nov. 13, 2025
Grade(s): 10-12
About the Contest: The AMC 10 and AMC 12 are both 25-question, 75-minute, multiple-choice examinations in high school mathematics designed to promote the development and enhancement of problem-solving skills. The AMC 10 is for students in 10th grade and below and covers the high school curriculum up to 10th grade. The AMC 12 covers the entire high school curriculum, including trigonometry, advanced algebra, and advanced geometry, but excluding calculus.
Both the A and B versions of the AMC have the same number of questions, the same scoring, and the same rules for administration. The only differences are the competition dates and that each version has a distinct set of questions, although the two examinations are designed to be equal in difficulty and distribution of topics.
Date: February 2026
AIME I: Feb. 5, 2026 (Invite Only)
AIME II: Feb. 11, 2026 (Invite Only)
Grade(s): 10-12
About the Contest: The AIME is a 15-question, 3-hour examination in which each answer is an integer number from 0 to 999. The AIME is an intermediate examination between the AMC 10 or AMC 12 and the USAMO. All students who earn a score in the top 2.5% of the AMC 10 or the top 5% of the AMC 12 are invited to take the AIME.
Date: March 19, 2026 (Registration Opens September 2025)
Grade(s): 1-12
About the Contest: The Math Kangaroo is open to students in grades 1-12, the competition offers 24 problems to be solved within 75 minutes for grades 1-5 and 30 questions for students in grades 5 and up.
Date: April 14 - 23, 2026
Grade(s): 6-12
About the Contest: The Purple Comet! Math Meet is a free, annual, international, online, team mathematics competition designed for middle and high school students that has been held every year since 2003. Teams of from one to six students compete by submitting solutions to a list of mathematics problems. There is a ten-day window during which teams may compete, choosing a start time most convenient for them. The problems range in difficulty from fairly easy to extremely challenging.
This story was produced by RSM and reviewed and distributed by Stacker.
