Australian Mathematics Competition AMC (AMT)

The contest Math Kangaroo was modelled on — 30 questions, no penalty, and five integer answers at the end.

Not what you were looking for? Not MAA's American Mathematics Competitions, which share the AMC acronym and run the AMC 8/10/12 in the United States. This is the Australian Maths Trust's competition — and it is the older of the two ideas: the 1991 French Kangourou that became Math Kangaroo was explicitly built on this contest.

Fast facts

Organiser
Australian Maths Trust source
Country
Australia source
Tier
Open entry source
Founded
1978 source
Eligibility
Grade 3 – Grade 12 source
Questions
30 source
Duration
75 minutes source
Format
Mixed format source
Maximum score
135 source
Wrong answers
No penalty source
Rounds
1 source
Sat
Sat at school source
Fee
AUD 9.3 source
When
4-6 August 2026 source

Is this for my child?

Five divisions: Middle Primary (Years 3-4), Upper Primary (Years 5-6), Junior (Years 7-8), Intermediate (Years 9-10), Senior (Years 11-12). source

Format & marking

Questions 1-10 are worth 3 marks, 11-20 are worth 4, 21-25 are worth 5, and 26-30 are worth 6, 7, 8, 9 and 10 respectively — 135 in total. There is no penalty for a wrong answer, so every question is worth attempting. The last five take an integer rather than a choice, so the ramp is in both difficulty and answer format. source

What to know

This is not the American AMC

Two entirely separate competitions share the acronym. MAA's AMC 8/10/12 are American; this is the Australian Maths Trust's competition, running since 1978. If a tutor or article mentions 'the AMC', check which country they mean — the format, marking and dates have nothing in common.

Kangaroo was built on this contest

AKSF's own regulations state the 1991 French Kangourou — the origin of Math Kangaroo worldwide — was created 'based on the Australian Mathematics Competition'. The AMT contest is the ancestor of the largest maths competition family on earth.

Practice sets are free; past papers are not

AMT publishes free practice problems with solutions, but sells the real past papers through its bookshop.

Past & sample papers

Papers are copyright of the organiser, so we point you to the source rather than hosting copies.

View on Australian Maths Trust bookshop (PAID) →

Practise the same format

Original CREST Champs problem sets built to match this competition's format, timing and difficulty — our own content, so you can sit one today rather than waiting for the real date.

Start a Style Paper →

Questions parents ask

Is the Australian AMC the same as the American AMC 10?

No — they are unrelated competitions that happen to share three letters. This one is run by the Australian Maths Trust for Years 3-12; MAA's AMC 10/12 are American and feed the AIME and USAMO. Nothing about the format or marking carries across.

Is there a penalty for guessing?

No — AMT states there is no penalty for incorrect responses, so guess on anything you cannot do. The catch is the last five questions, which take an integer answer rather than a choice, so there is nothing to eliminate.

How is it marked?

Questions 1-10 are worth 3 marks each, 11-20 are worth 4, 21-25 are worth 5, and the final five are worth 6, 7, 8, 9 and 10 — 135 marks in total.