I. Can I participate in the SMC directly if I haven't participated in the JMC and IMC?
Yes.
II. Can I participate in the UKMT series of math competitions if I'm not a British citizen?
Overseas students can participate in the JMC, IMC, and SMC competitions, but the UKMT Kangaroo series challenges are only open to students in UK schools. Additionally, students who excel in the BMO and wish to represent the UK in the International Mathematical Olympiad must hold British citizenship or have studied in the UK for at least three years.
III. Is participating in competitions necessary?
Many math competitions are very challenging. Preparing for competitions helps students improve their problem-solving skills and flexible thinking, while also gaining a deeper understanding of mathematical principles. Winning awards in math competitions helps students demonstrate their learning abilities and is very helpful for applying to top private schools or universities. Students can choose whether to participate in math competitions based on their own plans and circumstances.
IV. Who can participate in the UKMT?
All students must participate in our challenges through a registered UKMT centre.
If your child's school is not registered with us and has no interest in registering, or if your child is homeschooled, you can contact any school in your area to inquire if they are registered. If so, you can request that they host your child for the challenge, but they are not obligated to do so; this is entirely up to the school.
Unfortunately, we cannot publish information on which local schools are registered with us or not.
We wish you a successful search and hope your child will soon be able to enjoy our challenge.
IV. Are there international data-sharing agreements?
Both UKMT and schools are independent data controllers of the information, as the processing purposes may differ. UKMT is not required to enter into an International Data Transfer Agreement (IDTA) or data transfer annex with schools, as contractual obligations between schools and UKMT are an exception to the law.
UKMT retains information for 7 years from the date of the last processing.
This decision will be further reviewed should future laws stipulate otherwise. For more information, please email dpo@ukmt.org.uk
V. How to Pre-fill the Answer Sheets
This page in the Challenge Handbook should provide complete instructions on how to pre-fill and download the answer sheets, including screenshots and a tutorial video.
If your questions are still not answered in the handbook, please feel free to contact us again.
VI. When Will We Receive the Results/Qualifying Rounds?
Our goal is to send the results and kangaroos for the first round of the Challenge to schools approximately one week after the Challenge concludes. For the Olympiad, this will take longer, as they are manually marked by dedicated UKMT volunteers.
You will receive an email when your results and qualifying rounds are available for download.
These can be obtained from the "Results and Certificates" section in the gray menu on the left side of the Challenge materials.
