Here is the list of competitions with approximate dates we encourage students to consider:
1. Math Open at Andover (MOAA): Philips Academy Andover, October 11, 2025
2. IMLEM: Oct 16, Nov 20, Jan 15, Feb 26, Mar 26
3. AMC 10/12A: November 5, 2025
4. AMC 10/12B: November 13, 2025
5. Harvard-MIT Math Tournament (HMMT November): November 8, 2025
6. Noetic Learning Math Contest (Fall Contest): November 13-26, 2025
7. Lexington Math Tournament (LMT Fall): likely December 13, 2025 (exact date TBD)
8. AMC 8: January 22-28, 2026
9. Exeter Math Club Competition (EMCC): Philips Exeter Academy, January, 2026
10. MATHCOUNTS Chapter: likely February 7, 2026 (exact date TBD)
11. Math League (grades 6, 7, 8): February 2026
12. AIME I: (for those who qualify) February 5, 2026
13. AIME II: (for those who qualify) February 11, 2026
14. MATHCOUNTS State (for those who qualify): likely March 7, 2026 (exact date TBD)
15. Pi Math Contest (PiMC): March 23 - April 5, 2026
16. Math Kangaroo: March 19, 2026
17. Noetic Learning Math Contest (Spring Contest): April 2-16, 2026
18. Purple Comet! Math Meet: April 14-23, 2026
19. Acton-Boxborough Math Competition (ABMC): April 2026
20. Lexington Math Tournament (LMT Spring): May 2026
MATHCOUNTS is a competition series for middle-school kids that has School, Chapter, State and National levels. Competitions involve live in-person participation.
Each level is comprised of 4 rounds—Sprint, Target, Team and Countdown.
Sprint Round: focuses on speed and accuracy. Students have 40 minutes to complete 30 math problems without a calculator.
Target Round: focuses on problem-solving and mathematical reasoning. Students receive 4 pairs of problems and have 6 minutes to complete each pair, assuming the use of a calculator.
Team Round: focuses on problem-solving and collaboration. Students have 20 minutes to complete 10 math problems, assuming the use of a calculator.
Countdown Round: focuses on speed and accuracy. Students have a maximum of 45 seconds per problem without a calculator.
Each school may send a team of 4, plus up to 6 individual competitors, to the Chapter Competition. The team of 4 will compete in Sprint, Target and Team rounds. 6 individuals will officially compete only in Sprint and Target rounds, but may solve Team Round problems unofficially (the result will not count towards the school team score). Top scoring competitors (the combined score for the Sprint and Target rounds) will be invited to the Countdown Round. Top school teams and top individuals will advance to the State Competition that will be held in March.
Intermediate Math League of Eastern Massachusetts is a competition for school teams. It consists of 5 contests (meets) that are held roughly once a month, starting in October. Each meet covers a specific set of topics. A team consists of 10 individuals that are selected for each meet through a try out. Schools are divided into clusters based on locality and one of the schools hosts a meet for all other participating schools within the cluster.
Each meet consists of 5 topic rounds (3 problems per round, 2 points each) and a team round (the number of problems varies). Each team member will compete in 3 rounds, so the total number of points an individual can earn for the meet is 18. Team score for the meet is the sum of all team members' scores and the score for the team round.
Schools are also grouped into divisions (4-8 schools in each), so there are 2 rankings - within the division and the overall. There is also the individual ranking.
The American Mathematics Competitions are a series of examinations and curriculum materials that build problem-solving skills and mathematical knowledge in middle and high school students. There are several AMC competitions that might be of an interest for middle school students.
AMC 8: middle school level competition (grades 8 and below)
The AMC 8 is a 25-question, 40-minute, multiple choice examination in middle school mathematics.
AMC 10: high school level competition (grades 10 and below).
The AMC 10 is a 25-question, 75-minute, multiple choice examination in high school mathematics. It is for students in 10th grade and below, and covers the high school curriculum up to 10th grade.
AIME: American Invitational Mathematics Examination.
Students who perform exceptionally well on the AMC 10 are invited to AIME.
Math Kangaroo is a 30-question, 75-minute, multiple choice test. Each question has point value. 1/3 of questions are 3 points each, 1/3 are 4 points each, and the last third are 5 points each. The sum of earned points is the student's result. The maximum possible score is 120 points.
MOAA is a middle school math competition at Philips Academy Andover.
The competition is open to students in 8th grade or below. Teams consist of 1-4 students with no restrictions.
ABMC is a math competition for middle school students. The question difficulties range from elementary questions involving basic mathematical concepts to early-mid AIME questions.
There are several types of rounds in ABMC (Speed, Accuracy, Team, Fermi). All rounds are in order of increasing difficulty. Earlier problems are representative of a rigorous middle school curriculum. Later problems include basic concepts from high school mathematics. The hardest problems are designed to be challenging for all participants. A familiarity with algebra and arithmetic is sufficient to solve a sizable portion of the problems.
Teams consist of 2-4 individuals from grades 6-8.
LMT is a middle school mathematics competition modeled on the Harvard-MIT Mathematics Tournament.
The competition is open to 6th, 7th and 8th grade students. The competitors are organized into teams of 4 to 6 students. The competition consists of four rounds: the Individual, Theme, Team, and Guts Rounds.
There are 6 High School Contests each year, with 6 questions per contest. There is a 30 minute time limit for each contest. On each contest, the last two questions are generally more difficult than the first four. The final question on each contest is intended to challenge the very best mathematics students. The problems require no knowledge beyond secondary school mathematics. Problems draw from a wide range of high school topics: geometry, algebra, trigonometry, logarithms, series, sequences, exponents, roots, integers, real numbers, combinations, probability, coordinate geometry, and more. No knowledge of calculus is required to solve any of these problems. Two to four of the questions on each contest only require a knowledge of elementary algebra.
Students in each league compete for the highest scores, while schools compete for the highest team score: the total of the top 5 scores in each school.
The Exeter Math Club Competition is a middle-school mathematics competition held annually at Phillips Exeter Academy in Exeter, New Hampshire. Teams consist of four people.
The individual round consists of two parts, taken one after another. The first part has 20 questions in 25 minutes, emphasizing speed. The second part is 10 questions in 45 minutes, emphasizing accuracy in problem solving.
The team round is a 45 minute round where everybody on the team can work together to solve 15 questions.
The Guts Round is a live round consisting of 24 questions in 75 minutes. The questions are given to the teams in sets of three.
The contents consists of 35 problems that should be solved in 30 minutes. Each problem is worth of 1 point. There is a team track and an individual track. Top 5 scores in each grade in school add up to the team score for the grade. Schools and individual will be ranked among other schools and individuals participating in New England Math League.
The Purple Comet! Math Meet is a free, on-line, international, team mathematics competition designed for middle and high school students.