Can I register my child for a CEMC contest directly?
No. CEMC states that "it is not possible for students to individually register for a contest," that every student takes part through their school, and that contests are written in a classroom under the supervision of school staff, never remotely. A school applies for a CEMC School Account through its principal or head of mathematics and orders the contest. If your school does not take part, CEMC suggests finding a participating local school that will let your child join. We prepare students for the paper; we cannot enter them for it.
What are the CEMC dates for 2026-27?
Outside North and South America: the Canadian Senior and Intermediate contests on 19 November 2026, Pascal, Cayley and Fermat on 24 to 25 February 2027, Euclid on 7 April 2027, Fryer, Galois and Hypatia on 8 April 2027, and Gauss in the window of 10 to 21 May 2027. In the Americas each date is one day earlier. CEMC published the whole table on its site; we read it on 22 September 2026.
Is there a special deadline for schools in India?
Yes. For Pascal, Cayley and Fermat, CEMC lists a separate ordering deadline for schools in India, 27 January 2027, ahead of 2 February for other overseas schools and 9 February for Canada. Euclid and the Fryer, Galois and Hypatia contests must be ordered by 11 March 2027, and Gauss by 22 April 2027. These are the school's deadlines, so tell your coordinator early.
Which contest is right for my child's grade?
Gauss is for Grades 7 and 8. Pascal is the Grade 9 contest, Cayley Grade 10 and Fermat Grade 11, each multiple choice, with Fryer, Galois and Hypatia as the full-solution papers for the same three grades. Euclid is for Grade 12. CEMC allows a student working ahead to write the contest for a more advanced grade. We batch by grade band and help you choose on the call.
Is CEMC's Cayley Contest the same as the UKMT Cayley Olympiad?
No. The University of Waterloo's Cayley Contest is a multiple-choice paper for Grade 10 written in February. The UK Mathematics Trust's Cayley is one of its Intermediate Mathematical Olympiad papers, a proof paper reached through the Intermediate Challenge. Same surname, different organisers, different papers, different dates. This page is about Waterloo; our separate page covers the UK one.
What is the Euclid Contest like?
CEMC describes it as 2.5 hours, scored out of 100, with a mix of short-answer and full-solution questions, some calculators permitted, and content based on curricula up to the final year of secondary school with some problems that need an idea beyond it. It is the Grade 12 capstone, and the paper universities most often mention, so it is the one we prepare hardest for.
How are the full-solution contests marked?
By people, against a written standard. CEMC says each solution "is assessed for completeness, clarity, and presentation style; a correct solution, poorly presented, will lose marks." That is why our batches write one marked argument a week from the second month: a student who can find the answer but not explain it loses most of the marks on Fryer, Galois, Hypatia and the full-solution half of Euclid.
Do you use CEMC's past contests?
Yes, for practice, because CEMC publishes its past contests and solutions on its own site for exactly that purpose. We use the real papers for placement, weekly practice and the two full rehearsals, and we send families to CEMC's own archive rather than reproducing papers here. Every past paper a student sits is reviewed question by question in the next class.
Does this help with AMC, IOQM or other contests?
The multiple-choice technique transfers directly to AMC 8, 10 and 12, and the full-solution writing is the same skill the IOQM to INMO pathway and the UK olympiads demand. Students in our olympiad course often sit CEMC contests as milestones. If your child's goal is the Indian pathway or the American one, we will say so on the call and point you to the right batch.
What happens after I send the form?
A mentor calls within a few hours, asks which grade your child is in and which contest the school has ordered or could order, and books a free demo class at a time that suits you. The demo is a real session: a handful of questions from a past CEMC paper for the grade, worked live, with the teacher showing the reasoning rather than the answer key. There is no card, no enrolment fee and no pressure on the call.
