--- title: "APSMO Maths Olympiad Practice | Years 5 to 8 Problem Solving" description: "APSMO Maths Olympiad practice for Years 5 to 8: four contests, five questions in 30 minutes, the 2026 dates and integrity rules, and strategies on our own problems." canonical: https://learn.modernagecoders.com/apsmo-maths-olympiad-practice source: src/pages/apsmo-maths-olympiad-practice.html --- > APSMO Maths Olympiad practice for Years 5 to 8: four contests, five questions in 30 minutes, the 2026 dates and integrity rules, and strategies on our own problems. In short The APSMO Maths Olympiad is an inter-school problem-solving competition run by the Australasian Problem Solving Mathematical Olympiads, a not-for-profit established in 1987. Division J is for Years 5 and 6 and Division S for Years 7 and 8. Students sit four contests a year, each of 5 questions worth 1 mark in 30 minutes. In 2026 they fell on 6 May, 10 June, 29 July and 9 September. Only schools can enter. For olympiad problem solving ## Three courses for APSMO-age students Strategy-based problem solving for Years 5 to 8, at three depths. [![Problem Solving and Computational Thinking for Kids course thumbnail](/images/problem-solving-kids.webp) APSM / 01 Problem-solving strategies Working backwards, organised lists, patterns and logical elimination, practised on fresh problems every week. Open the syllabus →](/courses/problem-solving-and-computational-thinking-for-kids)[![Middle School Mathematics Mastery course thumbnail](/images/middle-school-maths.webp) APSM / 02 Years 5 to 8 maths Fractions, ratios, number properties and geometry, the content olympiad problems quietly rely on. Open the syllabus →](/courses/comprehensive-middle-school-mathematics-mastery)[![Maths Olympiad & Competition Course course thumbnail](/images/olympiad-competition-maths.webp) APSM / 03 Competition maths For students who want harder problems and longer arguments beyond the school contests. Open the syllabus →](/courses/olympiad-competition-mathematics-mastery) Who runs it ## APSMO and its programs From APSMO's About Us and program pages, read on 7 October 2026. APSMO describes itself as "a not-for-profit, professional organisation established in 1987". The initials stand for Australasian Problem Solving Mathematical Olympiads. It says it is affiliated with MOEMS, the Mathematical Olympiads for Elementary and Middle Schools in the United States, and that over 100,000 students take part in its programs each year across Australia and New Zealand. The Maths Olympiad is one of several APSMO programs. The others named on its site are Maths Quest for Years 1 and 2, Maths Explorer for Years 3 and 4, and Maths Games for Years 5 and 6 and for Years 7 and 8. APSMO draws a clear line between them. The Maths Games, it says, are "specifically designed to provide mainstream students" with a chance to learn problem-solving skills, while the Olympiad is "an ideal format for high achieving students to work in a competitive environment with challenging questions". For the Years 7 and 8 contest, APSMO is blunter still: "The Maths Olympiad is not a teaching program". It is a competition, and the teaching is meant to happen around it. Sources: APSMO [About Us](https://apsmo.edu.au/about-us/), [Maths Olympiad Years 5 and 6 FAQs](https://apsmo.edu.au/competitions-programs/maths-olympiad-years-5-6/faqs-olympiad-years-5-6/) and [Maths Olympiad Years 7 and 8](https://apsmo.edu.au/competitions-programs/maths-olympiad-years-7-8/), read on 7 October 2026. We are independent of APSMO. The competition ## Four contests, five questions, thirty minutes The format is the same in both divisions. These details are from APSMO's Maths Olympiad pages. | Detail | Division J | Division S | | --- | --- | --- | | Year levels | Years 5 and 6 | Years 7 and 8 (and up to Year 9 in New Zealand) | | Running since | In Australia since 1987 | Not stated on the page read | | 2026 contests | Wednesday 6 May, Wednesday 10 June, Wednesday 29 July, Wednesday 9 September | The same four Wednesdays | | Each contest | 5 questions, 1 mark each, 30 minutes | 5 questions, 1 mark each, 30 minutes | | Conditions | Individual, exam conditions in the classroom, no collaboration | The same | | Marking | By the teacher in charge, results submitted to APSMO | The same | APSMO says the four contests are held "approximately six weeks apart, starting in early Term 2" and that "students are required to complete all four contests". After each paper it recommends reviewing and discussing the solutions as a group. Entry is only through schools. "Individual registration is not possible", APSMO states, and registration is open to schools in Australia and New Zealand and to Australian International Schools. Schools can enter any number of teams of up to 30 students. Team fees are in Australian dollars, so we do not print them. With only five marks per contest, every question matters, and twenty marks across the year decide the final picture. Thirty minutes for five questions is about six minutes each, which is generous for some and tight for others; reading carefully is worth more than speed. Dates for 2027 were not on the pages when we checked. The 2026 pattern, early Term 2 through to September, is a useful guide; your school will confirm the real dates. Source: APSMO [Maths Olympiad Years 5 and 6](https://apsmo.edu.au/competitions-programs/maths-olympiad-years-5-6/) and [Years 7 and 8](https://apsmo.edu.au/competitions-programs/maths-olympiad-years-7-8/) pages, read on 7 October 2026. How preparation must work ## APSMO's integrity rules, and what they mean for tutoring APSMO publishes strict conditions to keep the contests fair. Any honest preparation has to respect them. | Condition | APSMO's wording | | --- | --- | | Exam conditions | "Maths Olympiad contests must be conducted in examination conditions." | | Papers kept closed | Contest papers are not provided to schools until the week of the contest | | No early access | "Students are not to have access to the Maths Olympiad questions, answers or solution methods prior to sitting the contest." | | No teaching to the test | Teachers "are prohibited from teaching to the upcoming Maths Olympiad questions. This includes intentionally providing preparation questions that are very similar to the actual questions." | | Re-examination | APSMO "reserves the right to re-examine students prior to determining the final Awards." | These rules shape everything we do for APSMO students. We teach general problem-solving strategies on problems we write ourselves. We never see contest papers before a contest, never try to predict upcoming questions, and never set practice designed to resemble them. That is not a limitation. The Olympiad is built to reward flexible thinking on unfamiliar problems, and drilling look-alike questions would not build that even if it were allowed. APSMO provides its own preparation material to schools. Its FAQ says schools receive a Preparation Kit in Term 1 with a practice paper and detailed solutions, and that teachers can access the previous year's papers through the members' area. Families should therefore ask the school about practice. What we add is steady teaching of the strategies underneath: working backwards, organised lists, looking for patterns, drawing a diagram and checking an answer against the question. Quotations: APSMO [Maths Olympiad Years 5 and 6 FAQs](https://apsmo.edu.au/competitions-programs/maths-olympiad-years-5-6/faqs-olympiad-years-5-6/), read on 7 October 2026. A general strategy ## Working backwards, on problems we wrote When a problem tells you the end result and the steps that led to it, the fastest route is often to start at the end and undo each step. These problems are ours and are not based on any APSMO paper. | Problem | Undo the steps | Check forwards | | --- | --- | --- | | A number is doubled, then 6 is added, then the result is divided by 4. The answer is 9. What was the number? | 9 times 4 is 36; 36 minus 6 is 30; 30 halved is 15 | 15 doubled is 30, plus 6 is 36, divided by 4 is 9 | | Ana gives Ben half of her marbles, then gives him 3 more, and has 5 left. How many did she start with? | 5 plus 3 is 8; she had given away half, so she started with twice 8, which is 16 | 16, give away 8, leaves 8; give 3 more, leaves 5 | Each operation is undone by its opposite, in reverse order: dividing becomes multiplying, adding becomes subtracting, halving becomes doubling. The order matters as much as the operations. Undoing the steps in the original order gives the wrong answer, which is the most common slip we see. The check forwards is not optional. It takes ten seconds and catches almost every mistake, and in a five-question contest a single caught mistake is a fifth of the marks. Compare working backwards with guessing and checking on the first problem. A student guessing 10, then 12, then 14, then 15 needs four trials to land on the answer, and has no guarantee of stopping. Working backwards gets there in three steps, every time, and shows why the answer is right. Guess and check still has its place, especially when steps cannot be reversed. Good problem solvers know several strategies and choose between them, which is what our classes practise, always on fresh problems. Problems and solutions are ours, checked forwards by hand and in Python on 7 October 2026. No APSMO question is reproduced or imitated. A strategy toolkit ## Five strategies for olympiad-style problems Students build these one at a time. Each strategy is practised until choosing it feels natural. | Strategy | When it helps | The sign it is secure | | --- | --- | --- | | Draw a diagram | Shapes, distances, arrangements | Draws before calculating, without being told | | Organised list | Counting possibilities | Lists every case once, in an order that shows none are missing | | Look for a pattern | Sequences and repeated steps | Predicts the next case and then checks it | | Work backwards | An end result is given | Undoes steps in reverse order and checks forwards | | Guess, check, refine | Steps cannot be reversed | Each new guess is better informed than the last | ### If your child finds the problems hard That is expected; the Olympiad is designed to stretch high achievers. Discussing solutions afterwards, as APSMO recommends, is where most learning happens. Encourage drawing and writing, even when the answer seems obvious. ### Other contests Our [AMC by year page](/australian-mathematics-competition-practice-by-year) covers the Australian Maths Trust's competition. The [Maths Challenge page](/maths-challenge-for-young-australians-practice) covers a module with written solutions. The catalogue ## Nine courses for Years 5 to 8 problem solvers Grouped by depth. Each card opens a full outline. I ### Foundations Confident with numbers APSM / F / 01 #### Mental maths Quick, reliable number sense. [Open the syllabus](/courses/mental-maths-mastery-kids) APSM / F / 02 #### Primary maths Every strand, reasoning out loud. [Open the syllabus](/courses/elementary-mathematics-complete-masterclass) APSM / F / 03 #### Vedic maths Fast calculation, always checked. [Open the syllabus](/courses/vedic-maths-course-speed-calculation-mastery)II ### Problem solving Strategies and content APSM / P / 01 #### Problem-solving strategies A strategy a fortnight, on fresh problems. [Open the syllabus](/courses/problem-solving-and-computational-thinking-for-kids) APSM / P / 02 #### Middle years maths Fractions to early algebra. [Open the syllabus](/courses/comprehensive-middle-school-mathematics-mastery) APSM / P / 03 #### Algebra foundations When working backwards becomes equations. [Open the syllabus](/courses/algebra-foundations-masterclass)III ### Stretch For the keenest APSM / X / 01 #### Competition maths Harder problems and full arguments. [Open the syllabus](/courses/olympiad-competition-mathematics-mastery) APSM / X / 02 #### Maths through coding Testing patterns with Python. [Open the syllabus](/courses/maths-through-coding) APSM / X / 03 #### Statistics and probability Counting and chance, carefully. [Open the syllabus](/courses/statistics-probability-maths-course) How lessons run ## Live problem-solving classes for Years 5 to 8 Our teachers work from India, behind every Australian time zone. A 4 pm lesson in Adelaide during daylight saving begins at 11 am India time, so after-school sessions are simple for us to keep. Term 1 Building strategies before the first contest. Weekly through the year One strategy, several fresh problems. Holiday sessions A short block on one strategy. ### Strategy named Students say which strategy they chose and why. ### Always checked Every answer is checked against the question. ### Groups of fifteen to twenty Children at a similar problem-solving stage. ### One-to-one option For students who want a faster pace. ### Short parent notes The strategy of the week and a problem to try. ### Fair play We never use or imitate contest papers. Student work ## Projects our students made Learners' own work, outside any contest. More in the [student labs](/student-labs). ![NutriLife AI nutrition coach project screenshot](/images/projects/nutrilife.webp) AI and ML #### NutriLife An AI nutrition coach that reads what you eat and works you toward a target. by Bhavya · [Open it](https://nutrilife-bhavya.lovable.app) ![Misti AI chatbot for maths and coding screenshot](/images/projects/misti.webp) AI and ML #### Misti A chatbot that answers mathematics and programming questions, built and deployed by a student. by Harshit · [Open it](https://misti.modernagecoders.com) ![GuardianX AI internet safety assistant screenshot](/images/projects/guardianx.webp) AI and ML #### GuardianX An assistant that helps a young person recognise unsafe situations online. by Vivaan · [Open it](https://guardianx-cybersaver.lovable.app) ![SkyCast weather forecast application screenshot](/images/projects/skycast.webp) Web app #### SkyCast A weather forecasting site with live conditions for any location. by Krish Fees ## Fees Australian families are charged monthly in US dollars, the same rate we use everywhere outside India, with nothing to pay up front and freedom to stop at any month end. APSMO entry is arranged and paid by schools. Free first class USD 0 no card required - A real lesson with a teacher - An honest view of problem-solving level - No payment details Book it Group batch USD 100 a month, billed in US dollars - Fifteen to twenty students at one stage - The same teacher each week - Solutions discussed in depth - A certificate at the end Start here One to one USD 150 a month, billed in US dollars - A teacher for one student - Paced to suit them - A weekly time you choose Enquire What families say ## Rated 4.9 across 547 Google reviews Parents' reviews, quoted from Google word for word. ★★★★★ "The one step solution for my son. Modern Age Coders make learning coding so simple that kids love it. The teachers explain complex concepts clearly with practical exercises and interactive content." Ria Mukherjee Parent ★★★★★ "Modern Age Coders has been a game-changer for me. I struggled to grasp IT concepts and coding before joining, but their classes transformed everything. I can now confidently write complex programs with ease." Samriddha Mondal Student ★★★★★ "One of the most wonderful education centres out there. Education is not limited to school syllabus but focuses on skill development." Vansh Agarwal Student ★★★★★ "My child Dhairya is really enjoying the Modern Age Coders classes. This is his first online class and he eagerly looks forward to it. I can already see his improvement, and the teachers are very cooperative." Sonam Oswal Parent of Dhairya ★★★★★ "Modern Age Coders have wonderful teachers who teach in a clear, easy and practical way. The teacher boosts students' confidence and inspires them to learn without hesitation." Sonu Goyal Parent ★★★★★ "I highly recommend this computer coding class! The teachers are incredibly knowledgeable and passionate about coding." Ritu Kedia Parent Questions about the APSMO Maths Olympiad ## What Australian families ask ### What is the APSMO Maths Olympiad? An inter-school problem-solving competition for capable students in Years 5 to 8, run by the Australasian Problem Solving Mathematical Olympiads, a not-for-profit established in 1987. ### What are Division J and Division S? Division J is the Junior Division for Years 5 and 6. Division S is the Senior Division for Years 7 and 8, and up to Year 9 in New Zealand. ### How many contests are there? Four a year, about six weeks apart, starting in early Term 2. In 2026 they were on 6 May, 10 June, 29 July and 9 September. Students must complete all four. ### How long is each contest? 30 minutes for 5 questions, each worth 1 mark, sat individually under exam conditions and marked by the teacher. ### Can my child enter on their own? No. APSMO states that individual registration is not possible; schools register teams of up to 30 students. ### Can you coach my child on the contest questions? No. APSMO prohibits teaching to the upcoming questions, including practice that is very similar to them. We teach general strategies on our own problems. ### What is working backwards? A strategy for problems that give the final result and the steps that produced it. You start at the end and undo each step in reverse order, then check by working forwards. ### How is the Olympiad different from the Maths Games? APSMO describes the Maths Games as designed for mainstream students to learn problem-solving skills, and the Olympiad as a competitive format for high achievers. ### Where does practice material come from? APSMO sends schools a Preparation Kit in Term 1 with a practice paper and solutions. Ask the school; our classes add strategy teaching around it. ### Are you part of APSMO? No. We are an independent online school, quoting APSMO because it runs the competition. Related pages ## More maths competitions in Australia Other contests for the same age group and our maths pages. ### [AMC practice by year](/australian-mathematics-competition-practice-by-year) The Australian Maths Trust's competition. ### [Maths Challenge practice](/maths-challenge-for-young-australians-practice) Written solutions over several weeks. ### [Competitions calendar](/australian-coding-maths-and-ai-competitions-calendar) Every contest by month. ### [NAPLAN Year 7 numeracy](/naplan-year-7-numeracy-practice) The national test in the same years. ### [Maths challenges](/maths-challenges) Puzzles to try at home. ### [Maths tutoring in Australia](/online-maths-tutoring-australia) Our main maths page for Australia. Start here ## Book a free problem-solving class Tell us the year level and whether your child sits the APSMO Olympiad at school. 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