---
title: "Australian Maths Trust Prep: AMC, AIO and CAT, Live Online"
description: "Live prep for the Australian Mathematics Competition, the Australian Informatics Olympiad and CAT: formats, entry via schools or centres, batches of 5 to 10."
canonical: https://learn.modernagecoders.com/australian-maths-trust-amc-aio-cat-preparation
source: src/pages/australian-maths-trust-amc-aio-cat-preparation.html
---
> Live prep for the Australian Mathematics Competition, the Australian Informatics Olympiad and CAT: formats, entry via schools or centres, batches of 5 to 10.

Start here

## The courses the AMT batches are built from

Three papers need three bases: school mathematics for the AMC, algorithms and a language for the AIO, and structured reasoning without code for CAT.

[![Middle School Mathematics Mastery course thumbnail](/images/middle-school-maths.webp)  AMC / Years 5 to 8 base Middle School Mathematics Number, ratio, geometry, counting and early algebra taught for understanding, the content the Upper Primary and Junior AMC divisions turn sideways. Open the syllabus →](/courses/comprehensive-middle-school-mathematics-mastery)[![Competitive Programming for Teens course thumbnail](/images/competitive-programming-teens.webp)  AIO / the programming olympiad Competitive Programming for Teens Contest problems, complexity and the standard algorithms, coded against a judge in Python or C++: the whole of what the six AIO questions ask. Open the syllabus →](/courses/competitive-programming-for-teens-course)[![Problem Solving and Computational Thinking for Kids course thumbnail](/images/problem-solving-kids.webp)  CAT / no code needed Problem Solving and Computational Thinking Algorithms as ideas before they are programs: sequencing, patterns, logic and search, which is exactly the ground CAT stands on for Years 5 to 12. Open the syllabus →](/courses/problem-solving-and-computational-thinking-for-kids)

Ans. The short version

The Australian Maths Trust runs three competitions this page prepares for. The Australian Mathematics Competition is 30 questions, 25 multiple choice and 5 integer answer, in 60 minutes for primary divisions and 75 for secondary, with tiered marks and no penalty for a wrong answer. The Australian Informatics Olympiad is six programming problems in three hours, answered in source code in C, C++, Java or Python 3 and marked on speed and correctness. The Computational and Algorithmic Thinking competition is a 60-minute paper of multiple-choice and integer questions that "requires no programming experience." All three are delivered by schools, home schools and tutoring centres; students cannot register individually, and the Trust's entry page lists international organisations as a registration category. The 2026 sittings were CAT on 19 to 21 May, AMC on 4 to 6 August and AIO on 27 August; 2027 dates were not yet published when this page was written. Modern Age Coders prepares students live online in batches of five to ten grouped by year level: one class a week on the mathematics or algorithms, one on timed practice in the shape of the paper. The first class is a free demo, and the group batch fee is shown on this page in your own currency.

Q1. What are the three papers, and who can enter?

## AMC, AIO and CAT, straight from the Australian Maths Trust

Everything below is taken from the Trust's competition pages and its How to enter page on amt.edu.au, read on 21 and 22 September 2026. The naming matters: this AMC is the Australian Mathematics Competition, not the American one.

| What the Trust publishes | AMC | AIO | CAT |
| --- | --- | --- | --- |
| Who sits it | Divisions from Middle Primary (Years 3 to 4) to Senior (Years 11 to 12); an Early Primary pilot for Years 1 to 2 ran online in 2026 for Australian and New Zealand schools | Intermediate (up to Year 10) and Senior (up to Year 12); "there is only one AIO paper. Divisions are for awarding only." | Upper Primary (Years 5 to 6) to Senior (Years 11 to 12) |
| Format | "30 questions - 25 multiple-choice, 5 integer." 60 minutes for primary divisions, 75 for secondary. Online or printed | "6 questions, answers are in source code." Three hours, online only. "Allowed languages are C, C++, Java or Python 3." Marked "on speed and correctness"; "coding style is not taken into consideration" | "6 multiple-choice, 3 x 3 integer questions" plus two optional prize questions for Intermediate and Senior. 60 minutes, online or printed. "Requires no programming experience" |
| Scoring | Tiered marks by question band, "no penalty for incorrect responses," total 135 | Source code run against test inputs for correctness and efficiency | "No penalty for incorrect responses," total 36 |
| 2026 sitting (2027 not yet published) | 4 to 6 August 2026; printed entries closed 3 July (Australia and New Zealand) and 26 June (international), online entries 31 July | 27 August 2026; entries closed 21 August | 19 to 21 May 2026; printed entries closed 1 May (Australia and New Zealand) and 24 April (international), online 15 May |
| How to enter | "All our competitions are delivered by schools. Only teachers at schools, home schools and tutoring centres can register students. Students cannot register individually." The Trust's entry categories: Australian and New Zealand schools including registered home schools; coaching clinics and businesses; and "International organisations: schools, businesses and coaching clinics outside Australia and New Zealand" | Same | Same |
| Fee paid to the Trust (by the registering organisation) | AUD 9.30 per student, bundle discounts available | AUD 25.90 per student | AUD 9.30 per student; the free CAT Coding extension costs nothing |
| What it leads to | The Trust's olympiad and pathways programme, including its own junior, intermediate and senior mathematical olympiads | "Students who perform well in the AIO may be invited to participate in the AMT's olympiad programs" | The three-week CAT Coding extension, free and ungraded, in any language, at home or school |

Two things follow. First, the entry route: a parent cannot register a child, but a home school can, and so can a tutoring centre or an organisation outside Australia, which is why the Trust publishes separate international entry deadlines. If your school does not run the competitions, the Trust's own advice is that students may "sit our competitions at private tutoring centres or coaching clinics." Second, CAT needs no code, which makes it the gentlest first competition in this whole family and a good door into the AIO for a student who has never programmed.

A naming trap to avoid: the AMC here is the Australian Mathematics Competition. The American Mathematics Competitions, run by the MAA, use the same three letters, have different dates, formats and entry rules, and have their own [page on this site](/math-olympiad-amc-tutoring). CAT is not India's Common Admission Test either.

Q2. What does each paper actually test?

## Three papers, three different skills

A student strong in one is rarely strong in all three without training: the AMC rewards quick mathematical reasoning, the AIO rewards code that runs fast, and CAT rewards the ability to follow and design a procedure with no code at all.

AMC

### Mathematical reasoning at speed, with no penalty

Thirty questions that start easy and climb, the last five integer-answer and worth the most. With no penalty for a wrong answer the winning approach is to attempt everything and save time for the top band. We teach the question families the AMC reuses and the three-pass strategy the scoring rewards.

AIO

### Algorithms that run within the limits

Six problems, three hours, and a judge that runs your code against inputs you never see, marking speed as well as correctness. The skill is reading a problem into an algorithm, choosing a data structure that fits the largest input, and testing before submitting. Coding style earns nothing; a slow correct answer earns little.

CAT

### Computational thinking without a keyboard

Trace this procedure, find the shortest route, decide what the rule must be, count the ways. No programming knowledge is required, which is the point: it measures the thinking that programming is built on. The optional prize questions in the upper divisions are where the ranking is decided.

CAT Coding

### The free extension

A three-week, ungraded, collaborative programming extension of selected CAT questions, in any language, at home or at school, with no fee. The Trust built it as a bridge from thinking to coding; we use it the same way for students who enjoyed CAT and want to try the AIO.

Question counts and mark schemes are on the Trust's own pages and past papers, which we use in class rather than reproduce. Every student sees a real past paper for their division in the first week, with a clock, and students who also sit the American contests use the [competition mathematics course](/courses/olympiad-competition-mathematics-mastery) alongside.

Q3. Why thinking beats knowing on a CAT paper

## The same CAT-style question, two students

A Junior-division style question: "A robot starts at the left end of a row of 8 squares. Each move it goes 3 squares right or 2 squares left, never leaving the row. What is the fewest moves to reach square 8?" No code, no calculator, one integer answer.

***The trying answer**moves at random*

```
Start at 1.
+3 -> 4, +3 -> 7, +3 -> 10? No, off the row.
7, -2 -> 5, +3 -> 8. That is 4 moves.
Is there a faster way?
1, +3 -> 4, -2 -> 2, +3 -> 5, +3 -> 8: 4.

# Two routes found, both 4 moves,
# and the student is not sure 3 is
# impossible. Answer: 4, uncertain.
```

The right number, reached by luck, with time spent checking routes that could never be shorter. The next question is worth the same marks and is now short of a minute.

***The reasoning answer**rehearsed in class*

```
Need to gain 7 squares.
Each +3 gains 3, each -2 loses 2.
Two moves: at most +6. Not enough.
Three moves: +9, +4 or -1. No 7.
Four moves: 3a - 2b = 7 with a + b = 4
gives a = 3, b = 1. So 4 moves,
if a route stays on the row:
1, 4, 7, 5, 8. Yes.
Answer: 4, and 3 is impossible.

# Thirty seconds, and certain.
```

Same problem, no trial: count what must be gained, rule out the smaller counts, then check one route. That habit is CAT, and it is also the first step of every AIO solution.

Every paper has its version: on the AMC it is the student who spots the pattern instead of grinding cases; on the AIO it is the student who reads the input size before writing a loop. The plan below teaches those habits by name.

Q4. How does the batch prepare?

## Five steps, counted back from the Trust's published dates

Two live classes a week. One on the mathematics or the algorithms, one on timed practice in the shape of the paper the student is entered for, reviewed question by question the next class.

1. #### A placement on a real past paper in the first week

  The Trust's past AMC or CAT paper for the division, or an AIO-style problem against a judge, sat alone with the clock, then walked through together. It tells the teacher which band will earn the marks and which will lose them, and it tells you honestly where your child stands.
2. #### The base first: school mathematics, or a language

  AMC and CAT students work through the year level's mathematics alongside the contest work; AIO students who cannot yet code learn Python first, because the judge does not mark ideas that never compile.
3. #### The question families, by name

  For the AMC: patterns, working backwards, organised counting, the extra line in a figure. For CAT: tracing, search, rules and invariants. For the AIO: prefix sums, sorting and searching, greedy choices, simple graphs, and reading the constraints before writing a line.
4. #### Practice in the paper's own shape, every week

  AMC and CAT sets with the three-pass strategy and a stopwatch; AIO problems submitted to a judge with a time limit, then reviewed for both correctness and speed.
5. #### Two full rehearsals, then the real one

  The last four weeks before the sitting are full past papers under contest conditions, reviewed line by line. Students walk into the classroom or open the online paper having already sat it twice.

Batches for Australian and New Zealand families run in their evening and weekend slots; the mentor fixes the time on the call once we know the year level and the paper. Families elsewhere whose school or tutoring centre enters them join the same batches. The fee for families in Australia is shown in dollars on this page.

Q5. Is this batch right for my child?

## Who it suits, and who it does not

### It suits

A Year 3 to 12 student in Australia or New Zealand whose school runs the AMC, or a Year 5 to 12 student whose school runs CAT, who wants to sit the paper prepared rather than surprised. A Year 7 to 12 student who can code a little and wants the AIO. A home-schooled student, whose home school can register directly with the Trust.

### It also suits

A student who sat the AMC last year on instinct and wants a higher division certificate this year. A student who enjoyed CAT and wants the free CAT Coding extension, then the AIO. A family outside Australia whose school or coaching centre enters students through the Trust's international category.

### It does not suit

A family whose school and no local tutoring centre will register, because the Trust allows no individual entry and we will not pretend otherwise. A student aiming at the American AMC or AIME, who needs our AMC page instead. A family looking for a crash session the week before August.

Q6. What does it cost?

## Monthly fees, the same for every course we teach

Billed monthly, no admission fee, stop at any month end. The free demo class comes first, or book a Priority Live Demo for a full class today or tomorrow.

Group batch · by year level

₹1,499

per month

- Five to ten students, in the same year level band
- Two live classes a week, the base and timed past papers
- Placement paper, weekly marked sets, two full rehearsals
- Certificate on completion

Book the free demo

Mini batch

₹2,999

per month

- Three to four students
- Timings agreed around the family
- More judged code review for AIO students

Ask about timings

One to one

₹4,999

per month

- Private teaching on your own schedule
- Pace set by the student, not the batch
- The usual choice when the sitting is close

Enquire

What families say

## Rated 4.9 across 547 Google reviews

Real reviews from real families. We neither write nor commission them.

★★★★★

"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

Related pages

## The other contests, and the maths and code underneath

The American contest that shares the letters, the informatics olympiad pathway, and the live courses this batch is built on.

[Which maths olympiad? The chooser/maths-olympiad-classes-online](/maths-olympiad-classes-online)[The American AMC, AIME and USAMO/math-olympiad-amc-tutoring](/math-olympiad-amc-tutoring)[IOI and informatics olympiad training/ioi-olympiad-informatics-training](/ioi-olympiad-informatics-training)[CEMC Waterloo contests/cemc-waterloo-contests-preparation](/cemc-waterloo-contests-preparation)[Maths challenges and competitions/maths-challenges](/maths-challenges)[Middle School Mathematics/courses/comprehensive-middle-school-mathematics-mastery](/courses/comprehensive-middle-school-mathematics-mastery)[High School Mathematics/courses/complete-high-school-mathematics-mastery](/courses/complete-high-school-mathematics-mastery)[Competitive Programming for Teens/courses/competitive-programming-for-teens-course](/courses/competitive-programming-for-teens-course)[Problem Solving and Computational Thinking/courses/problem-solving-and-computational-thinking-for-kids](/courses/problem-solving-and-computational-thinking-for-kids)

Questions parents ask

## About the AMT competitions and the preparation batch

### Can I register my child for the Australian Mathematics Competition directly?

No. The Trust states that "all our competitions are delivered by schools. Only teachers at schools, home schools and tutoring centres can register students. Students cannot register individually." Ask your school first; if it does not run the competition, the Trust says students may sit its competitions at private tutoring centres or coaching clinics, and a registered home school can enter its own students. We prepare students for the papers; whether we can enter a student is a question for the Trust's registration rules in a given year, and we will tell you honestly on the call.

### Is this the same AMC as the American one?

No. This page is about the Australian Mathematics Competition run by the Australian Maths Trust: 30 questions, 60 or 75 minutes, sat in August. The American Mathematics Competitions run by the MAA are different papers on different dates with different entry rules, covered on our AMC and AIME page. The three letters are the only thing they share.

### When are the 2027 competitions?

The Trust had not published 2027 dates when this page was written. Its 2026 sittings were CAT on 19 to 21 May, the AMC on 4 to 6 August and the AIO on 27 August, with entries closing a few weeks before each and earlier for international organisations. We expect the same months in 2027 and will replace the pattern with the published dates as soon as they appear on amt.edu.au.

### What is the difference between the AMC, the AIO and CAT?

The AMC is a mathematics paper: 30 questions, tiered marks, no penalty for a wrong answer. The AIO is a programming olympiad: six problems in three hours, answered in source code in C, C++, Java or Python 3, marked on speed and correctness. CAT is a computational-thinking paper: 60 minutes of multiple-choice and integer questions that need no programming at all. A student can sit all three, and many do.

### Does my child need to code for CAT?

No. The Trust says CAT "requires no programming experience" and describes it as a way to develop interest and potential in programming. It tests whether a student can follow, trace and design procedures with a pencil. Students who enjoy it can try the free three-week CAT Coding extension, and from there the AIO.

### Which language should my child use for the AIO?

Whichever they can already write, among C, C++, Java and Python 3. The AIO marks speed and correctness and ignores style, so the practical answer is the language the student can debug fastest under a clock. Beginners start in Python with us; students aiming at the olympiad programmes beyond the AIO usually add C++ later.

### What do the fees cover?

The Trust charges the registering organisation AUD 9.30 per student for the AMC and CAT, with bundle discounts, and AUD 25.90 per student for the AIO; CAT Coding is free. Those are the Trust's published figures and are paid to it by the school, home school or centre that registers the student. Our own monthly fee for the preparation batch is on this page, in your currency.

### Do you use past AMT papers?

Yes. The Trust publishes past papers and solutions, and we use them for placement, weekly practice and the two full rehearsals, then send families to the Trust's own resources rather than reproducing papers here. Every paper a student sits is reviewed question by question in the next class.

### We are outside Australia. Can my child sit these?

Possibly, through a school or a coaching centre that registers with the Trust under its "International organisations" category, which the Trust lists on its entry page with its own earlier deadlines. A family cannot register alone from anywhere. We prepare students anywhere; ask your school or centre whether it registers with the Trust, and ask us on the call what we can confirm for the current year.

### What happens after I send the form?

A mentor calls within a few hours, asks which year level your child is in and which of the three papers they are aiming at, and books a free demo class at a time that suits you. The demo is a real session: a few AMC questions with a clock, one CAT-style procedure traced together, or a small judge problem for an AIO student, with the teacher showing the reasoning rather than the answer key. There is no card, no enrolment fee and no pressure on the call.

Start

## The free demo is a real past-paper session

Book it and your child joins a live session on the paper they are aiming at: a few AMC questions against the clock, a CAT procedure traced out loud, or one AIO problem coded and submitted, and the honest verdict on where they stand. You watch from the next chair. If you would rather see a full 45-60 minute class today or tomorrow, book a [Priority Live Demo](/priority-demo) instead; its fee is adjusted against your first month if you enrol.

Read first instead? The [maths challenges guide](/maths-challenges) compares the contests students sit, and the [informatics olympiad page](/ioi-olympiad-informatics-training) covers the road beyond the AIO.

[WhatsApp us](https://wa.me/919123366161?text=Hello%20Modern%20Age%20Coders.%20I%20want%20to%20know%20about%20Australian%20Maths%20Trust%20competition%20preparation%20classes.) · [+91 91233 66161](tel:+919123366161) · [contact@modernagecoders.com](mailto:contact@modernagecoders.com)

Every session is a live video class. Sending the form books a callback and nothing else; no seat is reserved or lost by it.

## Keep exploring Modern Age Coders

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### Start here

- [Book a free demo class with Modern Age Coders](/book-demo)
- [Real projects built by Modern Age Coders students](/student-labs)

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