Hundreds of thousands of students from Year 3 to Year 12 compete on the same day, making it one of the largest single events on the Australian education calendar.
Students of all levels of ability, from all types of schools in vastly different locations around the country will sit a 75-minute secondary paper or 60-minute primary paper, which contains quirky questions with an emphasis on fun and problem solving.
The AMC is the first and believed to be one of the largest competitions of its kind in the world, with more than 1100 prizes and 60 medals awarded annually.
Since it began in 1978, it has become a truly international event, attracting more than 14 million entries over that time.
This year, there are entries from more than 40 countries across the Asia Pacific area, where it is regarded as the benchmark event, Europe, and Africa. Entries from Iran doubled and both Hong Kong also and Indonesia had a significant increase in their numbers.
There was an increase in both schools and overall numbers in Trinidad and Tobago. In Australia, the number of schools entering and the number of entries have increased in the Northern Territory; entries from Western Australia are also up and the number of schools participating in South Australia and Tasmania increased.
Professor Peter Taylor, Executive Director of the not-for-profit Australian Mathematics Trust, which administers the Competition, said, “The AMC is able to test a student’s normal classroom skills and further, their ability to adapt to new situations, using known mathematics to solve a problem in a new context.”
“The AMC identifies many talented young mathematicians who go on to participate in the Australian Olympiad programs, which the Trust also runs. This can lead to them competing in the International Olympiads in Mathematicsand Informatics and bringing home medals for Australia. Ultimately it opens up vastly more career opportunities as the demand for a technologically skilled work force increases,” he added.
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