CURRENT OPPORTUNITIES
AMC Early Primary 2026
Format
Registration Deadline (NZ Time)
Eligible Years
In-person online
9 October 2026 at 11:00:00 pm
NZ Years 2-3
Competition Date (NZ Time)
16:30-17:30, Thurs 22 Oct 2026
Location
Competition Gallery
Course Information
Optional preparation courses or resources for this round (if available)
Submission and Confirmation
Please check your email address carefully before submitting the registration form.
Once you submit the form, you will receive a confirmation email automatically.
All other important communications (including the Exam Instructions, Results and Certificates, etc) will be sent to the email address you submitted to us. Please check your email inbox and junk mail / spam folder regularly!
What Happens Next?
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2
3
4
Registration Received
We will send you a confirmation email
We may review your registration if required
Eligibility Review
You will receive the Exam Instructions closer to the date
Exam Instructions
Participate and do your best!
Competition Day
Competition Overview
(Early Primary) Australian Mathematics Competition (AMC)
The Australian Mathematics Competition (AMC) Early Primary is a new division of the Australian Mathematics Competition created for younger primary-school students.
Beginning in 2026, the AMC is extending participation to Australian Years 1–2, equivalent to New Zealand Years 2–3. This gives younger students the opportunity to experience the style of mathematical thinking that has defined the AMC for decades, before progressing into the established primary divisions.
The Australian Mathematics Competition was first held in 1978 and is Australia’s longest-running, largest and best-known mathematics competition for school students. Each year, its problems are developed by mathematics educators and academics to challenge students to think creatively, recognise patterns and apply mathematical ideas rather than simply perform routine calculations.
The Early Primary division brings this problem-solving philosophy to a younger age group through questions designed for beginning primary learners.
For New Zealand students, the Early Primary AMC will be delivered as an in-person, supervised online competition, providing a structured competition environment while students complete the assessment digitally.
Early Primary AMC gives young students an opportunity to:
experience a recognised mathematics competition from an early age;
develop confidence in mathematical problem solving;
explore mathematics beyond routine classroom exercises;
practise recognising patterns and relationships;
strengthen logical and numerical thinking;
learn to approach unfamiliar questions calmly;
develop persistence when an answer is not immediately obvious;
experience an individual academic competition in an age-appropriate setting; and
build a foundation for future participation in the AMC’s higher divisions.
At this age, the value of the competition is not simply the final score. It introduces students to the idea that mathematics can involve thinking, experimenting and finding different ways to solve a problem.
Early Primary AMC is designed for New Zealand Years 2–3 students.
It is particularly suitable for children who:
enjoy mathematics and number activities;
like puzzles, patterns or logical challenges;
are curious about how numbers and shapes work;
enjoy solving problems independently;
are ready to try questions that may require more than one step;
would benefit from an extension beyond routine classroom mathematics; or
would like their first experience of a formal mathematics competition.
Students do not need to be highly advanced mathematicians or have previous competition experience.
The division is intended to provide an accessible introduction to mathematical problem solving for younger learners.
Preparation for Early Primary AMC should remain light, enjoyable and problem-solving focused.
Students should not be pushed into memorising advanced mathematics purely for the competition.
Useful preparation includes:
practising age-appropriate number puzzles;
completing simple pattern-recognition activities;
working on mental addition and subtraction;
playing logic and sequencing games;
practising shape and spatial puzzles;
reading simple graphs and tables;
solving short mathematical word problems;
drawing pictures or diagrams to help understand a problem;
learning to try another method when the first approach does not work;
checking answers carefully; and
becoming comfortable completing simple problems independently on a computer or tablet.
Because AMC questions are designed to develop problem-solving skills, preparation should encourage students to ask:
What do I know? What is the question asking? What can I try?
Parents and teachers should focus on curiosity and confidence rather than intensive competition training. For younger students especially, learning that a difficult problem can be explored patiently is one of the most valuable outcomes of participating in the Early Primary AMC.
Students may also use AMT’s general mathematics problem-solving resources, including Problemo, as they build confidence with creative mathematical thinking.
Early Primary AMC is an individual mathematics competition.
For New Zealand participants, it will be delivered as an:
in-person competition;
online assessment;
directly supervised sitting; and
individual rather than collaborative competition.
Students will complete the competition using a computer or tablet in a controlled environment.
AMT has announced the Early Primary division as an online-only pilot. However, the final Early Primary question count, competition duration and scoring structure have not yet been published in the information currently available.
These details should therefore be confirmed once AMT releases the final Early Primary competition instructions.
For AMT online competitions generally, students must be supervised in person and use a computer or tablet with internet access; mobile phones are not permitted as competition devices.
The established Australian Mathematics Competition recognises student achievement through an award framework that includes:
Participation
Proficiency
Credit
Distinction
High Distinction
Prize
Best in School
Peter O’Halloran Award for a perfect score
For the established primary and secondary AMC divisions, award cut-offs are determined by comparing students within the same year level and region, and therefore vary from year to year according to the difficulty of the competition.
As Early Primary is a new pilot division, AMT has not yet confirmed in the published information whether the complete standard AMC award framework will apply unchanged to Early Primary students.
The final Early Primary award structure should therefore be confirmed once AMT publishes the pilot results and award arrangements.
Early Primary AMC provides a first entry point into the wider Australian Mathematics Competition pathway.
After completing the Early Primary division in New Zealand Years 2–3, students can continue participating in the AMC as they progress through school.
The next established AMC division is:
Middle Primary — New Zealand Years 4–5
Students can then continue through the AMC’s progressively higher divisions as their mathematics develops.
AMC participation is open entry rather than qualification-based, so an Early Primary result is not required in order to participate in later divisions.
The value of Early Primary AMC is therefore developmental: it introduces students to mathematical competition at a young age and helps build familiarity with the reasoning and problem-solving approach they will encounter in future AMC papers.
Preparation for Early Primary AMC should remain light, enjoyable and problem-solving focused.
Students should not be pushed into memorising advanced mathematics purely for the competition.
Useful preparation includes:
practising age-appropriate number puzzles;
completing simple pattern-recognition activities;
working on mental addition and subtraction;
playing logic and sequencing games;
practising shape and spatial puzzles;
reading simple graphs and tables;
solving short mathematical word problems;
drawing pictures or diagrams to help understand a problem;
learning to try another method when the first approach does not work;
checking answers carefully; and
becoming comfortable completing simple problems independently on a computer or tablet.
Because AMC questions are designed to develop problem-solving skills, preparation should encourage students to ask:
What do I know? What is the question asking? What can I try?
Parents and teachers should focus on curiosity and confidence rather than intensive competition training. For younger students especially, learning that a difficult problem can be explored patiently is one of the most valuable outcomes of participating in the Early Primary AMC.
Students may also use AMT’s general mathematics problem-solving resources, including Problemo, as they build confidence with creative mathematical thinking.
Resources & Downloads
Access all available competition information, preparation materials, past papers and official documents.