Welcome to the British Mathematical Olympiad

• National olympiads:
  • The British Mathematical Olympiad
  • The UK Mathematical Olympiad for Girls (UK MOG)
• National events: events calendar, UK Olympiad Training; the annual IMO Lecture and Celebration (where prizes are presented)
• International events, including reports on each year’s events:
  • The International Mathematical Olympiad
  • The Balkan Mathematical Olympiad
  • The Romanian Master of Mathematics
  • The European Girls’ Mathematical Olympiad
  • The Mathematics Ashes (held each year just before the IMO)
• Other information and links:
  • BMOS and UKMT supporters may elect to make a small tax efficient regular donation to these organizations.
  • Committee information: a short history of the BMOC, list of current committee members; list of other people involved in BMOS activities
  • BMO policies on use of BMO material and on eligibility
  • Contact details
  • Past news and events

BMO Round 1 (22 November 2024)

This year’s BMO Round 1 paper was taken on 20 November; video solutions are available online. Production facilities for the video were donated by University of Bath Media Production. The problems were by Geoff Smith, Geoff Smith, Sam Bealing, Dominic Yeo, Sam Cappleman-Lynes, and Jeremy King, respectively.

UK MOG markers’ report and prize winners (23 October 2024)

The markers’ report for the 2024 UK Mathematical Olympiad for Girls paper, with statistics of results, is now available. The following participants scored 46 or more out of 50 and have been awarded book prizes.

Eligibility update (3 October 2024)

The BMO Executive Committee wishes to draw attention to three aspects of eligibility for IMO programme activities.

Hungary camp 2024/25

Invitations to the IMO winter camp in Hungary will continue to be issued based on the results of BMO1. However, from 2024 onwards, only pupils who have previously attended a BMO residential event (Oxford summer school, Cambridge spring selection camp, previous Hungary camp) will be eligible to attend the Hungary winter camp.

This change is partly necessitated by the timings of the marking weekend, and the deadline for confirming names on flight tickets.

The invitation policy to other events is unchanged. In particular, invitations to the main training and selection camp held in Cambridge in Spring 2025 will remain based on BMO (principally BMO2), with all participating pupils considered for an invitation.

Multiple countries’ IMO programmes

Increasing numbers of pupils have asked about the rules regarding participation in other countries’ olympiad activities. The key rules are, in outline, that in a given academic year any of:

1. Representing another country at any international maths competition;
2. Taking another country’s Team Selection Test;
3. Attending an event or programme (in person or online) that includes an IMO Team Selection Test (even if not sitting the paper itself);

means a pupil will not be eligible for the UK IMO team of that academic year, and will not be eligible for any training or selection events within that year’s UK IMO programme.

Pupils who expect to take a minor part in other countries’ olympiad programmes but wish to remain eligible for the UK IMO team are reminded to be cautious, and to contact bmo-chair@ukmt.org.uk if they are unsure whether their activities comply with this policy.

A longer version of this policy is available.

Eligibility for EGMO team

The UK participates in the annual European Girls’ Mathematical Olympiad in April. The team is selected from female pupils who score highly on that year’s BMO (principally BMO2). In particular, candidates and their schools should be aware that leaving the gender box blank on the form may lead to a pupil missing out on selection.

UK Mathematical Olympiad for Girls (27 September 2024)

The UK Mathematical Olympiad for Girls (UK MOG) paper was taken on Wednesday. Solutions are also available.

IMO 2024 results (20 July 2024, press release added 26 July 2024)

The IMO 2024 papers were sat on 16 and 17 July in Bath. The results of the UK team members are shown below. We obtained two gold, three silver and one bronze medals and a score of 162 out of 252, coming equal 6th out of 108 participating countries. The medal boundaries were 29 for Gold, 22 for Silver and 16 for Bronze. A press release is also available.

IMO 2024 problems (17 July 2024)

The IMO 2024 papers were sat on 16 and 17 July in Bath. The problems were submitted by Colombia, Indonesia, Australia, Poland, Hong Kong and Japan, respectively.

Mathematics Ashes results (13 July 2024)

The UK has won the 17th Mathematics Ashes competition, decided on the results of today’s practice exam at the joint pre-IMO training camp; the results for the two teams were as follows, with the UK scoring a total of 104 and Australia scoring a total of 81:

IMO team selected (27 May 2024)

The following six students have been selected as the UK team for IMO 2024, to be held in Bath, 11–22 July.

The Team Leader is Dominic Yeo (King’s College London) and the Deputy Leader is Vesna Kadelburg (The Perse School). The first reserve is Zijie Guan (The Glasgow Academy).

Balkan Mathematical Olympiad results (30 April 2024)

The UK team at the Balkan Mathematical Olympiad in Varna, Bulgaria have achieved the following scores (each question marked out of 10). The medal cut-offs were 33 for gold, 23 for silver and 12 for bronze.

The problems were proposed by the UK (Tom Hillman), Romania, Kazakhstan, Uzbekistan.

EGMO results (15 April 2024)

The UK team in the 13th European Girls’ Mathematical Olympiad have achieved the following results, coming 16th out of 54 participating teams (9th out of 37 official European teams). The medal boundaries are 33 for gold, 22 for silver and 13 for bronze.

European Girls’ Mathematical Olympiad Day 2 (14 April 2024)

The problems from the second paper at the 13th European Girls’ Mathematical Olympiad, sat today in Tskaltubo, Georgia, are now available. The problems were submitted by Ukraine, Croatia and Luxembourg + Belgium, respectively.

European Girls’ Mathematical Olympiad Day 1 (13 April 2024)

The problems from the first paper at the 13th European Girls’ Mathematical Olympiad, sat today in Tskaltubo, Georgia, are now available. The problems were submitted by Slovakia, the United Kingdom and the Netherlands, respectively.

Balkan Mathematical Olympiad team selected (8 April 2024)

The UK has been invited as a guest nation to send a team to the Balkan Mathematical Olympiad, to be held in Varna, Bulgaria, 27 April–2 May. The team will be accompanied by Jamie Bell (University College, London) as Leader, Dominic Yeo (King’s College London) as Observer with Leader and Ina Hughes as Observer with Contestants. After the training camp held at Trinity College, Cambridge, the team has been selected as follows.

IMO squad selected (8 April 2024)

At the training camp held at Trinity College, Cambridge, the following IMO squad of eleven was selected. These students will participate in further training and selection tests before the IMO team of six and the first reserve for the IMO in the UK are chosen.

The Team Leader is Dominic Yeo (King’s College London) and the Deputy Leader is Vesna Kadelburg (The Perse School). The IMO will take place in Bath, 11–22 July.

Romanian Master of Mathematics results (1 March 2024)

The UK participants in the Romanian Master of Mathematics competition have achieved the following results, coming 7th out of 14 teams in the team competition. The medal boundaries are 30 for gold, 25 for silver and 21 for bronze. The problems (day 1, day 2) are available, and were proposed by Israel, the United Kingdom (Will Steinberg), Russia, Iran, Denmark, and Iran, respectively.

BMO Round 2 high scores (13 February 2024)

The following BMO2 candidates scored 28 or more out of 40.

EGMO 2024 team (13 February 2024)

The 13th European Girls’ Mathematical Olympiad will be held 11–17 April in Tskaltubo, Georgia. The UK team will be:

The reserve is Keisha Kwok (The Sacred Heart Language College). The Team Leader is Kasia Warburton and the Deputy Leader is Emily Beatty; Ava Yeo will be Observer with Contestants.

BMO Round 2 (26 January 2024)

This year’s BMO Round 2 paper was taken on Wednesday 24 January; video solutions are available online. Production facilities for the video were donated by the University of Bath Audio Visual Unit. The problems were by Richard Freeland, Sam Bealing, Gerry Leversha, and Ben Handley, respectively.

Romanian Master of Mathematics 2024 UK participants (5 January 2024, staff added 9 January 2024)

Following the annual IMO Winter School held in Hungary, 27 December to 4 January, the students to represent the UK at the Romanian Master of Mathematics competition have been selected as:

The leaders are Andjela Sarkovic (King’s College, Cambridge) and Harvey Yau (DPMMS, Cambridge). Mary Teresa Fyfe (formerly of Hutchesons’ Grammar School) is Observer with Contestants. The RMM will take place in Bucharest, 26 February to 2 March.

BMO Round 1 high scores and markers’ report (19 December 2023, New Zealand results added 22 January 2024)

The following BMO Round 1 candidates scored 57 or more out of 60. The markers’ report on BMO1, with discussions of different approaches to the problems, is also now available.

BMO Round 1 (17 November 2023)

This year’s BMO Round 1 paper was taken on 15 November; video solutions are available online. Production facilities for the video were donated by the University of Bath Audio Visual Unit. The problems were by Geoff Smith, Geoff Smith, Sam Bealing, Dominic Yeo, Richard Freeland, and Ben Handley, respectively.

UK MOG markers’ report and prize winners (24 October 2023)

The markers’ report for the 2023 UK Mathematical Olympiad for Girls paper, with statistics of results, is now available. The following participants scored 43 or more out of 50 and have been awarded book prizes.