Singapore Mathematical Olympiad

Last updated

The Singapore Mathematical Olympiad (SMO) is a mathematics competition organised by the Singapore Mathematical Society. It comprises three sections, Junior, Senior and Open, each of which is open to all pre-university students studying in Singapore who meet the age requirements for the particular section. The competition is held annually, and the first round of each section is usually held in late May or early June. The second round is usually held in late June or early July.

Contents

The Junior section includes concepts from the secondary 1 and 2 curriculum and is open to lower secondary students, [1] the Senior section includes concepts from the Singapore GCE ordinary level curriculum and is open to upper secondary students, [2] the Open section includes concepts from the Singapore GCE advanced level curriculum and is open to students not yet attending university full-time. [3] Some additional concepts are also included (see respective sections below).

Calculators are not allowed in the SMO. [4]

History

The Singapore Mathematical Society (SMS) has been organising mathematical competitions since the 1950's, launching the first inter-school Mathematical Competition in 1956. The Mathematical Competition was renamed to Singapore Mathematical Olympiad in 1995. [5]

In 2016, the SMS attempted to make the SMO more inviting to students by aligning questions more closely with school curriculum, although solutions still require considerable insight and creativity in addition to sound mathematical knowledge.

In 2020 and 2021, the written round (Round 1) in all sections were postponed to September due to the COVID-19 pandemic, while the invitational round (Round 2) in all sections were cancelled. The normal competition timeline was resumed in 2022.

Junior Section

There are two rounds in the Junior Section: a written round (Round 1) and a special round (Round 2).

The paper in Round 1 comprises 5 multiple-choice questions, each with five options, and 30 short answer questions. The Junior section is geared towards Lower Secondary students, and topics tested include number theory, combinatorics, geometry, algebra, probability and sometimes even calculus.

Beginning in 2006, a second round was added, based on the Senior Invitational Round, in the form of a 5-question, 3-hour long paper requiring full-length solutions. Only the top 2% of students from Round 1 are eligible to take Round 2.

Senior Section

There are two rounds in the Senior Section: a written round (Round 1) and an invitational round (Round 2).

The paper in Round 1 comprises 5 multiple-choice questions, each with five options, and 20 short answer questions. The Senior section is geared towards Upper Secondary students, and topics tested include number theory, combinatorics, geometry, algebra, and probability.

The second round, the Senior Invitational Round consists of a 5-question, 4-hour long paper requiring full-length solutions. Only the top 10% of students from Round 1 are eligible to take Round 2.

Open Section

Similar to the Senior Section, there are also two rounds, a written round (Round 1) and an invitational round (Round 2).

The paper in Round 1 comprises 25 short answer questions, and is geared towards pre-university students. Topics tested include number theory, combinatorics, geometry, algebra, calculus (occasionally), probability, but of a higher difficulty level than the Senior Section.

The Open Invitational Round consists of a 5-question, 4-hour long paper requiring full-length solutions, in which only the top scorers of Round 1 are invited to take. This test will help determine the individual rankings of the scorers, and in addition, it acts as a guideline to select Singaporean or Permanent Resident participants for the National Team training team, whereby a further six will then be selected for the International Mathematical Olympiad.

Ranking and Prizes

Since 2006, in each of the Junior, Senior and Open sections, prizes are awarded to the 30 individuals with the highest total scores in the first and second rounds. 2020 and 2021 were exceptions, where prizes were only given to the top 13 individuals due to the cancellation of the second round.

School awards are given in 2 categories, Cat 1 and Cat 2, based on the achievements of students in the Junior and Senior (for Cat 1), and Open (for Cat 2) sections. [6] Schools may receive gold, silver, bronze or participation, in decreasing order of merit. In addition, the Singapore Mathematical Challenge Trophy is awarded to the school with the highest total score of the best 3 individual scores in the Junior, Senior and Open sections.

The above prizes take the form of cash awards, certificates displaying the individual's/team's ranking, as well as trophies. Individuals who do not place in the top 30 may also receive gold, silver, bronze, honourable mentions or participation, in decreasing order of merit.

See also

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">International Mathematical Olympiad</span> Mathematical olympiad for pre-university students

The International Mathematical Olympiad (IMO) is a mathematical olympiad for pre-university students, and is the oldest of the International Science Olympiads. It is “the most prestigious” mathematical competition in the world. The first IMO was held in Romania in 1959. It has since been held annually, except in 1980. More than 100 countries participate. Each country sends a team of up to six students, plus one team leader, one deputy leader, and observers.

The United Kingdom Mathematics Trust (UKMT) is a charity founded in 1996 to help with the education of children in mathematics within the UK.

The United States of America Mathematical Olympiad (USAMO) is a highly selective high school mathematics competition held annually in the United States. Since its debut in 1972, it has served as the final round of the American Mathematics Competitions. In 2010, it split into the USAMO and the United States of America Junior Mathematical Olympiad (USAJMO).

The American Mathematics Competitions (AMC) are the first of a series of competitions in secondary school mathematics that determine the United States of America's team for the International Mathematical Olympiad (IMO). The selection process takes place over the course of roughly five stages. At the last stage, the US selects six members to form the IMO team. The 1994 US IMO Team is the first of the only two teams ever to achieve a perfect score (all six members earned perfect marks), and is colloquially known as the "dream team".

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Hai Sing Catholic School</span> Government-aided school in Pasir Ris, Singapore

Hai Sing Catholic School (HSC) is a co-educational government-aided Catholic secondary school in Pasir Ris, Singapore. Founded by the Franciscan Missionaries of Mary (FMM) sisters in 1959, it is affiliated to Catholic Junior College. The school has temporarily moved from its permanent site to its holding site at 15 Pasir Ris Street 21 until Dec 2025.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">British Informatics Olympiad</span>

The British Informatics Olympiad (BIO) is an annual computer-programming competition for secondary and sixth-form students. Any student under 19 who is in full-time pre-university education and resident in mainland Britain is eligible to compete. The competition is composed of two rounds - a preliminary 3-question, 3-hour exam paper sat at the participant's school and a final round. The top-15 performing students each year are invited to the finals where they attempt to solve several more difficult problems, some written, some involving programming. Typically a score of 75 to 90 out of 100 is required on the first round of the competition to reach the final.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Ang Mo Kio Secondary School</span> Government school

Ang Mo Kio Secondary School (AMKSS) is a co-educational government secondary school in Ang Mo Kio, Singapore, offering education for Secondary 1 to Secondary 5. Students at AMKSS are known as AMKsians.

The British Mathematical Olympiad (BMO) forms part of the selection process for the UK International Mathematical Olympiad team and for other international maths competitions, including the European Girls' Mathematical Olympiad, the Romanian Master of Mathematics and Sciences, and the Balkan Mathematical Olympiad. It is organised by the British Mathematical Olympiad Subtrust, which is part of the United Kingdom Mathematics Trust. There are two rounds, the BMO1 and the BMO2.

The Tournament of Towns is an international mathematical competition for school students originating in Russia. The contest was created by mathematician Nikolay Konstantinov and has participants from over 100 cities in many different countries.

The Bangladesh Mathematical Olympiad is an annual mathematical competition arranged for school and college students to nourish their interest and capabilities for mathematics. It has been regularly organized by the Bangladesh Math Olympiad Committee since 2001. Bangladesh Math Olympiad activities started in 2003 formally.

This article describes the selection process, by country, for entrance into the International Mathematical Olympiad.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Schools' Challenge</span>

Schools' Challenge is the primary national general knowledge competition for schools in the United Kingdom, founded by Colin Galloway in 1977 and currently overseen by Robert and Allison Grant. Intentionally based off University Challenge,, it has a notable resemblance to quizbowl competitions in its question content and format. Schools' Challenge is currently divided into Senior, Intermediate and Junior competition sections, which take place annually, and The Perse School are the current overall champions having won all sections available in 2023.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Mathematical Grammar School</span> Charter school in Serbia

Mathematical Grammar School, is a special school for gifted and talented students of mathematics, physics and informatics located in Belgrade, Serbia.

The National Mathematics Talent Contest or NMTC is a national-level mathematics contest conducted by the Association of Mathematics Teachers of India (AMTI). It is strongest in Tamil Nadu, which is the operating base of the AMTI. The AMTI is a pioneer organisation in promoting, and conducting, Maths Talent Tests in India. In the National level tests 66,066 students, from 332 institutions spread all over India, participated at the screening level. Of these, 10% were selected for the final test. For the benefit of final level contestants, and the chosen few for INMO, special orientation camps were conducted. Merit certificates and prizes were awarded to the deserving students.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">World Scholar's Cup</span> International team academic program

The World Scholar’s Cup is an annual international academic program. More than 15,000 students from over 65 countries participate every year.

The North American Computational Linguistics Open competition (NACLO), formerly called the North American Computational Linguistics Olympiad before January 1, 2020, is a computational linguistics competition for high school students in the United States and Canada that has been held since 2007. For the 2021 Open competition, approximately 1300 to 1400 students competed. Since 2008 the contest has consisted of two rounds, the second being administered to the top scorers in the first round. The top-scoring students on the second round qualify for the International Linguistics Olympiad (IOL), one of the international science olympiads.

The South East Asian Mathematics Competition (SEAMC) is an annual three-day non-profit mathematics competition for Southeast Asian students at different grade levels. It is a qualifying competition organized by Eunoia Ventures for invitation to the World Mathematics Championships.

Charis Global School is a private National Plus school in Lippo Cikarang, Bekasi City, West Java, Indonesia. Essentially, the school programs are developed into three categories: Early Childhood Program, Primary Program and Secondary Program.

The Singapore Mathematical Society is the primary organization "representing and advancing the interests of the mathematical community in Singapore".

References

  1. ↑ Singapore Mathematical Society (2023). "RULES OF SMO 2023 (JUNIOR SECTION)". Singapore Mathematical Society Rules of the SMO 2023 (Junior Section). Archived from the original on 22 Dec 2023. Retrieved 22 Dec 2023.
  2. ↑ Singapore Mathematical Society (2023). "Rules of the SMO 2023 (Senior Section)". Singapore Mathematical Society Rules of the SMO 2023 (Senior Section). Archived from the original on 22 Dec 2023. Retrieved 22 Dec 2023.
  3. ↑ Singapore Mathematical Society (2023). "Rules of the SMO 2023 (Open section)". Singapore Mathematical Society Rules of the SMO 2023 (Open Section). Archived from the original on 22 Dec 2023. Retrieved 22 Dec 2023.
  4. ↑ "The Complete Guide to the Singapore Mathematical Olympiad (SMO)". 2023-12-22. Archived from the original on 2023-12-22. Retrieved 2023-12-22.
  5. ↑ "Milestones of the society".
  6. ↑ "SMO School Awards".
This page is based on this Wikipedia article
Text is available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 license; additional terms may apply.
Images, videos and audio are available under their respective licenses.