The Australian Mathematics Competition is a mathematics competition run by the Australian Maths Trust for students from year 3 up to year 12 in
Australia
Australia, officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a Sovereign state, sovereign country comprising the mainland of the Australia (continent), Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous List of islands of Australia, sma ...
, and their equivalent grades in other countries. Since its inception in 1976 in the
Australian Capital Territory
The Australian Capital Territory (commonly abbreviated as ACT), known as the Federal Capital Territory (FCT) until 1938, is a landlocked federal territory of Australia containing the national capital Canberra and some surrounding townships. ...
, the participation numbers have increased to around 600,000, with around 100,000 being from outside Australia, making it the world's largest mathematics competition.
History
The fore-runner of the competition, first held in 1976, was open to students within the
Australian Capital Territory
The Australian Capital Territory (commonly abbreviated as ACT), known as the Federal Capital Territory (FCT) until 1938, is a landlocked federal territory of Australia containing the national capital Canberra and some surrounding townships. ...
, and attracted 1200 entries. In 1976 and 1977 the outstanding entrants were awarded the Burroughs medal.
[Canberra Mathematical Association et al.: High school mathematics competition for the Burroughs medal : solutions and statistics, Canberra College of Advanced Education, 1976] In 1978, the competition became a nationwide event, and became known as the Australian Mathematics Competition for the Wales awards with 60,000 students from
Australia
Australia, officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a Sovereign state, sovereign country comprising the mainland of the Australia (continent), Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous List of islands of Australia, sma ...
and
New Zealand
New Zealand ( mi, Aotearoa ) is an island country in the southwestern Pacific Ocean. It consists of two main landmasses—the North Island () and the South Island ()—and over 700 smaller islands. It is the sixth-largest island count ...
participating. In 1983 the medals were renamed the Westpac awards following a change to the name of the title sponsor
Westpac Banking Corporation (previously known as the
Bank of New South Wales
The Bank of New South Wales (BNSW), also known commonly as The Wales, was the first bank in Australia, being established in Sydney in 1817 and situated on Broadway, New South Wales, Broadway. During the 19th century, the bank opened branches ...
). Other sponsors since the inception of the competition have been the
Canberra Mathematical Association
Canberra ( )
is the capital city of Australia. Founded following the federation of the colonies of Australia as the seat of government for the new nation, it is Australia's largest inland city and the eighth-largest city overall. The c ...
and the
University of Canberra
The University of Canberra (UC) is a public research university with its main campus located in Bruce, Canberra, Australian Capital Territory. The campus is within walking distance of Westfield Belconnen, and from Canberra's Civic Centre. UC ...
(previously known as the
Canberra College of Advanced Education
The University of Canberra (UC) is a public research university with its main campus located in Bruce, Canberra, Australian Capital Territory. The campus is within walking distance of Westfield Belconnen, and from Canberra's Civic Centre. UC ...
).
The competition has since spread to countries such as
New Zealand
New Zealand ( mi, Aotearoa ) is an island country in the southwestern Pacific Ocean. It consists of two main landmasses—the North Island () and the South Island ()—and over 700 smaller islands. It is the sixth-largest island count ...
,
Singapore
Singapore (), officially the Republic of Singapore, is a sovereign island country and city-state in maritime Southeast Asia. It lies about one degree of latitude () north of the equator, off the southern tip of the Malay Peninsula, borde ...
,
Fiji
Fiji ( , ,; fj, Viti, ; Fiji Hindi: फ़िजी, ''Fijī''), officially the Republic of Fiji, is an island country in Melanesia, part of Oceania in the South Pacific Ocean. It lies about north-northeast of New Zealand. Fiji consists ...
,
Taiwan
Taiwan, officially the Republic of China (ROC), is a country in East Asia, at the junction of the East and South China Seas in the northwestern Pacific Ocean, with the People's Republic of China (PRC) to the northwest, Japan to the nort ...
,
China
China, officially the People's Republic of China (PRC), is a country in East Asia. It is the world's most populous country, with a population exceeding 1.4 billion, slightly ahead of India. China spans the equivalent of five time zones and ...
and
Malaysia
Malaysia ( ; ) is a country in Southeast Asia. The federation, federal constitutional monarchy consists of States and federal territories of Malaysia, thirteen states and three federal territories, separated by the South China Sea into two r ...
, which submit thousands of entries each. A
French translation of the paper has been available since the current competition was established in 1978, with
Chinese
Chinese can refer to:
* Something related to China
* Chinese people, people of Chinese nationality, citizenship, and/or ethnicity
**''Zhonghua minzu'', the supra-ethnic concept of the Chinese nation
** List of ethnic groups in China, people of ...
translation being made available to Hong Kong (
Traditional Chinese Characters
Traditional Chinese characters are one type of standard Chinese character sets of the contemporary written Chinese. The traditional characters had taken shapes since the clerical change and mostly remained in the same structure they took at ...
) and Taiwan (
Traditional Chinese Characters
Traditional Chinese characters are one type of standard Chinese character sets of the contemporary written Chinese. The traditional characters had taken shapes since the clerical change and mostly remained in the same structure they took at ...
) students in 2000. Large print and
braille
Braille (Pronounced: ) is a tactile writing system used by people who are visually impaired, including people who are Blindness, blind, Deafblindness, deafblind or who have low vision. It can be read either on Paper embossing, embossed paper ...
versions are also available.
In 2004, the competition was expanded to allow two more divisions, one for year five and six students, and another for year three and four students.
In 2005, students from 38 different countries entered the competition.
Format
The competition paper consists of twenty-five multiple-choice questions and five integer questions, which are ordered in increasing difficulty. Students record their personal details and mark their answers by pencil on a carbon-mark answer sheet, which is marked by computer in the Australian Maths Trust offices. Since 2016, an online option has been available to schools. The online competition has the same content as the paper version and results from both options are assessed together, with options being jumbled between computers (to hinder attempts on cheating). However, the paper is undertaken on a browser with a onetime pin with focus monitors (accessible by the AMT and supervisors). There are five divisions in total: Senior (for years 11 and 12), Intermediate (for years 9 and 10), Junior (for years 7 and 8), Upper Primary (for years 5 and 6) and Middle Primary (for years 3 and 4).
Students are allowed 75 minutes (60 minutes for the two primary papers) to read and answer the questions. Calculators are not permitted for secondary-level entrants, but geometrical aids such as
ruler
A ruler, sometimes called a rule, line gauge, or scale, is a device used in geometry and technical drawing, as well as the engineering and construction industries, to measure distances or draw straight lines.
Variants
Rulers have long ...
s,
compass
A compass is a device that shows the cardinal directions used for navigation and geographic orientation. It commonly consists of a magnetized needle or other element, such as a compass card or compass rose, which can pivot to align itself with ...
es,
protractor
A protractor is a measuring instrument, typically made of transparent plastic or glass, for measuring angles.
Some protractors are simple half-discs or full circles. More advanced protractors, such as the bevel protractor, have one or two sw ...
s and paper for working are permitted. Primary-level entrants may use calculators and any aids normally found in a classroom.
The original points scheme, which was in operation from inception until 2001, consisted of three groups of ten questions. The first ten questions were worth three marks each, the next ten four marks each, and the last ten five marks each. Students were deducted a quarter of the marks for a given question if they answered incorrectly, so that a student randomly guessing the answers would gain no numerical benefit (on statistical average). Students started with 30 marks, so that a student who answered all questions incorrectly would record a total score of zero, while one who answered all questions correctly would record a score of 150.
In 2002, the format was changed so that no penalties were incurred for incorrect answers to the first twenty questions, and for each of the last ten questions, a correct answer gave eight marks, no answer gave three marks, and no marks were given for an incorrect answer; the total score remained the same at 150.
In 2005, the format was changed once more. This time the first ten questions are still worth three marks each and the next ten are still worth four marks each, however the last ten are now once again worth 5 marks each. To make it harder to guess the most difficult questions, the last 5 questions required integer answers between 0 and 999 inclusive. The total score possible was thus reduced to 120
It has since been changed yet again. The first 25 questions have remained with the same mark allocation, however the last 5 questions have been altered. Although still requiring integer answers between 0 and 999, the mark allocation has been changed to 6 marks for Q26, 7 marks for Q27, 8 marks for Q28, 9 marks for Q29 and 10 marks for Q30, bringing the total marks to 135.
The competition is supervised by staff of the individual educational institutions, and the Australian Maths Trust reserves the right to conduct re-examinations in order to preserve the integrity of the competition, if it believes that students have not attempted the paper under sufficiently stringent conditions.
Syllabus
There is no official declared syllabus which determines the scope of the problems presented to the students. However, all problems can be solved without the use of
calculus
Calculus, originally called infinitesimal calculus or "the calculus of infinitesimals", is the mathematical study of continuous change, in the same way that geometry is the study of shape, and algebra is the study of generalizations of arithm ...
.
Awards system
Despite the name of the competition, students are allocated awards for their performance relative to other students in their region, of the same year level. For Australian students, this means their State or Territory, and for other students, their country. Although the personal data such as date of birth and gender are collected, this is not used in the percentile ranking, which is only determined by the raw score. The award scheme is as such
* Prize – Students above the 99.7
percentile
In statistics, a ''k''-th percentile (percentile score or centile) is a score ''below which'' a given percentage ''k'' of scores in its frequency distribution falls (exclusive definition) or a score ''at or below which'' a given percentage falls ...
* High Distinction – Students between the 97 and 99.7 percentile (Between 95 and 99.7 percentile for senior division)
* Distinction -Students between the 80 and 97 percentile (Between 75 and 95 percentile for senior division)
* Credit – Students between the 45 and 80 percentile (Between 40 and 75 percentile for senior division)
* Proficiency – Students below the 45 percentile who have a satisfactory score (at least 32 but may sometimes be lower)
* Participation – Students who have not received a higher award
Students who have won a prize may also receive a medal if they are determined to have performed outstandingly well with respect to their region and the competition as a whole. All students receive a certificate, and prizewinners are awarded an additional monetary sum or book voucher. Students who achieve the maximum score are awarded the
BH Neumann
BH, Bh or bh may refer to:
Medicine
* Bernard-Horner syndrome, a combination of symptoms that arises when a group of nerves known as the sympathetic trunk is damaged
* Borderline hypertensive, an American medical classification for cases wher ...
certificate. From 2008, this award has been renamed the Peter O'Halloran Certificate in honour of the foundation executive director of the Trust. In 1998, a record 10 students in Australia, and 23 in Singapore achieved the maximum attainable score. A re-examination was carried out in order to determine the Singaporean medallists.
All students receive an analysis sheet along with their certificate, which records their answers for each question, along with the correct answers. The questions are divided into four categories: arithmetic, algebra, geometry and problem solving, and the number of questions that the student answered correctly for each category is listed along with the regional mean.
Every school receives a more comprehensive analysis, with a complete record of answers given by all students, as well as the percentage of students choosing any given answer for a given question, and a comparison to the percentage of students choosing any given answer for a given question in the whole region. Schools also receive analysis of their students by mathematical topic, compared to the entire region.
Successful students
At least three students have won medals on all six of their opportunities to participate:
* Geoffrey Chu,
Scotch College, Melbourne
(For God, for Country, and for Learning)
, established =
, type = Independent, day and boarding
, gender = Boys
, denomination = Presbyterian
, slogan =
, ...
,
Victoria
Victoria most commonly refers to:
* Victoria (Australia), a state of the Commonwealth of Australia
* Victoria, British Columbia, provincial capital of British Columbia, Canada
* Victoria (mythology), Roman goddess of Victory
* Victoria, Seychelle ...
(1995–2000)
* Peter McNamara,
Hale School
Hale School is an independent, Anglican day and boarding school for boys, located in Wembley Downs, a western suburb of Perth, Western Australia.
Named after the school founded by Bishop Mathew Blagden Hale in 1858, Hale School claims to b ...
,
Western Australia
Western Australia (commonly abbreviated as WA) is a state of Australia occupying the western percent of the land area of Australia excluding external territories. It is bounded by the Indian Ocean to the north and west, the Southern Ocean to th ...
(1996–2001)
* Aaron Chong,
Doncaster Secondary College
la, Manu et Mente(Hand and Mind)
, free_label_1 = Publications
, free_1 = Weekly newsletter Annual yearbook
, yearbook = Cornucopia
, website www.doncastersc.vic.edu.au
Doncaste ...
,
Victoria
Victoria most commonly refers to:
* Victoria (Australia), a state of the Commonwealth of Australia
* Victoria, British Columbia, provincial capital of British Columbia, Canada
* Victoria (mythology), Roman goddess of Victory
* Victoria, Seychelle ...
(2005–2010)
Shane Booth, Wanganui Park High School,
Shepparton
Shepparton () ( Yortayorta: ''Kanny-goopna'') is a city located on the floodplain of the Goulburn River in northern Victoria, Australia, approximately north-northeast of Melbourne. As of the 2021 census, the estimated population of Shepparton, ...
,
Victoria
Victoria most commonly refers to:
* Victoria (Australia), a state of the Commonwealth of Australia
* Victoria, British Columbia, provincial capital of British Columbia, Canada
* Victoria (mythology), Roman goddess of Victory
* Victoria, Seychelle ...
was the first to win five consecutive medals (1981–1985).
Ivan Guo,
Sydney Boys High School
Sydney Boys High School (”SBHS”), otherwise known as The Sydney High School (“SHS”) or High, is a Education in Australia#Government schools, government-funded Single-sex school, single-sex Selective school (New South Wales), academically s ...
,
New South Wales
)
, nickname =
, image_map = New South Wales in Australia.svg
, map_caption = Location of New South Wales in AustraliaCoordinates:
, subdivision_type = Country
, subdivision_name = Australia
, established_title = Before federation
, es ...
was the first person to win three consecutive BH Neumann certificates, which are only awarded to those who achieve a perfect score.
References
An AMC fact sheet from the Australian Mathematics Trust
External links
Australian Mathematics Trust websiteHistory of Australian Mathematics Competition, written by Emeritus Professor Peter Taylor (Former Executive Director of AMT)
{{Primarysources, date=December 2006
Mathematics competitions
Education competitions in Australia
Recurring events established in 1976