Everything you need for the UKMT Intermediate Maths Challenge
Preparing for the Intermediate Maths Challenge?
Dr. Kevin Olding has helped thousands of students achieve Gold certificates and qualify for the Kangaroo and Olympiad rounds. Watch this video to understand how the IMC works, what scores you need for each certificate, and how to prepare effectively.
Ready to start? Choose your preparation pathway below.
These students loved their IMC courses at Mathsaurus:
Choose Your Preparation Pathway:
Most students preparing seriously for the IMC start with Go for Gold for comprehensive topic-by-topic teaching, then use our free course for additional practice with past papers. If you’re new to Kevin’s teaching or want to try it first, the free course is a great starting point.
For intensive preparation with real-time interaction, our live classes run throughout the year during school holidays.
📚 Recommended: Go for Gold in Maths Challenges (ages 13-16)
Work through every IMC topic systematically with Dr. Kevin Olding’s comprehensive video course. Perfect for students preparing throughout the year who want structured teaching and unlimited practice at their own pace.
Best for: Self-directed learners, year-round preparation, students who like to revisit content multiple times
🆓 Free Practice – Get Ready for the IMC!
Practice 125 past paper questions from recent IMC papers (2021-2025) with Kevin’s detailed video solutions. Perfect for trying Kevin’s teaching, last-minute revision, or additional practice.
Best for: Trying Kevin’s teaching first, last-minute revision before the competition, additional practice alongside Go for Gold
🎯 Live Interactive Courses: Intensive IMC Preparation
Join Kevin live via Zoom for intensive preparation throughout the year. Get real-time expert instruction at Core, Advanced, or Elite level with course recordings included for revision.
Best for: Students who thrive with structure and interaction, intensive preparation during school holidays, targeting Olympiad qualification
Looking for more past papers or certificate boundaries?
Access additional IMC past papers and official grade boundaries from recent years here.
About Your Teacher
Expert Teaching from Dr. Kevin Olding
After obtaining First Class undergraduate and Masters degrees in Mathematics from Magdalen College, Oxford, Kevin taught at Westminster School and Dulwich College. He later completed his PhD in Mathematics at the University of Bath while founding Mathsaurus.
Kevin’s students have achieved places at leading UK schools and universities, with many earning Olympiad medals. Over 50,000 students have taken Kevin’s courses, with a combined social media following of over 65,000 across YouTube and TikTok.
Intermediate Maths Challenge FAQs
How does the UKMT Intermediate Maths Challenge fit in with other UK maths challenges and Olympiads?
This video explains how the UKMT Intermediate Mathematical Challenge fits within all of the other UK maths challenges, including typical certificate boundaries and how qualifying for and entering the follow-on Kangaroo and Olympiad rounds works.
What is the UKMT Intermediate Maths Challenge?
The Intermediate Maths Challenge is a maths competition organised by the UKMT, usually sat by students in Years 9-11 (England and Wales), S2-S4 (Scotland) or Years 10-12 (Northern Ireland), though younger students may also enter.
The UKMT Intermediate Maths Challenge is usually considered an ‘enrichment’ activity and schools often offer the competition to their more enthusiastic or high-performing students. A range of students can benefit from taking the challenge, and the earlier questions are always made to be more accessible so that it is not just the top students who will enjoy the Intermediate Maths Challenge!
How can I prepare for the UKMT Intermediate Maths Challenge?
As well as practising with the past papers linked below, you can prepare for the challenge by taking a Mathsaurus online course. In the free course ‘Get Ready for the Intermediate Maths Challenge‘ you can practise real past SMC questions, each with a video hint and solution. In the upgraded course ‘Go for Gold in Maths Challenges (age 13-16)’, you can follow tutorials on some of the most important topics and try lots of original practice problems not available anywhere else. For even more preparation you could even join one of our live classes.
How are the grade boundaries set for the UKMT Intermediate Maths Challenge?
The exact grade boundaries for the IMC vary from year to year, but 50% of participants receive certificates in the ratio of 1:2:3 Gold : Silver : Bronze . This means that roughly 8% of entrants overall receive Gold, 17% Silver and 25% Bronze. Some students are also invited to take part in the Kangaroo and Olympiad follow-on rounds – the grade boundaries for these depend on which year group the student is in.
The Grey and Pink Kangaroo, and the Cayley, Hamilton and Maclaurin Olympiads are follow on rounds to the Intermediate Maths Challenge. For more information and a table including all past qualification boundaries see the page here. There’s also a YouTube video summarising and discussing all of this information here.
How is the UKMT Intermediate Maths Challenge marked?
The UKMT Intermediate Maths Challenge is marked automatically. Paper entries are passed through a machine that scans the papers and checks students’ multiple-choice answers so it is very important that students follow the instructions on the answer paper carefully and only enter one answer for each question. Students often keep a note of their answers on rough paper and enter their answers on the answer sheet at the end as it can be hard to erase answers fully if they want to change their answers. Students taking the challenge online do not have this problem of course where the marking is fully automated and answers are chosen on the screen.
What score gets you Gold, Silver and Bronze in the UKMT Intermediate Maths Challenge?
The exact boundaries vary from year to year, but you can see a page with all the past UKMT Intermediate Maths Challenge Certificate Boundaries here and this video talks a lot more about the scoring and roughly where the boundaries usually are.
When is the date of the next Intermediate Maths Challenge?
The Intermediate Mathematical Challenge usually takes place at the end of January or the start of February. The exact date varies from year to year. I keep a list of upcoming maths challenge dates here or you can also see the date of the next IMC at the UKMT website here.
What follow-on rounds are there for the UKMT Intermediate Maths Challenge?
Students who do very well in the Intermediate Maths Challenge can go on to take either the Grey or Pink Kangaroo or the Cayley, Hamilton or Maclaurin Olympiad follow-on rounds. You can find more information about these competitions on the page here.
Can I enter the follow-on rounds if I don’t meet the qualification threshold or missed the IMC?
I’m home-schooled or my school won’t let me take the Intermediate Maths Challenge. What can I do?
You can only take the Intermediate Maths Challenge via a UKMT test centre. Please see here for advice for private or home-schooled candidates can be found here and you can also take a look at this YouTube video for further discussion.