UKMT Junior Kangaroo and Olympiad (JMO)

The Junior Kangaroo and Junior Maths Olympiad are follow on rounds to the UKMT Junior Maths Challenge. If you have qualified or want to try out some of the questions try this free online course working through the 2019 papers!

To learn more about how to qualify for the Kangaroo and Olympiad rounds, including making discretionary entries, take a look here!

I also run some live-taught Zoom classes in the run-up to these competitions – take a look here if you would like to attend.

Junior Kangaroo Grade Boundaries

The Junior Kangaroo is scored much like the Junior Maths Challenge, with all questions being multiple choice. Questions 1-15 are given 5 marks each and questions 16-25 6 marks each, with no penalties for wrong answers. Certificates of Merit are awarded to the top 25% of students taking part, and all entries receive certificates of qualification. (To see the scores needed to qualify from the Junior Maths Challenge see the page here.) Past papers for the Junior Kangaroo are available from the UKMT website here.

Year	Score required for Merit
2023	90+
2022	97+
2021	97+
2020	No Kangaroo paper due to pandemic
2019	89+
2018	96+
2017	89+
2016	95+
2015	96+

Junior Mathematical Olympiad Grade Boundaries (JMO)

The JMO has two sections. Section A has 10 questions worth one mark each – they are not multiple choice but have a single numerical answer. The six questions in section B are worth up to 10 marks and require full written answers. Marks for section B depend on the clarity of presentation and explanation (i.e. your working out!) as much as the answers themselves. A solution with a correct answer may only score 2 out of 10 if not accompanied by any working. An incomplete solution without the right answer might score 2 or 3 marks, and near complete and complete solutions could score 8,9 or 10 makes each. Past papers for the JMO are available from the UKMT website here.

There are two sets of boundaries for the JMO. The top 25% of participants receive a certificate of Distinction, and the next 40% receive a Merit. The top 200 students also receive a book prize and a Gold, Silver or Bronze medal – boundaries for these are listed further down the page.

Prior to 2022, Book Prizes were awarded to the top 50 scorers, but with slightly different conditions about which questions counted compared to the medals. So the rule changes have made things (a little!) simpler.

Year	Book Prize	Distinction	Merit
2023	All medallists	36	21
2022		29	16
2021	56	37	12
2020	no JMO	due to	pandemic
2019	59	45	8
2018	48	32	8
2017
2016	52	34	8
2015	45	28	8

NB: Prior to 2023 things were slightly different. There were still two sets of boundaries for the JMO – one for Merit and Distinction and then more for Gold/Silver/Bronze medals. The top 50 (50 people not percent!) scorers also received a book prize. Then the top scoring 25% of candidates receive a certificate of Distinction, and all candidates who have made a good attempt receive a Certificate of Merit. Any student who qualified directly from the Junior Maths Challenge will receive a Certificate of Qualification (see this page for qualifying scores).

Junior Mathematical Olympiad Medal Boundaries (JMO)

There are also boundaries for Gold/Silver/Bronze medals.

The top 40 scorers receive a Gold Medal, the next 60 a Silver Medal and the next 100 a Bronze medal. All medallists will also receive a book prize. Since 2023, only Section B marks count towards the medals. Previously the rules were slightly different (see below).

Year	Gold Medal	Silver Medal	Bronze Medal
2023	51	44	36
2022	48	41	34
2021	57	47	37
2020	no JMO	due to	pandemic
2019	59	55	45
2018	48	40	33
2017
2016	55	44	35
2015	46	37	27

The rules changed around 2022/2023. Previously: Gold medals were awarded to the top 30 students, Silver to the next 60 students and Bronze to the next 120 students taking the paper. (Section B scores of 4 marks or lower did not count towards the medal scores, only attempts to individual questions scoring 5 or above)