IKMC Past Papers with Answers - Practise Online

The International Kangaroo Mathematics Contest (IKMC), widely known as Math Kangaroo, is a multiple-choice mathematics competition for students from Grade 1 to Grade 12. The questions are written each year by the Association Kangourou sans Frontières (AKSF) and the contest is run in each member country by a national organizer, so millions of children around the world sit papers built from the same pool of problems on roughly the same day.

IKMC is designed for ordinary students who enjoy thinking, not only for olympiad specialists. Problems reward logic, visual reasoning and careful reading more than long calculations, which is why IKMC past papers are a popular first step into math competitions.

Overview

The Kangaroo contest started in France in 1991, inspired by the Australian Mathematics Competition, and the AKSF association was registered in Paris in 1995.

Each member country has one national organizer that translates the paper, registers schools and students, marks the answer sheets and publishes results. Under the AKSF internal regulations, the contest is held on the third Thursday of March, and a country may postpone that date for local reasons but may not hold it earlier. Questions and solutions may not be published until one month after that date.

Levels and grades

AKSF offers six levels, each covering about two school years. The ages below come from the AKSF regulations; grades are the usual equivalents. Countries may change the number of levels and how grades are grouped, and Edupiad also lists two Austrian levels, Felix 1 and Felix 2.

Felix is the name the Austrian organizer uses for its youngest category. Until 2022 Austria set one Felix paper for school years 1 and 2; from 2023 it publishes separate Felix papers for year 1 and year 2. These are national papers, not international AKSF levels, but they are useful extra practice for very young students.

Rounds

IKMC has no rounds. It is one written test, with no preliminary round and no international final. Results and awards are decided within each country by the national organizer. Some countries invite top scorers to camps or other events of their own, but these are national activities, not part of the AKSF contest.

Exam format and scoring

The AKSF regulations set the common rules: a single multiple-choice test, five answer options per question, and questions of increasing difficulty. Within those rules, each country may use fewer questions, move questions between levels and replace up to five questions with its own.

In most countries the paper is split into three equal parts worth 3, 4 and 5 points per question. A wrong answer usually costs a fraction of the question's value, a blank answer scores zero, and every student starts with a base score so the total cannot fall below zero.

The Austrian organizer publishes a clear example of this system:

In Austria a wrong answer loses one quarter of the question's points, and the base score equals the number of questions. Other countries use the same idea with their own numbers, so always check the rules printed on the paper you are practising.

When is it held

The international date is the third Thursday of March. Registration is handled only by the national organizer, usually through schools, a few months before the contest. Because the date is fixed by regulation, it is easy to plan a practice schedule that peaks in early March.

How to prepare with past papers

• Practise with a timer from the start. The challenge in IKMC is time per question: roughly two to three minutes on average, with the 5-point questions needing much more than the 3-point ones.
• Learn the "skip" habit. Because wrong answers lose points and blanks do not, a wild guess is usually a bad deal. Make an educated guess only when you can rule out two or three options.
• Expect pictures. Many Kangaroo problems use folded paper, cubes, mirrors, paths and patterns. Drawing a quick sketch often solves them faster than algebra.
• Read every word. The questions are short, and a single word such as "at least" or "exactly" changes the answer.
• Review mistakes by type. Sort wrong answers into careless errors, misread questions and real gaps in knowledge, then work on the biggest group.

On Edupiad you can take IKMC past papers online with a timer, get automatic marking and review each question afterwards. The set of available years and levels grows over time, and not every question has a written solution yet.

Frequently asked questions

What grade is IKMC for?

IKMC is for Grades 1 to 12. The six AKSF levels each cover two grades: Pre-Ecolier (1-2), Ecolier (3-4), Benjamin (5-6), Cadet (7-8), Junior (9-10) and Student (11-12). Some countries group grades differently.

Does IKMC deduct points for wrong answers?

In most countries, yes. A wrong answer loses part of the question's value, while a blank answer scores zero. A starting base score keeps totals from going below zero. The exact penalty depends on the national organizer.

Is IKMC hard?

The first third of each paper is accessible to most students who are confident in school mathematics. The last third is meant to challenge strong students. Very few students answer every question correctly, so a good score is well below the maximum.

Is there an international final for IKMC?

No. IKMC is a single test with no international round. Awards are given at country level.

Is IKMC the same as the Kangaroo Linguistic (IKLC) or Science (IKSC) contests?

No. IKLC and IKSC use the Kangaroo name and similar level names, but they are separate contests run by different international organizers from AKSF.

Sources

• Association Kangourou sans Frontières (AKSF)
• AKSF Internal Regulations (PDF)
• Känguru der Mathematik, Austria
• Felix 1 paper 2025, Austria (PDF)
• Felix 2 paper 2023, Austria (PDF)
• Mathematical Kangaroo, Wikipedia