What it is
The Mathematical Kangaroo, often called Math Kangaroo, is an international maths competition designed each year by the Association Kangourou sans Frontières (AKSF), an international association with its head office in Paris. Each member country runs the contest locally. In India, AKSF’s listed member is International Olympiad Academy, which organises the contest through its site, mathkangaroo.in. India first took part in 2017.
The Kangaroo is quite different from most Indian school olympiads. Its questions are not standard textbook problems. They are short puzzles, often with a small story or a picture, that need logical thinking, imagination and basic calculation more than formulas. The organiser’s own description mentions small stories and surprising questions and results, meant to spark discussion with friends and family.
Students compete in twelve categories, one per class, but pairs of classes share a paper and are ranked separately:
| Classes | Category | Questions | Maximum score |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 and 2 | Pre-Ecolier | 24 | 96 |
| 3 and 4 | Ecolier | 24 | 96 |
| 5 and 6 | Benjamin | 30 | 120 |
| 7 and 8 | Cadet | 30 | 120 |
| 9 and 10 | Junior | 30 | 120 |
| 11 and 12 | Student | 30 | 120 |
Every paper lasts 90 minutes, and every question has five options. Questions are grouped into three levels of difficulty, worth 3, 4 and 5 points. The Indian organiser’s scoring page says one point is deducted for each wrong answer, and nothing for a question left blank. Calculators and smart watches are not allowed; pencils, rulers and geometry instruments are.
Who can take it
Students from Class 1 to Class 12. There are two routes:
- Through school. Schools can register their students, either for an offline paper or online. In the offline version, a contact person at the school conducts the contest, and students answer on an OMR sheet.
- Individually. Students can register on their own, but individual entrants take the contest online only.
How it works
The main round is held within a window of about two weeks, either in school or online. Students who get a perfect score in that round go on to a final round.
Medals are awarded by share of competitors, as described by the organiser: gold to the top 5%, silver to the next 10%, and bronze to the next 10%. Medal winners receive merit certificates; other participants receive an e-certificate of participation or appreciation. The organiser also describes an award for students who score very highly in the final round. Details are on the official site.
When it happens
In India the Kangaroo is usually held in April, near the start of the new school year, rather than in the October to December season when most school olympiads fall. Registration usually stays open for several months and closes towards the end of March. The exact window for this year is on the official site, and the olympiad calendar shows how it fits with other olympiads.
How to prepare
Expect puzzles, not chapters. The Indian site lists broad topics for each category, such as arithmetic and simple shapes for the youngest, magic squares, fractions and mathematical logic in the middle years, and combinatorics and geometry for the oldest. But the questions test thinking with these ideas, not recall. Past papers are the clearest guide to the style.
Practise reading a problem twice. Kangaroo questions often hide the key fact in the story or the picture. Teach your child to read slowly, look at the diagram, and ask “what exactly is being asked?”
Leave blanks on purpose. Because wrong answers lose a point and blanks lose nothing, guessing blindly can cost marks. Practise deciding: can I rule out at least two options? If not, it may be wiser to skip. This is different from olympiads with no negative marking, such as SilverZone’s and Unified Council’s papers, where a guess costs nothing.
Use the 90 minutes well. The questions get harder through the paper. In practice, finish the 3-point questions carefully, then give real time to the harder ones.
Make it enjoyable. For Classes 1–4, a few puzzles a week, solved together and talked about, is enough. Older students can work through one past paper a week for the last month. The maths prep guide and the reasoning prep guide both have ideas that suit this style.
Where daily practice fits
Ado’s free daily quiz includes maths and reasoning every day, along with science, English and GK: 8 questions a day, including a 60-second sprint. That daily habit of thinking a question through, rather than racing, sits well with puzzle-style maths. Students are ranked only against others the same age, and the Ado Rank builds from their three strongest subjects and never resets.
Good to know
Because the Kangaroo falls in April, it does not clash with the main school olympiad season, so a child can take it alongside a school maths olympiad such as SOF IMO without crowding the autumn term.