The Guide to the Singapore Math Kangaroo Contest

Whether you are an avid fan of competitive math or a parent of a budding mathematician in the making, you would definitely have heard of the Singapore Math Kangaroo Contest (or SMKC for short). It is one of the competitions recommended by parents and tutors. 

If you are looking for the ultimate guide to the Singapore Math Kangaroo Contest (SMKC), then you are at the right place!

About the SMKC

The SMKC is a math competition focusing on the Singapore Mathematics curriculum, hosted by the SIMCC. Its syllabus is less advanced than other math olympiads making it suitable for beginners with little or no Math Olympiad prior knowledge.

The Singapore Math Kangaroo Contest is open to students in Primary, Secondary school and tertiary institutions. What makes it an entry-level competition is the fact that the SMKC is the only local competition available for Primary 1 students, a great time to get them started on creative problem-solving without the pressures of mid-year or end-of-year exams. 

Format of the SMKC

You might be wondering. What is the format of the SMKC? How is it scored?

Firstly, it is important to note that SMKC is an individual written paper featuring multiple-choice questions. The test lasts for 90 minutes. 

  • Primary 1 – Primary 4: 24 questions
  • Primary 5 and above: 30 questions

Students from participating schools can join the contest with the schools or register directly as a private candidate with SIMCC.

As for scoring, each student will start with 24 bonus points. 1 point will be deducted for each wrong answer and no points will be taken away for no attempt.

For each correct answer, you will be given 3 points for each question in Section A, 4 points in Section B and 5 points in Section C.

Taken from the official Singapore Math Kangaroo Contest website

The top-performing 40% of participants will receive Gold (top 8%), Silver (12%), or Bronze (20%) awards according to their scores, and the 40th to 50th -percentile of participants will receive an Honorable Mention.

Excited to bag that award? 

Roll up your sleeves and get practising with Think Academy Singapore’s SMKC Mock Test and one-to-one evaluation to identify your child’s common weak areas and strengths! (Details are right at the end of the blog post) 

What is covered in Primary 1 and 2

Practice is key. But before attempting any practice papers, it is important to know what the syllabus covers.

The SMKC will test students on the following topics:

  • Arithmetic operations with 1 and 2 digit number
  • Distinguishing simple figures
  • Time, clock, number of days in a week
  • Number of months in a year
The Only Skill Your Child Will Need

Wait, did you say that my child will only need 1 skill?

More often than not, a single question will require students to apply multiple topical knowledge and logical reasoning to acquire the correct answer.

This is what SIMCC, the organising committee, refers to as logical combination skill. Logical combination is the capability of thinking about relationships, concepts, strategies, processes and situations at hand.

Take, for example, question 22 from the 2018 SMKC.

Many lower primary students might mistakenly choose 25cm as the final answer but fail to see that the 5 sticks are overlapping one another. 

For this particular question, you will notice that the length is actually 3 full lengths of 5cm (3×5+2×3) and 2 sets of 3cm, adding up to 21cm. 

This question not only tests arithmetic operations and distinguishing simple figures, but it also requires students to, first and foremost, logically process the diagram and context before executing any math operation. 

Registering for SMKC

Also, did you know that you can start registering for the Singapore Math Kangaroo Contest on the SIMCC website as a private candidate as of 12 January 2024?

Date: 

  • 14 April 2024 – Private Candidate

    (Updated on 6 April 2024. Kindly note that the SMKC competition date has been changed from 13 April 2024 to 14 April 2024)

Time: Will be shared 1 week before the competition

Registration Fee: $56.50 (including GST and credit card charges)

Registration Deadline: 25 March 2024

  • After logging in, access the SMKC registration form by going to the menu > Registration > Contest Forms Registration

All the best!