What is SMO?
SMO stands for Singapore Mathematical Olympiad (SMO). It is an annual national competition organised by Singapore Mathematical Society (SMS) since 1950 with the aims to discover and encourage mathematical talents in secondary schools, high schools, and junior colleges in Singapore.
Eligibility for SMO
SMO is for students from Secondary 1 to Junior College (Singapore students only). There are 3 categories: SMO Junior, SMO Senior, SMO Open
a) SMO Junior (Secondary 1 and 2)
Round 1: SMO Junior
| Format | Written |
| Type | 25 questions in total – 5 MCQ questions + 20 short-answer-questions (total marks: 25 marks) |
| Duration | 2 hours 30 minutes |
Round 2: SMO Junior
To qualify for Round 2,
- Participants in the top 10% of round 1 of the competition will be invited to participate in round 2
| Format | Written |
| Type | 5 essay-style questions that requires full-length solutions and proofs – 100 marks (total marks) |
| Duration | 3 hours |
b) SMO Senior (Secondary 3 and 4)
Round 1: SMO Senior
| Format | Written |
| Type | 25 questions in total – 5 MCQ questions + 20 short-answer-questions (total marks: 25 marks) |
| Duration | 2 hours 30 minutes |
Round 2: SMO Senior
To qualify for Round 2,
- Participants in the top 10% of round 1 of the competition will be invited to participate in round 2
| Format | Written |
| Type | 5 essay-style questions that requires full-length solutions and proofs – 100 marks (total marks) |
| Duration | 4 hours |
c) SMO Open (Junior College 1 and 2)
Round 1: SMO Open
| Format | Written |
| Type | 25 questions in total – 5 MCQ questions + 20 short-answer-questions (total marks: 25 marks) |
| Duration | 2 hours 30 minutes |
Round 2: SMO Open
To qualify for Round 2,
- Participants in the top 10% of round 1 of the competition will be invited to participate in round 2
| Format | Written |
| Type | 5 essay-style questions that requires full-length solutions and proofs – 100 marks (total marks) |
| Duration | 4 hours |
Awards
There are two categories of awards: individual and school awards.
a) Individual Awards:
- Gold, Silver, Bronze, Honourable Mention Certificates: These are awarded to students based on their individual performance in Round 1 and Round 2, with the criteria depending on the difficulty of the competition.
- Individual Prizes (Top 30): The top 30 individuals by total score from both rounds receive prizes, which include cash awards and ranked certificates.
- Top 10 Award: In addition to the top 3, a further Top 10 Award is given to the next best-performing participants.
- Certificate of Participation: All participants in the SMO Junior competition receive this certificate.
b) School Awards
- Gold, Silver, Bronze School Awards: These are awarded to schools based on the number of points achieved by their students.
- School Participation Award: This is awarded to schools with a sufficient number of participants, even if they don’t reach the threshold for the Gold, Silver, or Bronze awards.
- Singapore Mathematical Challenge Trophy: This prestigious award is given to the school with the highest total score from its best individual Junior, Senior, and Open section participants.
Our Detailed Analysis for SMO:
From analysing SMO past year papers from 2018-2025, we have observed the following:
- SMO questions are classified into 5 main modules – Arithmetic, Algebra, Geometry, Number Theory, and Combinatorics. As SMO questions are more challenging, students will need to apply multiple techniques in order to solve SMO questions.
- Modules like Algebra, Arithmetic, Number Theory and Geometry questions took up more than half the number of questions in the first round. Since Arithmetic questions are basic questions, they are also the type of questions, we want our students to strive to complete with accuracy. First round questions test largely on Arithmetic, Algebra, Number Theory, and Geometry.
- Mastering the 5 main modules (Arithmetic, Algebra, Combinatorics, Number Theory, and Geometry) is essential for students to advance to Invitation Round due to the highly competitive nature of SMO.