Math Kangaroo: levels, past papers and how to prepare

What Math Kangaroo is

The contest is organised internationally by Kangourou sans Frontières, an association founded in France6, and run in each country by a national organiser. Its problems reward reasoning more than school methods: a lot of them are picture puzzles, patterns and logic, especially at the younger levels. That makes it a good first contest for a curious child, and a very different test from a school exam.

For 2027, Math Kangaroo India lists the contest between 17 and 30 April, with registration closing on 31 March 20273. Check the dates with the organiser before you plan around them.

Levels, questions and marks

Each category covers two classes, who sit the same paper but are ranked separately. All papers are 90 minutes, with five options per question12.

The Kiwimath column is the level that matches the class, the same one Kiwimath would start your child on. The problems in Kiwimath are not Kangaroo questions, but they practise the same kind of thinking.

The scoring, and when to guess

Every paper has three sections of rising difficulty. A right answer earns 3, 4 or 5 marks depending on the section, a wrong answer loses 1, and a blank costs nothing2.

That makes guessing a small piece of maths in itself. With five options and a pure guess:

So the practical rule is: never guess blind on the easy section, and if you can cross out even one option, guess.

Where the official past papers are

• Math Kangaroo India sells past year papers from 2014 to 2023 for every class pair, as e-books you buy after logging in4.
• Math Kangaroo USA offers a free set of sample questions for every year from 2006, and free answer keys; full past exams are in its store5. The US contest runs its own schedule, but the kind of problem is the same.

For practice in the same format, Kiwimath has Kangaroo-style papers for every level: our own questions, timed, marked and followed by a worked solution for each one.

How to prepare in eight weeks

1. Weeks 1 and 2: meet the problemsWork through free sample questions with no clock. Talk about each one. The goal is to learn what Kangaroo problems feel like, not to score.
2. Weeks 3 to 6: a few problems a dayEight to ten problems a day, mixed across topics: counting, patterns, shapes, logic, number puzzles. Keep a notebook of the ones that went wrong and why.
3. Weeks 7 and 8: full papersOne timed 90-minute paper a week, then a slow review. Practise the guessing rule, and practise leaving a question and coming back.
4. The last few days: restRevisit the mistakes notebook, then stop. A calm child does better than a crammed one.

Questions parents ask

Can my child take part without their school?

Registration rules vary by organiser and by year. Math Kangaroo India publishes its process and dates on its own site; check there, or ask your school whether it registers students.

Is Kangaroo harder than SOF IMO?

They test different things. Kangaroo leans towards puzzles and reasoning; SOF IMO follows the school syllabus more closely. Many children sit both. See our olympiad preparation guide for the contests open to each class.

What score is good?

It depends on the year and the category, so compare your child with their own last paper rather than with a number. Going up from one practice paper to the next is the result that matters.