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Benjamin: Kangaroo-style practice for Class 5 and 6

Benjamin is the Kangaroo level for Class 5 and 6. A Kiwimath Benjamin paper has 30 questions in three sections worth 3, 4 and 5 points, with five options each, drawn from our Level 3 questions.

It is Kangaroo-style practice, not an official paper. Try four questions here, then sit a full paper free.

Sit a Benjamin paper No sign-in needed to start.

Try four Benjamin questions

They cover all three sections. Hints come one step at a time, and nothing you pick is sent anywhere.

Benjamin sampleQuestion 1 of 4, worth 3 points

On a balance scale, 4 pencils balance with 2 erasers. 3 erasers balance with 1 book. How many pencils balance with 1 book?

  2. 2 Strategy
  3. 3 Worked step

By , who makes Kiwimath. Contest facts checked on against the organisers’ own pages (sources at the end).

Why does Benjamin feel harder than Ecolier?

Benjamin is the first level with 30 questions instead of 24, still in 90 minutes in India, so the time for each question drops to about three minutes. The sections grow from 8 to 10 questions, and the paper covers far more ground.1

Our Benjamin pool has 226 questions across 13 topics, the widest spread of any level, from percentages and profit to remainders, coordinates and simple games. No single topic has more than 11% of the questions, so a child cannot prepare by drilling one kind.

56 of the 226 questions have a picture. Benjamin also brings longer word problems about percentages, profit and speed, where most of the work is turning the story into a calculation.

Which topics carry the points in Benjamin?

Our Benjamin pool has 226 checked questions in 13 topics. This is how they spread across the three sections. A paper draws from every row, so a topic with few questions can still appear.

Topic3 points4 points5 pointsAll
Space and Surface99624
Map Makers104721
What Comes Next87621
Clock Arithmetic29920
Smart Counting67619
Parts and Wholes19818
Angle Chasers46717
Sock Drawer Logic67316
Common Ground39315
In Proportion65415
Prime Hunters08614
Letter Maths93113
Winning Moves65213
All topics708868226

What should a Benjamin child be able to do?

Balances, sequences, clever counting, speed and distance, and problems where a picture of the situation does most of the work. Topic by topic, this is what our Benjamin questions ask for.

Space and Surface
Area, perimeter and volume, circles, and cubes that are painted and then cut up.
Map Makers
Coordinates, lines of symmetry and turns: a shape that maps onto itself after a 72° turn.
What Comes Next
Sequences and clever totals, such as the matches in a knock-out tournament or the sum of the first odd numbers.
Clock Arithmetic
Remainders and cycles: digit sums, digital roots and patterns that repeat.
Parts and Wholes
Fractions, decimals and percentages, including profit on profit, worked backwards from the final price.
Sock Drawer Logic
Overlaps and the pigeonhole idea: 30 children, 18 like mangoes, 20 like bananas, everyone likes one; how many like both?
Common Ground and Prime Hunters
Factors, multiples, primes, HCF and LCM, often hidden in timetables and runners on a track.

How do you solve a Benjamin question? One worked through

This is one of the Benjamin samples above, a 4‑point question from our What Comes Next topic. Try it first if you like; the working is folded away below.

In a knock-out tournament with 64 players, how many matches are needed to determine a winner?

  1. 32
  2. 62
  3. 63
  4. 64
  5. 128

What to notice first

Counting the rounds works, but there is a faster idea: every match knocks out exactly one player, and everyone except the winner is knocked out once.

See it worked through
  1. In a knock-out, each match has one loser, and that loser leaves the tournament.
  2. At the end, 63 of the 64 players have lost once and one player, the winner, has never lost.
  3. One match for each loser means 63 matches.
  4. Check round by round: 32 + 16 + 8 + 4 + 2 + 1 = 63.

The answer is C, 63.

The tempting wrong answer

Two tempting answers are 32, the matches in the first round only, and 64, one match for every player, which forgets that the winner never loses.

Ask: “How many matches would 100 players need?” (99, even though 100 does not halve neatly all the way down.)

Which mistakes cost marks in Benjamin?

Each one comes from a wrong option in our Benjamin samples and the note we wrote on why it tempts.

  • Answering a step in the middle. On the pencils-and-erasers balance, 3 is the number of erasers that balance the book. The question asks for pencils, which is 6.
  • Adding percentages. A 20% profit followed by a 10% profit is not a 30% profit. Each profit is on a different price, so work backwards one sale at a time.
  • Stopping one sale early. In the same question, ₹480 is what the middle buyer paid, and it is an option. The question asks about the first one.

How is a Benjamin paper marked?

A Benjamin paper has 30 questions in three sections of 10. Every question has five options, A to E, and exactly one is right. The sections get harder as you go, and so they are worth more.

A right answer3 points in the first section, 4 in the second, 5 in the third.
A wrong answerLoses a quarter of that question’s points: ¾, 1 or 1¼.
A blankNothing gained, nothing lost.
Starting pointsYou start with 30, one for each question, so no score can fall below zero. The top score is 150.

Kiwimath marks its practice papers this way. Math Kangaroo India, the organiser in India, takes 1 mark off for each wrong answer and gives no starting points, so its Benjamin top score is 120. Why a blind guess is worth nothing on average, and when guessing starts to pay, is on the Kangaroo-style practice page.

How should my child prepare for Benjamin?

Benjamin rewards breadth, so this eight-week plan rotates topics rather than drilling one.

  1. Weeks 1 and 2Sessions of 25 to 30 minutes at Kiwimath Level 3, ten problems each. Start a mistakes notebook: the question, the slip, and one line on why.
  2. Weeks 3 to 5Rotate topics each session: one number session, one geometry, one logic and counting. Percentages and remainders deserve a session each week.
  3. Week 6Sit one full paper with the clock. Note how long the first section took: it should leave at least half the time for sections two and three.
  4. Weeks 7 and 8A full paper each week, then a slow review using the notebook. In the last week, practise using the options: trying an option in the question is a fair method.

For the real contest, check the dates, the rules and the time allowed with Math Kangaroo India or the organiser in your country. Our Math Kangaroo guide covers the official marking and where the past papers are.

All six levels

  1. Pre-EcolierClass 1 and 2Kiwimath Level 124 questions
  2. EcolierClass 3 and 4Kiwimath Level 224 questions
  3. BenjaminClass 5 and 6Kiwimath Level 330 questions
  4. CadetClass 7 and 8Kiwimath Level 430 questions
  5. JuniorClass 9 and 10Kiwimath Level 530 questions
  6. StudentClass 11 and 12Kiwimath Levels 6 and 730 questions

Questions parents ask about Benjamin

Should a Class 5 child learn algebra for Benjamin?

Not formally. Balances, working backwards and trying the options solve almost every Benjamin question. Letter Maths is one of the smallest topics in our Benjamin pool, and most of its questions are arithmetic stories.

How should my child use the 90 minutes?

Aim to finish the first section in about 20 minutes, which leaves more time for the 4- and 5-point questions. A question that is not going anywhere after three minutes is best flagged and left.

My child does well in school maths but struggles with Benjamin. Why?

School tests check a method that was just taught. Benjamin questions do not say which method to use, so the skill being tested is choosing one. Talking through “what kind of question is this?” helps more than extra worksheets.

Are these real Benjamin papers?

No. They are Kangaroo-style practice made from Kiwimath’s own Level 3 questions, in the same format. Official past papers come from the organiser in your country. Where to find official past papers.

Benjamin matches Kiwimath Level 3

Everyday Kiwimath practice at Level 3 builds the skills a Benjamin paper tests, one question at a time, with hints and a solution after each answer.

Sit a Benjamin paper Free during early access.

  1. Level 1Class 1-2
  2. Level 2Class 3-4
  3. BenjaminLevel 3Class 5-6
  4. Level 4Class 7-8
  5. Level 5IOQM
  6. Level 6RMO
  7. Level 7INMO
  8. Level 8IMO: the summit

Sources

Kiwimath is not connected with Math Kangaroo, Math Kangaroo India or Kangourou sans Frontières. Our papers are Kangaroo-style practice made from Kiwimath’s own questions; no question is taken from a real Kangaroo paper. Contest facts were checked on against these pages. If something here differs from what the organiser says, trust the organiser, and write to hello@kiwimaths.com so we can fix it.

  1. Contest categoriesMath Kangaroo India, the organiser in India
  2. Scoring systemMath Kangaroo India, the organiser in India
  3. Exam datesMath Kangaroo India, the organiser in India
  4. Kangourou sans FrontièresThe international association behind the contest
  5. Free sample questions and answer keysMath Kangaroo USA, the organiser in the United States