Q: Which maths competition should my child enter?A: Start with the competitions your child is eligible for and can actually access. Then compare the published paper format with the kind of experience your child wants. There is no official universal ranking of NMOS, RMO, SASMO, APMOPS, SMKC and SMO by difficulty or DSA value.
Last reviewed: 19 July 2026. The dated 2026 competition windows described below have passed. Check each organiser for later cycles before registering or planning around a date.
Quick comparison
Competition
Current eligible levels in the reviewed sources
Registration or access
Useful current distinction
NMOS
Primary 5 only
School registration only; schools may select participants
One 90-minute, 35-question written paper in 2026
RMO
Junior: Primary 4 and 5; Open: Primary 6
MOE primary school registration only
Two rounds with different Round 2 papers for Junior and Open
SASMO
Kindergarten 2 to JC2
Singapore school route or private-candidate route
Different papers by level; 90 minutes for Grades 1 to 12 and 60 minutes for K2
APMOPS
Singapore Primary 5 and Primary 6 in the 2026 First Round
Follow the organiser's current school or centre instructions
Only the top 50 Singapore Primary 6 participants were invited to the 2026 Invitation Round
SMKC
Primary 1 to JC2
School or private-candidate route
Individual multiple-choice contest with a one-point deduction for a wrong answer
SMO
Junior, Senior and Open sections for eligible secondary or JC-level students
Entries are submitted through schools
Two rounds; the top 10% of Round 1 in each section are invited to Round 2
The table deliberately does not assign labels such as beginner, advanced, easiest, hardest, high DSA value or low DSA value. The organisers publish different aims, age groups, formats and access routes, but they do not publish one common comparison scale.
NMOS 2026
The National Mathematical Olympiad of Singapore, styled NMO∑ by NUS High School, is an NUS High initiative in partnership with the Singapore Mathematical Society.
For 2026, the rules state:
Primary 5 students only
registration through the student's primary school, with no individual registration
S$25 per participant, inclusive of 9% GST
no calculators
one 90-minute written paper with 35 questions
competition on 14 July 2026 in a 90-minute slot between 2pm and 4.30pm
The registration period was 20 February to 20 March 2026. The current awards page lists Gold, Silver, Bronze, Honourable Mention and Participation certificates but does not publish fixed percentile cut-offs.
Raffles Institution's Raffles Mathematical Olympiad has two categories:
Junior for Primary 4 and Primary 5
Open for Primary 6
Round 1 was an online, school-based, 60-minute paper with 20 multiple-choice questions common to both categories. Round 2 was held at Raffles Institution. Junior Round 2 had 15 short-answer questions, while Open Round 2 had seven short-answer questions and four questions requiring working. Both Round 2 papers lasted 60 minutes.
RI states that the top 2% or about 40 students, whichever is lower, from Junior Round 1 and the top 3% or about 60 students, whichever is lower, from Open Round 1 are invited to Round 2. The 2026 fee was S$12 including GST. Registration was through participating MOE primary schools, with no individual or private registration.
SIMCC's current SASMO page covers K2 through JC2. Grades 1 to 12 receive a 90-minute, 25-question paper with two sections. K2 receives a 60-minute, 15-question paper with two sections.
The dedicated 2026 Singapore registration page lists two routes:
schools chose a competition date from 9 March to 7 April 2026, with online or paper delivery and a S$30 fee inclusive of GST
private candidates sat a paper-based competition on 28 or 29 March 2026, with a listed SGD57 fee subject to 9% GST and a 4% Stripe processing fee
An older SIMCC overview still says private candidates sit online. The specific dated 2026 registration page is the better source for that completed cycle. For a later cycle, verify the route again rather than carrying either statement forward.
Hwa Chong Institution's 2026 APMOPS First Round was online. Singapore Primary 6 students sat it at participating schools on 16 April, while Singapore Primary 5 students used the separate 18 April schedule.
The Invitation Round took place at Hwa Chong Institution on 30 May 2026. For the local competition, the official rule invited the top 50 Primary 6 participants from Round 1. It did not extend the local Invitation Round to Primary 5 participants.
The Invitation Round lasted two hours and contained 14 questions for 100 marks. Calculators, mathematical sets and mathematical tables were not allowed. These facts describe the 2026 Invitation Round, not every future APMOPS paper.
SIMCC's current Singapore Math Kangaroo Contest page covers Primary 1 to JC2 and describes an individual multiple-choice test. Questions are grouped into three sections worth three, four and five points. A wrong answer loses one point, while an unanswered question loses no points. Starting points prevent a negative total. Calculators and electronic devices are not allowed.
This directly contradicts the former claim that SMKC has no penalty for a wrong answer. The organiser supports school and private-candidate registration, but families should use the current registration notice for the next date, fee and delivery mode.
The Singapore Mathematical Society's 2026 rules divide SMO into Junior, Senior and Open sections. Junior is for eligible Secondary 1 and 2 students, Senior for eligible Secondary 3 and 4 students, and Open has its own age and education-status rules. Read the current rule page before selecting a section because eligibility is not determined by school level alone.
Round 1 was a two-and-a-half-hour written paper with multiple-choice and short questions. The top 10% in each section were invited to Round 2. Junior Round 2 lasted three hours; Senior and Open Round 2 lasted four hours and required full-length solutions.
The 2026 schedule lists Round 1 on 3 June for Junior and Senior and 4 June for Open. Round 2 took place on 27 June for Junior and Senior and 4 July for Open. The published fee is S$10 per category for students from SMS institutional-member schools and S$12 for students from non-member schools.
This shortlist follows the reviewed eligibility rules. It is not a prescribed progression.
Primary 1 to 3: SASMO and SMKC are the options in this six-competition comparison.
Primary 4: RMO Junior, SASMO and SMKC are available under the reviewed level rules.
Primary 5: NMOS, RMO Junior, the APMOPS First Round, SASMO and SMKC are relevant.
Primary 6: RMO Open, the APMOPS First Round, SASMO and SMKC are relevant. NMOS is not.
Secondary and JC: compare SASMO, SMKC and the SMO section for which the student satisfies the current rules.
Access matters as much as age. NMOS and RMO require school registration. If a school does not participate or does not select a student, the organisers do not provide an individual route. SASMO and SMKC publish private-candidate routes. APMOPS and SMO require the current organiser instructions for the applicable school or centre.
What can competition results establish for DSA?
MOE lists Mathematics and Computational Thinking as a DSA-Sec talent area, but each school sets its own talent criteria, selection process and number of places. MOE also states that applicants do not need prior participation in the talent area unless the school requires it.
This means there is no national table assigning NMOS, RMO, SASMO, APMOPS or SMKC a fixed DSA value. A competition result can be evidence in an application where it is relevant to the school's published criteria, but it does not guarantee shortlisting or admission. Do not infer that the organiser's own competition automatically carries extra weight at its school.
Check the target school's current DSA page for the evidence it requests. Preserve the organiser-issued result and be ready to explain the student's problem-solving experience honestly.
A practical selection checklist
Remove competitions for which the student is not eligible.
Confirm whether registration must go through the school or has a private route.
Read the current format and sample material from the organiser.
Choose a workload that does not displace the student's existing commitments.
Treat the first attempt as evidence about fit, not as a promise of a medal or admission outcome.
Recheck the official date, fee, platform and rules for every new cycle.
Paid coaching is not an organiser requirement for any competition in this comparison. Whether external help is useful is a family decision based on the student's needs, available school support, cost and workload. Do not rely on universal hourly-price or medal-rate claims without provider-specific evidence.
