What is IMO class 5?

Are you aware of the word IMO? You might have heard about it from your peers, mentors or parents.

Well, the term IMO stands for the International Maths Olympiad. It is one of the well-known exams conducted for the mathematics subject. This is a highly competitive exam conducted every year to identify those students who have the potential of becoming great mathematicians, mathematics scholars, scientists in the future. Besides, it will help you to boost your mathematical knowledge along with getting a chance for competing with millions of great minds across the globe.

To know more about IMO, keep on reading the article.

IMO- Overview

IMO is conducted by the Science Olympiad Foundation each year. There’s a cut-throat competition to achieve a good rank in this test. The main objective of this test is to provide a platform for students who are having good mathematical skills. Besides, it promotes a competitive mindset in you so you can prepare yourself for future challenges. Unlike school exams, olympiads are planned to unveil the real meaning behind learning maths. It provides a much-enlarged view of mathematical topics and their real-life applications. If you can solve mathematical problems smartly after having a thorough knowledge of maths, you’ll automatically become a confident problem-solver.

Now, you might be thinking that you’ll directly participate in the maths olympiad at the international level. Well, this is not as simple as you think. Each year only 6 candidates are selected to represent India in the maths olympiad at the global level. So, if you are currently studying in class 5 and want to represent your country at the international level, it’s the right time to prepare for the Class 5 Mathematics olympiad.

Now let us discuss the stages you need to go through to compete at the international level.

In India, we have the National Board for Higher Mathematics (NBHM) who takes the charge of selecting the top 6 students. On the behalf of NBHM, the Homi Bhabha Centre for Science Education (HBCSE) implements all the selection activities. There are four phases for the IMO selection procedure in India.

Phase 1- is known as the Pre-Regional Mathematical Olympiad (PRMO). PRMO is organised at the school level. This exam contains 30 questions, and you will be allotted two and a half hours for completing it.

Phase 2- is known as the Regional Mathematical Olympiad (RMO). If you have cracked the previous level, you’ll be shortlisted for this round. The exam duration of the regional mathematical olympiad is three hours. At this level, you have to solve six questions. And if you qualify for this, you’ll be eligible for phase 3.

Phase 3- is known as Indian National Mathematical Olympiad (INMO). This exam is conducted at the national level, and if you score a good rank in this exam, you’ll get the opportunity to represent India at the universal level.

Phase 4- This stage is slightly different from others. After clearing the maths olympiad at the national level, you will be invited to join the International Mathematical Olympiad Training Camp (IMOTC). This camp is conducted from April to May at the Homi Bhabha Centre for Science (HBCSE). This camp is organised to give orientation to you through the best resources available from all institutions present across the nation. During this camp, you’ll be trained both from an educational and psychological point of view. Besides, you’ll have to go through multiple tests after training. Based on your test scores, you’ll be either selected or eliminated.

The difficulty level of the Mathematics olympiad

The Mathematics Olympiad aims to judge your competitive and computational skills. The level of the questions asked in the math olympiad is complex and requires you to have a deep knowledge of all the chapters covered in your syllabus. For performing best in your maths olympiad, you need to detect your strengths and weaknesses through continuous practice.

Maths Olympiad- Eligibility Criteria

The eligibility criteria vary from level to level. However, there are no specific criteria based on academic percentages or minimum marks. If you are studying in a SOF recognized school, you can directly participate in level 1 IMO via informing the concerned authorities. You can register individually if your school is not recognized by SOF.

Level 2 IMO exam is conducted after two months of the level-1 exam. You can participate in level 2 only if you’ve qualified for level 1. The eligibility criteria for level 2 is as follows.

1. Class topper who scored a minimum of 50% of qualifying marks.
2. The top 5% of students appeared globally.
3. Top 25 rank holders from each region or state.

• Maths olympiad- Registration process

There are two ways for registering yourself for the Class 5 IMO exam. These are-

1. Registration via school

• Obtain the IMO registration form from your school.
• A prospectus will be sent to your school if it is registered by SOF. If it’s not, your school can request the same via email.
• Fill your complete details in the form and submit it to the concerned authorities.
• Your school should submit your form to SOF on the respective submission date.

2. Online registration

• Visit the official website of SOF.
• Fill in details.
• Select olympiad name.
• Choose a mode of delivery
• Fill in the captcha and submit.
• Make an online payment.

IMO Syllabus

The IMO section-wise syllabus for class 5 includes topics-

1. Logical Reasoning- Patterns, coding-decoding, geometrical shapes, water and mirror images, etc.
2. Mathematical reasoning- Numerals, conversions, decimals, fractions, etc.
3. Everyday mathematics- based on topics in the mathematical reasoning section.
4. Achievers’ section- covers higher-order thinking questions based on the mathematical reasoning section.

IMO- Exam pattern

• Section 1 (Logical reasoning)- Contains 15 questions of 1 mark each.
• Section 2 (Mathematical reasoning)- Contains 20 questions of 1 mark each.
• Section 3 (Everyday mathematics)- Consists of 10 questions of 1 mark each.
• Section 4 (Achievers’ section)- Carries 5 questions of 3 marks each.

Reference materials to consider for Class 5 IMO preparation

If you are preparing for the class 5 IMO exam, you are advised to use reference materials like- NCERT book, IMO Class 5 Previous Year Paper 2013, mock test papers, olympiad workbooks, etc. These reference materials will help you to get deep information on all important mathematical topics. Practising these study materials constantly will help you prepare well for the exam.