The International Mathematics Olympiad or IMO is a Mathematics competition organized each year by Science Olympiad Foundation, SOF for students studying in class 1 to class 12. This exam is conducted to identify and encourage the Mathematical temperament among the students in India and abroad. Participating in IMO Olympiad has plenty of benefits.
How to Attempt All Sections of the SOF IMO Exam? 💡
IMO Olympiad 2025-26 is going to be conducted this year on 12th November, 28th November and 12th December. If you are appearing for this competition, then you must start your preparation first and foremost by knowing the IMO syllabus and pattern of the IMO Olympiad. In this article, we are bringing you section-wise preparation tips of IMO Olympiad Question paper. Continue reading if you are keen to learn how to solve IMO Olympiad question paper.
Recommended Read: International Maths Olympiad Tips And Tricks
IMO is an objective-type written test with a duration of 60 minutes. It includes 35 objective-type questions for classes 1 to 4 and 50 objective-type questions for classes 5 to 12. The question paper for all classes is divided into 4 sections:
- Logical Reasoning
- Mathematical Reasoning
- Everyday Mathematics
- Achievers’ Section
Let’s analyse each section separately for better understanding!
Logical Reasoning
The logical reasoning section of IMO is designed to test the mental ability and logical skills of the candidates. The questions of this section are meant to awaken your mind!
These are NOT direct questions which require you to recall the formula, solve the problem after applying it and reach to the answer. These questions test candidates analysis, logical aptitude and general intellect. These questions are mainly in the form of Geometrical shapes, numbers pattern, mirror & water images, coding and decoding etc. Hence, to solve such type of questions, the most important thing is familiarity with the content. Therefore, You are advised to practice with Reasoning Workbooks for class 1 to 10. You will get benefit immensely with this book as by attempting questions of each type you will be able to interpret patterns, number sequences or the relationships between shapes. With detailed explanation for each question, you will easily understand the logic of the question.
Also, you must start to spend some time in solving puzzles like Sudoku , Crossword puzzles , Mind bender puzzles, etc. These fun-activities will sharpen your mental skills and train your brain to think logically.
Mathematical Reasoning
This section tests the Mathematical skills of the candidates which require rigorous practice and patience. It contains questions mainly from Geometry, Number system, Fractions, Probability, Money and Data Interpretation, etc. Therefore, to excel in this section, you need to be good at Mathematical concepts and calculations. An appropriate and best approach to prepare each topic of this section is to practice with IMO Workbook. It is the only authentic and reliable workbook which provide good practice questions and quick recap in chapter wise format for great performance in IMO Olympiad.
- The questions of this section can be calculative and time consuming. It is better to learn some short tricks to solve higher calculative questions in less time.
- While solving the questions of this section, you must maintain your accuracy and keep a check on the time. Because you have hardly 2 minutes for each question. It is good to avail OSDS (Olympiad Skills development System), as it helps you in improving test-taking skills in exam-like environment.
- You may check and improve the your Mathematical Ability with MTG’s MTG’s Know Your IQ Math. A specially designed series to improve Mathematical Reasoning ability of the students as per their age.
- Check previous year IMO Level 1 Paper for a better idea of the type and level of difficulty of questions.
Let’s take an example:
Everyday Mathematics
The questions in this section are usually based on general management and everyday situations. These kind of questions require a logical approach and a clear understanding of the situation. So, attempt these questions very carefully as they could be a bit confusing at times. A good way to prepare for this section is to practice from MTG’s Practice Cum Workbook , comprehensive workbook series for classes 1 to 8, which include variety of, well-framed questions that put logical and reasoning ability into practice. You can also assess preparation by practicing previous year papers and IMO Mock tests .
Achievers’ Section
Achievers section is a challenging section as it tests your ability to apply an amalgamation of concepts to solve questions. It contains 5 questions of more weightage and advanced level that requires higher order thinking skills. Therefore, you need to take this section seriously as it gives you a chance to score high in IMO Olympiad. It is also this section which makes all the difference in the rankings. To attempt Achievers’ Section successfully, candidates must be well-versed with Mathematical concepts and should have a good practice on previous year’s IMO Olympiad question paper. MTG’s IMO Power Pack can help you to do well in this section.
We hope this section-wise preparation tips will help you to solve IMO Olympiad question paper accurately and to score high in the upcoming IMO exam. Candidates can also go through our previous article on International Maths Olympiad Tips And Tricks for better exam preparation.
Mistakes are proof that you are trying, the most important thing is to keep trying.
More Guidance on how to solve SOF Olympiad Questions:
All The Best!
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