The Intermediate Maths Challenge 2027 is scheduled for Wednesday 27 January 2027. For families who already know the IMC and just need the practical details — the date, the format, exactly how it's marked, and where to start getting ready — here's the short version. For the full picture of who the IMC is for and where it leads, see our parent's guide.

The date

The 2027 sitting is Wednesday 27 January 2027. As with every UKMT school challenge, the exact timing on the day is set by each school, so it's worth a quick check with your child's maths department nearer the date to confirm they're entering and when the paper will actually run.

The format

  • 60 minutes, sat in school, on paper.
  • 25 multiple-choice questions, each with five options (A-E).
  • No calculator. Every question is designed to be answered with mental arithmetic, careful reasoning, or a short written calculation — never a calculator.
  • Open to Year 11 and below, which means all three KS3 year groups — Years 7, 8 and 9 — are eligible, though the paper is pitched a little older, so the toughest questions target Years 10-11.

The marking scheme — and the part that catches people out

This is the detail most worth knowing precisely, because it changes how a candidate should approach the back half of the paper:

  • Questions 1-15 are worth 5 marks each.
  • Questions 16-25 are worth 6 marks each.
  • That's 135 marks available in total.
  • A wrong answer to one of questions 16-20 costs 1 mark. A wrong answer to one of questions 21-25 costs 2 marks.
  • A blank answer always scores 0, whichever question it's on — never negative.

That penalty is the single biggest difference from the Junior Maths Challenge, which carries no penalty for a wrong answer at all. On the IMC, blindly guessing among five options on a late question is, on average, a losing move — the sensible habit is to guess freely on questions 1-15, where there's no downside, and only guess on 16-25 once at least one option has genuinely been ruled out. We cover this, and the more common content mistakes, in full here.

For context on what "doing well" looks like: the 2026 Gold certificate threshold was 61 marks and above out of 135 — useful as a rough benchmark, though the exact cutoff moves slightly year to year depending on how the whole cohort performs. It's a lower bar than it might sound: with 15 questions worth 5 marks and no penalty at all for a wrong or blank answer among them, a candidate can build a solid score before ever reaching the riskier, penalty-carrying questions near the end.

Entry

The IMC is entered through schools only — there's no route for an individual family to enter a child directly. If your child's school already runs UKMT challenges, ask their maths teacher whether they're entering pupils for the 2027 IMC; if the school has never run it before, that same conversation is the place to start.

What happens after a strong score

A good IMC result leads to two possible follow-ons: the Pink or Grey Kangaroo, an invitation-only multiple-choice round, or the written Olympiad papers, split by year group — Cayley for Year 9 and below, Hamilton for Year 10, Maclaurin for Year 11. For a KS3 family, the Cayley is the one worth knowing about, since it's the round that genuinely points onward toward the senior competition pathway. Our parent's guide covers this ladder in full.

Getting ready, in short

The most effective preparation for a paper shaped like this — many short, independent questions, each solved fastest when the right fact is already familiar rather than worked out from scratch — is regular, low-effort practice spread over weeks, not a single cram session beforehand. We set out a practical weekly rhythm for that here, including which ready-made IMC decks to start with. If there's only time for one thing before the 27th, it's the list of facts that keep coming up on the paper year after year — a short, evidence-based place to focus.

FAQ

When is the Intermediate Maths Challenge 2027?

Wednesday 27 January 2027. Schools sit it on-site, and the exact arrangements are set by each school's maths department, so it's worth checking with them directly nearer the date.

How is the IMC marked?

Questions 1-15 are worth 5 marks each; questions 16-25 are worth 6 marks each, for 135 marks in total. A wrong answer to one of questions 16-20 loses 1 mark, and a wrong answer to 21-25 loses 2 marks. A blank answer always scores 0, whichever question it's on.

Can my child sit the IMC 2027 without their school entering them?

No — the IMC is entered through schools only, not by individual families. If your child's school doesn't already run it, the first step is asking their maths teacher whether they will for 2027.

Duke Harewood built aitutors.me's KS3 maths tutor (Professor Pi) for his Year 8 daughter. Updated 26 August 2026.