CEMC

They are produced by the Centre for Education in Mathematics and Computing at the University of Waterloo. Schools register students and supervise the writing. This page is independent study material and is not affiliated with or endorsed by the CEMC or the university.

Most CEMC contests are multiple choice, with a small number of written-answer problems in some divisions. Questions generally ascend in difficulty, so early items test fluency and later ones test genuine insight. Confirm the exact structure for your specific contest on the CEMC site.

It varies by contest and division, and the CEMC adjusts these details periodically. Rather than rely on a secondhand number, check the official contest page for the current question count and time allowance before you plan your pacing practice.

Early questions are approachable for a well-prepared student; the final few are deliberately hard and are meant to be missed by most writers. The scoring curve reflects that. Aim to bank the easy and middle questions cleanly, then spend remaining time on the last problems.

Each contest is offered once per year, so a retake means waiting for the next cycle or entering a higher division the following year. There is no same-year resit. Check the CEMC site for the current schedule and eligibility rules for your grade.

Rules differ by contest and division, and several papers prohibit calculators entirely. Assume no calculator unless the official rules for your specific contest say otherwise, and practice accordingly, since mental arithmetic speed matters under time pressure.

Start with full past papers under timed conditions to find your weak topics. Then drill those topics in isolation, return to timed papers, and repeat. Keep an error log categorizing each mistake as concept, setup, or arithmetic. This cycle beats reading solutions passively.

Running out of time on early questions, misreading what is being asked, and refusing to skip a stubborn problem. Another frequent failure is guessing without eliminating options. Practice abandoning a question after a set time and returning only if time remains.

Not usually, but the harder problems combine grade-level ideas in unfamiliar ways. Comfort with number sense, algebraic manipulation, and basic counting helps enormously. Enrichment beyond the syllabus is useful for the top few questions, not the bulk of the paper.

Registration normally goes through your school, which handles fees and administration. The CEMC publishes current fees, dates, and registration procedures on its official website, and those figures change, so verify them there rather than relying on any summary.