MOEMS
Math Olympiads for Elementary and Middle Schools
Five short contests across the school year, designed as a first taste of olympiad problem solving from grade 4.
Run by Mathematical Olympiads for Elementary and Middle Schools
Key facts
- Eligible grades
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Two divisions: Elementary for grades 4, 5 and 6, and Middle School for grades 6, 7 and 8.
Grade 6 may enter either division.Source, checked 2026-09-02
- Official divisions
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Two divisions: Elementary for grades 4 to 6 and Middle School for grades 6 to 8. Grade 6 students may enter either.
Based on the organiser's own divisions.
- Eligible ages
-
Not confirmed. This organiser may set eligibility by grade rather than age. We do not convert one into the other.MOEMS defines divisions by grade, not age.
- Individual or team
- Individual or team · Up to 35 students per team.
- Where it runs
- In person · United States, International
- Entry cost
- Not confirmedNot confirmed on the official pages checked. Third-party listings report 2025-26 team fees between $175 and $300 depending on registration date, and state that 2026-27 fees had not been announced. The previous listing's 'up to $200' should not be relied on.
- Registration deadline
- Set locally, not published as a single national date 2026-27 registration deadlines not confirmed on the official pages checked.
- Competition dates
- Five contests between November and March, each administered at school on a date within a set window.
- Difficulty
- Open to beginnersNo prior competition experience assumed. If you can do the school-level material, you can enter and score points.
- Prizes
- Individual awards: patches for the top 50%, a gold pin for the top 2%, a silver pin for the top 3 to 10%, and the George Lenchner Medallion for a perfect score. Team awards: a plaque for the top 10% and certificates for the top 11 to 20%. Institute teams are not eligible for team awards.Participation certificates for all, with pins, patches and trophies for high scorers and top teams. No cash prizes.
What MOEMS is
MOEMS runs five short contests through the school year for elementary and middle school teams. Each contest is five problems in about half an hour, taken at school. The problems are genuine olympiad-style puzzles rather than curriculum exercises, but pitched so that a grade 4 student can solve some of them. It is one of the earliest structured entry points into competitive mathematics.
How the competition works
Five monthly problem-solving contests. Contests may be administered on paper or online, and MOEMS requires that every student on a team take each contest on the same day at the same time.
Eligibility notes
Division E covers grades 4 to 6, Division M covers grades 6 to 8. Registration is by school, club or home school group.
Is MOEMS right for you?
- Experience needed
- None. This is designed as a first competition and grade 4 students take it routinely.
- Time commitment
- Half an hour per contest, five times a year, plus optional practice.
- What you actually do
- Five problems in about thirty minutes, taken in your own classroom. No calculator. Most students solve one or two on their first attempt and that is entirely normal.
A good fit if
- You are in elementary or middle school and want to try competition maths
- Your school wants a low-cost programme that runs all year
- You want practice before AMC 8 or MATHCOUNTS
Probably not for you if
- High school students, who should look at AMC 10 and 12
Common mistakes
- Expecting to solve all five. Solving two out of five is a good score and the scoring is designed around that.
- Treating it as a test rather than practice. The value is in reviewing the problems afterwards as a group.
How to register
- A teacher, club leader or home school parent registers the team on moems.org.
- Choose Division E or Division M based on the grades in your group.
- Administer each of the five contests at school within its window.
- Practise with the published sample problems between contests.
What skills you need
- Logical reasoning
- Arithmetic fluency
- Working backwards
- Systematic listing
- Persistence on a single hard problem
Recommended resources
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MOEMS official site
Registration, divisions, sample problems and contest logistics.
-
MOEMS sample problems
Free sample contests with solutions.
Past problems and materials
Only materials the organiser or an authorised archive publishes openly are listed here.
- Sample contests and published problem books
Free samples online; full past collections are sold as books by the organisation.
Frequently asked questions
How young can students start?
Grade 4, in Division E. MOEMS is one of the few genuine olympiad-style competitions pitched at elementary students.
Can a home school group register?
Yes. MOEMS accepts registrations from schools, clubs and home school groups, and the per-team fee covers up to 35 students.
Reviews, tips and resources from other students
Posts are public. Do not share your full name, school, address or contact details.
Something out of date?
If a deadline, fee or eligibility rule on this page no longer matches the official site, flag it and it goes into the review queue.
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