Compete

Preparation guide

How to prepare for ARML

Fifteen-student regional teams competing in relays and a power round over one intense weekend.

Highly competitive · Grade 12 or below during the school year of the competition. Students may not have graduated from high school in a prior academic year. There is no lower grade limit.

Competition details and how to enter Official website

Where the points actually are

ARML preparation is team practice. Individual strength gets you onto the team; team habits win rounds. The Power Round in particular is unlike any other contest round and needs deliberate practice in writing mathematics that another person can grade.

Topic breakdown

01AIME-and-above problem solving
The Individual and Team Rounds sit at roughly AIME difficulty, sometimes above.
02Proof writing
The Power Round is graded on written reasoning. Practise writing complete, readable arguments, not just answers.
03Relay strategy
In relays, an error propagates. Teams practise passing answers with confidence signals and building in redundancy.
04Team division of labour
Fifteen students and ten problems means assignment strategy is a real skill.

A study plan that works backwards from the date

  1. Autumn Build individual strength through AMC and AIME preparation. This is what gets you selected.
  2. Spring, after selection Weekly team practices on past ARML papers. Rotate relay positions so nobody is locked into one seat.
  3. Final month At least three full past Power Rounds, written up properly and graded by a coach against the official rubric.

Tips that come from the format itself

  • The Power Round is where under-prepared teams lose. It is graded like a maths paper, so presentation earns points.
  • In relays, say your answer clearly and say how confident you are. Downstream students need to know whether to double-check.
  • Past ARML papers are published and are the best available practice for team-format mathematics.

Practice resources

Past papers and official materials

  • ARML past contests

    ARML publishes past competitions; some years are sold as books through the organisation.

Skills this builds

  • Olympiad-level problem solving
  • Proof writing for the Power Round
  • Team coordination
  • Composure in relay chains
  • Speed

Read what other students said about preparing