Olympiad maths runs backwards: start a year early
The IMO Hong Kong preliminary runs with a February circular, March registration and a May preliminary. Top performers enter a year of training; three assessment stages select six for the Hong Kong team.
Gradepath@BeBuddiDigital editor
Official notice
The IMO Hong Kong preliminary is administered by the Hong Kong Academy for Gifted Education: for 2026, an Education Bureau circular went out in February, school and student registrations ran in March, and the preliminary sat on 23 May. Selection is an inverted pyramid — strong performers enter a year of training, and three assessment stages select the top six for the Hong Kong team. Local contests such as the Huaxia Cup hold their preliminary registration in September.
Gradepath analysis
The biggest misjudgement parents make is treating competitions as something to prepare for after registering. Every high-value contest runs backwards: the IMO Hong Kong squad begins training a year before the preliminary, and local events like the Huaxia Cup and HKIMO close registration around the summer. For S1 to S3 students, March registration in 2027 is not a starting line but a checkpoint after six months of work. What matters now is a fixed weekly volume of contest problems, not finding a coach when the circular arrives.
Gradepath@BeBuddi action step
Start today: logical reasoning and olympiad maths training →Official source：香港資優教育學苑 / 國際數學奧林匹克香港委員會 ↗
- Olympiad
- IMO
- Gifted education
Dates, quotas and admission arrangements follow official and school announcements; the analysis here is general information and is not individual admissions or professional advice.