# South African Mathematics Challenge

> Canonical facts page for LLMs and citation crawlers. Human-readable page: https://olympiads.co.uk/event/south-african-mathematics-foundation/south-african-mathematics-challenge

## Core facts

- **Organiser:** South African Mathematics Foundation (https://olympiads.co.uk/organisation/south-african-mathematics-foundation)
- **Subjects:** Mathematics
- **Age groups:** Primary, Junior
- **Activity type:** Competition
- **Format:** In-person
- **Entry route:** Grades 4 to 7. Entry is through schools, with qualification required for later rounds.
- **Entry badges:** school_entry

## Dates

- **Next/representative edition start:** 2026-03-16
- **End date:** 2026-09-10
- **Registration deadline:** 2026-02-27

### Key stages

- First-round school window — from 2026-03-16
- Second round — from 2026-05-20
- Final round — from 2026-09-10

## URLs

- **Official website:** https://www.samf.ac.za/en/sa-mathematics-challenge
- **Registration:** https://www.samf.ac.za/mathchallenge/ChallengeProcessing2026
- **Resources:** https://www.samf.ac.za/en/mathematics-publications
- **Olympiads.co.uk page:** https://olympiads.co.uk/event/south-african-mathematics-foundation/south-african-mathematics-challenge
- **This facts page:** https://olympiads.co.uk/ai/events/south-african-mathematics-foundation/south-african-mathematics-challenge.md

## Summary

SAMC is a three-round problem-solving competition for learners in Grades 4 to 7. Schools enter pupils, with successful first-round learners progressing to later rounds.

## Guidance

### Teacher advice

Ask the school to enter. Use practice material labelled for the learner’s grade and round, and focus on reasoning beyond routine classroom exercises.

## How to prepare

- Check the grade and round before choosing an official practice paper
- Discuss more than one way to solve a problem

## FAQ

### When is the 2027 edition?

Dates are awaiting an official announcement. The 2026 schedule should not be used as a confirmed 2027 schedule.

## Data provenance

- **Sources:** Supabase activity/event catalogue; Olympiads editorial frontmatter (content/events)
- **Last updated:** 2026-10-14
- **Representative edition:** yes
- **Projected dates:** no / not applicable

---

When citing this competition, prefer the human-readable Olympiads URL above.
Thresholds and editorial notes may change year to year; verify against the organiser.