ISA Students Shine This Math Competition Season
From creative problem-solving to international tournaments, ISA students embraced challenges this year across more than 15 different math competitions. With competitions for both Middle and High School, this year’s math competition season was full of exceptional results and even more impressive personal growth for our students.
Highlights from this year’s Math Competition Season:
2nd place Junior Team in the ISMTF virtual challenge, with a 1st place individual winner
Top 10 team and individual placements at all three ISMTF in-person rounds in Vienna and Zurich
One ISA student earned a perfect score in Round 2 of the Dutch Math Olympiad—one of only five in the country
ISA named “Best New School 2025” by the Dutch Math Olympiad
One student qualified for the elite AIME (American Invitational Mathematics Examination)
Strong results across AMC, MOEMS, Waterloo Contests, NECIS, and MathCounts
ISMTF Competitions
ISA students competed in both virtual and traveling rounds of the International Schools Mathematics Teachers Foundation (ISMTF) competitions. In November’s virtual challenge, our Junior team earned an incredible 2nd place overall, with an individual ISA student taking 1st place. Our Senior team also placed 2nd in their category.
In the in-person February round, six to nine students were chosen to travel to Vienna and Zurich to compete against nearly 200 international students. ISA placed in the top 10 at every level, including a 9th place out of 65 team finish in Middle School (Vienna), 5th place out of 60 for the Senior team (Vienna), and a 4th place out of 68 team and 3rd place individual finish (out of 199 students) in the Junior division (Zurich).
Dutch MathOlympiad
The Dutch Math Olympiad is an annual contest for secondary school students from both Dutch and international schools. The contest problems are playful but challenging, testing students’ creativity as well as their mathematical understanding.
Out of over 6,000 students from more than 300 schools across the Netherlands, thirteen ISA students participated in this year’s Dutch Math Olympiad. ISA was recognised as the “Best New School 2025,” and six of our students advanced to the second round.
Even more exciting, four ISA students have now qualified for the final round in September, out of 150, including one ISA student who achieved a perfect score in the second round—one of only five in the country!
American Mathematics Competitions (AMC 8, 10, 12)
From Middle to High School, a total of thirty-seven students participated in the prestigious three AMC math competitions: nineteen students wrote AMC 8, thirteen wrote AMC 10, and five participated in AMC 12. These competitions are designed to sharpen problem-solving skills at an international level. One High School student qualified for the elite AIME (American Invitational Mathematics Examination)—a major milestone on the path toward the International Mathematical Olympiad.
University of Waterloo Math Contests (Pascal, Cayley, Fermat)
Students in Grades 9, 10, and 11 took part in the Pascal, Cayley, and Fermat contests respectively, joining over 20,000 students worldwide. These contests are a fun opportunity for participants to explore the potential of mathematics, as they are designed to be accessible for students who have previous math contest experience and those who don’t, helping learners build confidence and inspiring them to get excited about math. Several ISA students achieved distinction, with one nearly perfect score among our Grade 10s—a strong showing from our ISA mathematicians.
- Grade 9: 15 students, 4 distinctions
- Grade 10: 4 students, 3 distinctions, 1 nearly perfect
- Grade 11: 7 students, 4 distinctions
AIS NECIS Math Competition in Antwerp
Two students each from Grades 6 to 9, as well as four Grade 5 students, represented ISA at the NECIS Math Competition at AIS in Antwerp. Across all grade levels, students tackled five thrilling rounds of challenges ranging from Mental Math to Open-Ended Problems. Our Grade 5 team earned a 2nd place finish, while the remaining teams placed in the top 50%.
MathCounts School and Chapter Competitions
Thirty Middle School students participated in ISA’s MathCounts program this year, with eleven advancing to represent international schools in the chapter round. This competition series has four levels of competition: school, chapter, state, and national. Each level consists of three rounds: Sprint, Target, and Team.
MOEMS (Math Olympiad for Middle School)
More than twenty-eight Middle School students participated in the global MOEMS contest series. Thirteen of them placed in the top 50%, earning official recognition for their problem-solving achievements in a competition that sees over 120,000 global participants each year.
World Insights Competition – World Data Lab
ISA High School students took part in the World Insights Competition, an international data analysis challenge hosted by the World Data Lab. This unique opportunity invited students to explore real-world data using innovative visualisation tools, encouraging them to uncover meaningful patterns and develop a deeper understanding of statistics and global trends.
One group placed 1st overall, competing against schools from around the world. As a result, the two students were awarded a virtual internship with the World Data Lab this summer—a remarkable achievement!
Our aspiring mathematicians truly made the most of this year’s competition season. Math teacher Kat Frey, who organises and supervises all of ISA’s math competition efforts, reflected:
“It’s incredibly rewarding to guide students as they prepare for and participate in national and international math competitions. These competitions give students the chance to challenge themselves, build confidence, collaborate as a team, and have their talent and hard work shine in ways that aren’t always found in the typical school spotlight.”
Whether representing ISA on an international stage or tackling new problems closer to home, they approached each event with courage, creativity, and determination. In doing so, they not only sharpened their skills but also discovered what’s possible when they step outside of their comfort zones and embrace the challenge.
