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TIMO (Thailand International Mathematical Olympiad) is an international maths competition for school students; a very large number of Vietnamese primary pupils enter every year.
Real scores · Real teachers · Real results — teachers hold at least IELTS 8.0 or SAT 1500, and international programmes are taught by PhD and Master's holders.
TIMO (Thailand International Mathematical Olympiad) is an international maths competition for school students, entered every year by large numbers of Vietnamese primary and lower secondary students. In Vietnam it has three rounds — an online qualifying round, a national round (Heat Round) and an international round (Final Round) — with questions split evenly across 5 content strands.
From the national round on, questions require filled-in answers — no options to guess from; your child must list systematically, draw diagrams, work backwards and make trial assumptions.
The qualifying round is bilingual English–Vietnamese, and the national round is in English with Vietnamese glosses for terms — your child gets used to reading maths problems in English, a foundation for Grade 6 selective-school entry and international programmes.
One sitting a year, by grade — the results show parents where their child stands compared with peers of the same age.
Medals and certificates recognise your child's achievement in each round — see Scoring and awards for the score cut-offs.
All rounds are scored by the number of correct answers, with no penalty for wrong answers. Qualifying Round and National Round (Heat Round): 25 questions × 4 = 100 points. International Round (Final Round): 30 questions × 5 = 150 points. The table below shows the cut-offs in the 2026–27 Announcement from the Vietnam organising committee; cut-offs may change based on actual results and each award level has a quota — once a level's quota is filled, the next candidate moves down to the level below. The actual cut-offs on thaiimo.com for 2025–26 differ by grade (see the statistics for each round).
(sources)
Awarded to candidates with outstanding results in the National Round and International Round; schools with 100 or more participating students receive a commemorative medal.
Source ↗According to the Vietnam organising committee: winning International Round Gold in 2 of the 3 competitions TIMO, Big Bay Bei and HKIMO in 2026–27 qualifies for the WIMO International Round in January 2028, with the exam fee waived. The international website states that WIMO is for Gold winners in the HKIMO or TIMO finals.
Source ↗Winning Gold in the finals of TIMO, Big Bay Bei and HKIMO in the same school year (the Vietnam organising committee additionally requires at least one to be taken in person) earns the crystal Legend Award trophy.
Source ↗Candidates who won Diamond or Gold in Mathematics at the national round, or any award (Diamond to Honourable Mention) in Mathematics at the international round, of competitions organised by FERMAT between 1 Jul 2025 and 30 Jun 2026 advance directly to the TIMO 2026–27 National Round.
Source ↗In Vietnam, TIMO has 3 rounds: an online Qualifying Round in October, a National Round (Heat Round) at central venues in December, and an International Round (Final Round) around late January – February of the following year. For 2026–27, Qualifying Round registration closed on 16 Sep 2026.
The TIMO organiser in Vietnam is Fermat Education Joint Stock Company (Fermat Education), 6A1 Ngoc Khanh Sub-area, Lang Ward, Hanoi. The international competition is organised by Olympiad Champion Education Centre (Hong Kong), in cooperation with the Tourism Authority of Thailand.
Contact: TIMO@fermat.edu.vn; 0961 603 003 / 0917 830 455 (8:30–12:00, 13:30–17:30, Monday – Friday).
The 2026–27 Qualifying Round registration deadline (16 Sep 2026) has passed; students who have not registered should ask the organisers about the National Round (only for those who passed the Qualifying Round or are exempt).
| Date | Content |
|---|---|
| Saturday – Sunday 10–11 Oct 2026 | Qualifying Round — online, proctored via Zoom (registration deadline 16 Sep 2026) |
| Sunday 06 Dec 2026 | National Round (Heat Round) — at a central venue (registration deadline 4 Nov 2026) |
| Expected late January 2027 | International Round (Final Round) — format and venue announced after the National Round |
Qualifying Round and National Round results are expected 2–3 weeks after the exam; International Round results are announced at the awards ceremony.
Source: Announcement No. 090726/TB/FE-TIMO dated 8 Jul 2026 from the Vietnam organising committee.
| Date | Content |
|---|---|
| Saturday – Sunday 11–12 Oct 2025 | Qualifying Round — online (registration deadline 10 Sep 2025) |
| Sunday 07 Dec 2025 | National Round — at a central venue (registration deadline 5 Nov 2025) |
| Saturday 7 Feb 2026 | Final Round — Bangkok (onsite) or online |
The final date of 7 Feb 2026 is taken from the 2025–26 Heat Round results page on thaiimo.com.
| Item | 2026–27 |
|---|---|
| Qualifying Round | VND 200,000/candidate (includes soft copies of 14 Qualifying Round and National Round papers with solutions, sent by email) |
| National Round | VND 500,000/candidate |
| International Round | Announced after National Round results |
| Olympiad topic collection (Kindergarten – Grade 9, optional) | VND 100,000/book |
Fees paid are non-refundable under any circumstances.
An invoice is issued after the fee is paid (parent's full name, address and citizen ID number).
The 2025–26 fee document has not been found (that year's Drive folder is locked).
Every session includes an Olympiad tier in the TIMO style; before the contest, your child practises timed tests on the TIMO practice platform for their own grade.
Study the 8020 THINK MATH series: 9 levels, each session with 4 tiers of exercises up to Olympiad level.
270 questions · 4 mock tests per grade
TIMO Grade 1TIMO Grade 2TIMO Grade 3Trọng Điểm Math following the Grade 6 entrance assessment format, plus TIMO tests before the contest.
1-on-1 tutoring or small groups, leading on to AMC 8 · AMC 10.
270 questions · 4 mock tests per grade
TIMO Grade 6TIMO Grade 7TIMO Grade 8Click each round to see the number of questions, timing, the five content strands and how medals are awarded.
| Section | Number of questions | Time | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| Logical ThinkingLogic puzzles, shape/number sequence patterns, chickens-and-rabbits problems… (per the sample papers). | 5 | — | — |
| Arithmetic / AlgebraMental arithmetic, expressions, word problems; upper grades include equations and algebra. | 5 | — | — |
| Number TheoryDivisibility, factors–multiples, remainders, digits. | 5 | — | — |
| GeometryPerimeter, area, counting shapes, solids. | 5 | — | — |
| CombinatoricsCounting, arrangements, the pigeonhole principle, simple probability (depending on grade). | 5 | — | — |
Taken online, proctored via Zoom; multiple-choice paper, bilingual English–Vietnamese. This round is organised separately by the Vietnam organising committee (Fermat Education) to select candidates for the National Round; the international site thaiimo.com has no such round.
No calculators (per the instructions on Fermat's sample qualifying paper).
| Section | Number of questions | Time | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| Logical ThinkingLogic puzzles, shape/number sequence patterns, chickens-and-rabbits problems… (per the sample papers). | 5 | — | — |
| Arithmetic / AlgebraMental arithmetic, expressions, word problems; upper grades include equations and algebra. | 5 | — | — |
| Number TheoryDivisibility, factors–multiples, remainders, digits. | 5 | — | — |
| GeometryPerimeter, area, counting shapes, solids. | 5 | — | — |
| CombinatoricsCounting, arrangements, the pigeonhole principle, simple probability (depending on grade). | 5 | — | — |
In Vietnam this is called the National Round: held at central venues as directed by the organising committee. Short-answer paper, in English with Vietnamese glosses for terms. Each grade has its own paper (Grades 10–12 share one).
No calculators.
| Scoring row | Score | Earns the point when |
|---|---|---|
| Excellence Award | The 3 highest scorers in each level (across all candidates) — Champion, 1st Runner-up and 2nd Runner-up trophies. | |
| Gold Award | ≥ 80/100 | Gold medal + certificate. |
| Silver Award | ≥ 60/100 | Silver medal + certificate. |
| Bronze Award | ≥ 40/100 | Bronze medal + certificate. |
| Merit Award | ≥ 20/100 | Certificate. |
| Section | Number of questions | Time | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| Logical ThinkingLogic puzzles, shape/number sequence patterns, chickens-and-rabbits problems… (per the sample papers). | 6 | — | — |
| Arithmetic / AlgebraMental arithmetic, expressions, word problems; upper grades include equations and algebra. | 6 | — | — |
| Number TheoryDivisibility, factors–multiples, remainders, digits. | 6 | — | — |
| GeometryPerimeter, area, counting shapes, solids; figures are not necessarily drawn to scale. | 6 | — | — |
| CombinatoricsCounting, arrangements, the pigeonhole principle, simple probability (depending on grade). | 6 | — | — |
International final: in person (onsite) in Thailand or online (2025–26 offered both). Open-ended questions, one paper per level. The format, venue and language for Vietnamese candidates in 2026–27 will be announced after the National Round.
No calculators.
| Scoring row | Score | Earns the point when |
|---|---|---|
| World Star | Top-scoring Vietnamese candidate, counting only those competing in person in Thailand — trophy + International Round fee waiver for 2027–28 if they pass that year's National Round. | |
| Excellence Award | The 3 highest scorers in each level, counting only those who sit the exam in person in Thailand — Champion, 1st Runner-up and 2nd Runner-up trophies. | |
| Gold Award | ≥ 120/150 | Gold medal + certificate. |
| Silver Award | ≥ 90/150 | Silver medal + certificate. |
| Bronze Award | ≥ 60/150 | Bronze medal + certificate. |
| Merit Award | ≥ 30/150 | Certificate. |
| Section | Number of questions | Time | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| Kindergarten GroupFinal year of kindergarten, one combined group. | — | — | — |
| Primary 1 – Primary 6Grades 1 to 6, one paper per grade. | — | — | — |
| Secondary 1 – Secondary 3Grades 7 to 9, one paper per grade. | — | — | — |
| Senior Secondary GroupSecondary 4 and above; in Vietnam, high school (Grades 10–12) sits one shared paper. | — | — | — |
Each group has its own paper: Kindergarten Group (final year of kindergarten), Primary 1–6 (Grades 1–6), Secondary 1–3 (Grades 7–9), Senior Secondary Group (Secondary 4 and above — in Vietnam, Grades 10, 11 and 12 sit the same paper and are ranked together for awards).
Based on the international TIMO organisers and the organiser in Vietnam. Updated 07/10/2026.
Each grade has its own practice platform: questions organised by the exam's 5 strands, a solution for every question, and timed 25-question mock tests.
Find the smallest number that leaves remainder 2 when divided by 3, remainder 3 when divided by 4, and remainder 4 when divided by 5.
Number Theory and Combinatorics below 60% → the teacher assigns catch-up work
PhD in Mathematics from the University of Klagenfurt (Austria), Master's from Ho Chi Minh City University of Education, Lê Hồng Phong High School for the Gifted (math specialist) — teaching how to think, not tricks.
Grades 1–3 study the 8020 THINK MATH series, written after comparing 12 Singaporean and American textbook series, with an Olympiad tier in every session.
10 TIMO practice platforms for Grades 1–10+, each with 270 questions with worked solutions and 4 timed 25-question mock tests.
Thinking Maths → TIMO → Grade 6 key-school entry → AMC: your child never has to switch centres as they move up.
Teachers with a specialist mathematics background. The 8020 THINK MATH series for Grades 1–3 was written after benchmarking 12 textbook series from Singapore and the US.
PhD with distinction · Master's with distinction, top 4% of the Faculty of Mathematics, Masaryk University (Czech Republic) · Bachelor's with distinction, top 2 in the Faculty of Mathematics, Ho Chi Minh City University of Education
Graduation thesis awarded Distinction · alumnus of the specialised Math class at Lê Hồng Phong · teaches Calculus and Statistics to AP students
Master's, Western Sydney (Australia) · Talented Engineer Programme, Bách Khoa (Ho Chi Minh City University of Technology) · First Prize in Mathematics at city level, Mathematics specialist class at Lê Hồng Phong · over 10 years teaching IELTS and SAT
Computer Science, at the #1-ranked US university for the field · 10 years living and working in the US, including time at Amazon · alumnus of the specialised Maths programme at Lê Hồng Phong
Each lesson has 4 tiers of problems: Foundation → Advanced → Challenge → Olympiad-style, as in TIMO and Kangaroo. Grades 1–3 span 9 levels, with a 100-point test at the end of each level.
The international competition is organised by Olympiad Champion Education Centre (Hong Kong) in cooperation with the Tourism Authority of Thailand; in Vietnam the organiser is Fermat Education (olympic.fermat.edu.vn), with registration via dangky.fermat.edu.vn/timo-50 or through schools/centres.
From the final year of kindergarten to Grade 12. One paper per grade; Grades 10–12 share one paper and are ranked together for awards.
5 strands: Logical Thinking, Arithmetic/Algebra, Number Theory, Geometry, Combinatorics, with questions split evenly. Qualifying Round: 25 multiple-choice questions/60 minutes; National Round: 25 fill-in-the-answer questions/90 minutes; International Round: 30 fill-in-the-answer questions/120 minutes.
The Qualifying Round is bilingual English–Vietnamese; the National Round is in English with Vietnamese glosses for terms; the language of the International Round will be announced later (per the 2026–27 Announcement).
No. The instructions on the sample papers for all three rounds say calculators are not allowed.
According to the Vietnam organising committee for 2026–27: National Round Gold from 80/100, Silver 60, Bronze 40, Honourable Mention 20; International Round Gold from 120/150, Silver 90, Bronze 60, Honourable Mention 30. Cut-offs may be adjusted — in 2025–26, the onsite final for Grade 7 and above needed only 90 for Gold.
Qualifying Round 10–11 Oct 2026 (VND 200,000, deadline 16 Sep 2026); National Round 6 Dec 2026 (VND 500,000, deadline 4 Nov 2026); International Round expected late Jan 2027, fee to be announced.
Pass the Qualifying Round (top 70%) to enter the National Round, then win Gold, Silver or Bronze in the National Round.
The Vietnam organising committee's 2026–27 Announcement does not mention any admission benefits or bonus points; it only states that this is an academic competition in which students and parents take part voluntarily. To use an award in an application, read each school's admission scheme.
Yes: the Vietnam organisers provide sample papers for all 3 rounds (with answers) on Google Drive; thaiimo.com has a free Sample Questions file. Official past papers on thaiimo.com are paid (8–10 USD/level).
From Grade 1 if your child likes math; many children start in Grades 2–3 once they read questions well. Tests are divided by grade, so your child always competes with classmates in the same year.
Grades 1–3 study THINK MATH Thinking Maths with Olympiad-level exercise tiers, Grades 4–5 study Trọng Điểm Math; before the contest, students practise TIMO tests for their grade on the practice platform, and teachers correct the thinking behind each question.
Take the free placement test and 8020 will pinpoint your gaps and place you in the right class with the right teacher. A practice area for each grade: a bank of practice questions with answers, plus timed 25-question mock tests.