Senior Stage · Parallel Olympiad · Year 11 and above
Mathematical Olympiad for Girls (MOG) — Pathway to EGMO Selection
The MOG is a senior-level written competition for female students in Year 11 and above (younger students may be entered at the school’s discretion), run each September by the UK Mathematics Trust. Five problems sat over two and a half hours — two short-answer (numerical answer only) plus three requiring full written solutions, 50 marks total. Strong MOG performers feed the UK selection panel for the European Girls’ Mathematical Olympiad (EGMO), held each April. MOG runs in parallel with the BMO and is not a substitute for it.
MOG at a glance
+ 3 written (50 marks)
duration
Year 11 and above
month
Overview
A Parallel Senior-Stage Olympiad for Female Students
The MOG was introduced by UKMT in 2011 to address the well-documented underrepresentation of female students in senior Olympiad cohorts, and to feed the UK selection process for the European Girls’ Mathematical Olympiad (EGMO), which began in 2012. MOG sits alongside the BMO rather than feeding into it, and the two competitions are not substitutes — strong UK female mathematicians routinely sit both.
The MOG is sat in late September each year (typically the last week of September; in 2025 the paper was sat on Thursday 25 September), near the start of the academic year, on a national date published by UKMT. The format is five problems sat over two and a half hours — two short-answer problems requiring only a numerical answer, plus three problems requiring full written solutions — for a total of 50 marks, with centralised marking by the UKMT problems panel. Entry is at school discretion: each participating school receives two free entries and may enter up to two additional students at £25 each.
MOG is open to female students in Year 11 and above at participating UK schools (S4 and above in Scotland, Year 12 and above in Northern Ireland), with younger students entered only at the school’s discretion. This eligibility window is calibrated to feed the EGMO selection process directly: students in their GCSE year and above are the realistic feeder pool for the four-strong UK EGMO team, sat alongside but independently from the BMO–Trinity Camp–IMO pipeline.
Top MOG scorers feed the UK selection process for the European Girls’ Mathematical Olympiad (EGMO), held each April at a host country chosen on a rotating basis. The UK EGMO team is four students strong, selected from MOG performance and Easter training-camp results. EGMO selection runs in parallel with — and is independent of — the BMO–Trinity Camp–IMO Team UK pipeline; a strong UK female mathematician may be selected for one, both, or neither in any given year.
MOG and the BMO are complementary, not competing. Many of the strongest UK female Olympiad mathematicians sit both — MOG in September of their final UK year, BMO Round 1 in November, both with a view to representing the UK at either or both of the international competitions in the following summer. The two pathways together form the senior end of the UKMT pipeline for female students; for male students, the BMO is the only senior route.
Format
MOG Paper Format
Five problems sat over two and a half hours on a national date in late September — two short-answer problems (numerical answer only) plus three full-written-solution problems, 50 marks total. Entry is at school discretion: two free entries per school, plus up to two additional students at £25 each. The September timing makes MOG the earliest sitting in the senior UKMT calendar.
Mathematical Olympiad for Girls · MOG
Format at a glance
- SatLate September, national date (typically last week of September)
- Duration2 hours 30 minutes from start to finish
- Problems5 problems · 2 short-answer (numerical) + 3 full-written-solution · 50 marks total
- CalculatorNot permitted
- EligibilityFemale students Year 11 and above at UK schools (younger by school discretion)
- EntrySchool-discretion entry: 2 free entries per school + up to 2 additional at £25 each
- MarkingCentralised UKMT problems panel
- AwardsDistinction, Merit, Qualification certificates · EGMO selection feeder
What Comes Next
After MOG — EGMO Selection and the April International
Top MOG scorers are invited to participate in the UK EGMO selection process, which combines MOG results with subsequent training camp performance. The UK EGMO team of four is announced in early spring; the European Girls’ Mathematical Olympiad itself is held in April at a host country chosen on a rotating basis.
Frequently Asked
Six Questions about the MOG and EGMO Pathway
Six questions students and parents most often ask about MOG and its relationship to BMO and EGMO.
- Who can sit the MOG?
- The MOG is open to female students in Year 11 and above at participating UK schools (S4+ in Scotland, Year 12+ in Northern Ireland). Younger students may be entered at the school’s discretion. Schools register their students directly through UKMT — there is no preliminary qualifier or invitation gate, unlike the BMO. Each school receives two free entries and may enter up to two additional students at £25 each.
- Is the MOG easier than the BMO?
- The papers reward different things rather than sitting on a single difficulty scale. The MOG has five problems over two and a half hours (two short-answer plus three written, 50 marks total); BMO Round 1 has six problems over three and a half hours; BMO Round 2 has four problems over three and a half hours. The MOG cohort is Year 11 and above female students; the BMO cohort is Year 12–13 mixed. Top MOG marks are competitive with strong BMO Round 1 marks; the strongest UK female mathematicians sit both.
- How does the EGMO selection work?
- The UK EGMO team of four is selected by a combination of MOG results, subsequent training camp performance, and (for some students) BMO Round 1 and Round 2 results where the student sat them. The selection panel is convened by UKMT and the BMO Subtrust each spring, with the final team announced in March or April. EGMO itself is held in April; the host country rotates among European nations year by year.
- Can a female student sit both MOG and BMO?
- Yes, and many do. MOG is sat in late September; BMO Round 1 is sat in November. The two papers are not substitutes — sitting one does not preclude sitting the other, and strong UK female mathematicians routinely sit both. For Year 12 and Year 13 students who meet BMO Round 1 eligibility, this is the standard pattern. For Year 11 students who are not yet eligible for BMO Round 1, MOG provides a senior-level Olympiad route in the year before BMO eligibility opens.
- How should I prepare for MOG?
- The reading list is essentially the same as for the BMO: Engel’s Problem Solving Strategies for combinatorics and number theory, Gardiner and Bradley’s Plane Euclidean Geometry for geometry. UKMT publishes the MOG past-paper archive going back to 2011 with full solutions; past-paper practice is the foundation. The September timing means preparation typically begins in the summer holidays before the sitting, with focused work on past papers and weak areas.
- Why does MOG exist as a separate competition?
- MOG was introduced by UKMT in 2011 in direct response to the well-documented underrepresentation of female students in senior Olympiad cohorts in the United Kingdom and internationally. EGMO (the European Girls’ Mathematical Olympiad) launched in 2012 with the same intent at international level. Both competitions are intended to expand the active senior-Olympiad cohort by giving female mathematicians a clearly addressed entry point and visible high-achievement role models, without removing access to the gender-neutral BMO and IMO pathways.
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