Science Olympiad Foundation (SOF) · Maths · Class 6
International Mathematics Olympiad (IMO) Class 6: syllabus, dates and exam pattern (2026–27)
Everything you need in one place — the exact NCERT chapters this paper tests, all 3 exam dates, the registration window, and the full marking scheme. Updated for the 2026–27 session.
Last verified against Science Olympiad Foundation (SOF)'s own site on 11 August 2026. Exam dates re-checked on 24 August 2026.
2026–27 exam dates
Date 1
23 October 2026
Date 2
26 November 2026
Date 3
10 December 2026
Registration: Your school picks one of the three dates above, and registrations must reach SOF 30 days before that chosen date — so 23 September 2026 for the October date, 27 October for the November date, and 10 November for the December date. The school chooses the date, not the family, and once chosen it cannot be changed. Ask your school coordinator which date they have picked and work backwards from that one cutoff.
The deadline is set by your school, not by you
Most parents find the exam date and assume they have until then. The registration window closes long before it, and for some papers it has already started closing. Here is how it actually works.
- Your school registers your child and your school picks which of the 2–3 dates the class sits. The family does not choose.
- For SOF papers, registrations must reach SOF exactly 30 days before that chosen date — and once the school has chosen, the date cannot be changed.
- Most bodies register through the school. Four do not have to: CREST (online, no published cutoff), Unified Council — directly for NSTSE itself at ₹350 against ₹150 through a school, and on three online sittings, NSTSE-Online, UIMO-Online and UIEO-Online, at ₹354 each including GST — Indian Talent Olympiad on its individual online route (its own later dates — Slot 1 closes 30 October), and Humming Bird (online, ₹150 a subject, no published cutoff — its two dates are picked as you register). CREST is the simplest of the four.
Closing next
Indian Talent Olympiad — Set A
Registration closes 31 August 2026 · all five subjects
SilverZone — every paper
Registration closes 31 August 2026 · all five subjects
The body publishes this date but has not marked it final — confirm with your school before treating it as fixed.
SOF IEO (English)
If your school picks 30 September 2026, registration closes 31 August 2026 · English
SOF IMO (Maths)
If your school picks 23 October 2026, registration closes 23 September 2026 · Maths
Or read the full calendar on the site — no sign-up
Every deadline in this box was checked against that exam body's own website on 24 August 2026. Bodies do move dates — we re-check every Monday.
Exam pattern
How the IMO paper is structured
| Section | Questions | Marks per question | Section total |
|---|---|---|---|
| Logical Reasoning | 15 | 1 | 15 |
| Mathematical Reasoning | 20 | 1 | 20 |
| Everyday Mathematics | 10 | 1 | 10 |
| Achievers Section | 5 | 3 | 15 |
| Total | 50 questions | — | 60 marks · 60 minutes |
Around 60% of questions come from the current Class 6 syllabus and 40% carry over from Class 5, so starting preparation early in the school year is not a disadvantage.
Syllabus
Maths syllabus mapped to NCERT Ganita Prakash (Class 6, 2026-27)
Ch 1. Patterns in Mathematics
Olympiad syllabus label: Number Patterns / Sequences
Ch 2. Lines and Angles
Olympiad syllabus label: Lines, Angles and Basic Geometry
Ch 3. Number Play
Olympiad syllabus label: Number Sense / Playing with Numbers
Ch 4. Data Handling and Presentation
Olympiad syllabus label: Data Handling / Statistics
Ch 5. Prime Time
Olympiad syllabus label: Playing with Numbers / Number Theory
Ch 6. Perimeter and Area
Olympiad syllabus label: Mensuration
Ch 7. Fractions
Olympiad syllabus label: Fractions and Decimals
Ch 8. Playing with Constructions
Olympiad syllabus label: Practical Geometry / Constructions
Ch 9. Symmetry
Olympiad syllabus label: Symmetry
Ch 10. The Other Side of Zero
Olympiad syllabus label: Integers
The Logical Reasoning section (15 questions) draws on verbal and non-verbal reasoning — analogies, series, coding-decoding — rather than the chapter list above; it is a separate reasoning spine common to most SOF and SilverZone papers.
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