AMC 8 test questions and answers leaked online on first day of Singapore sittings

SINGAPORE: Nearly 900 students in Singapore are estimated to have registered for the American Mathematics Competition (AMC) 8 this year.

However, the test’s integrity was questioned after questions and answers appeared for sale online on the first day of local testing.

According to Lianhe Zaobao, the leaked materials were offered on several Chinese e-commerce platforms and at least one social media platform, with prices ranging from under 10 Chinese yuan to as much as 500 yuan.

The cheapest listing was priced at 9.80 yuan, or about S$1.80.

Other listings offered more comprehensive answer sets, including detailed solutions, at significantly higher prices.

A screengrab from Taobao platform selling the answers for 165 yuan, or about S$30, marketed as complete solutions to the AMC 8 paper.

The advertisement claimed: "Real answers for January 2026, guaranteed, professional teacher livestream explains questions, easily scores 25 points."

Observing the listings, some ads appeared to have over 100 purchases and more than 500 views.

About the AMC 8 test

The AMC 8 is a 40-minute mathematics test comprising 25 multiple-choice questions. Calculators are not permitted, and the questions focus on logical reasoning and mathematical thinking rather than routine calculations, according to the Mathematical Association of America (MAA) website.

The test is conducted over a testing window instead of a single global sitting, a structure that has long raised concerns about potential leaks across regions.

In Singapore, the AMC 8 is taken mainly by upper primary and lower secondary students.

Several tuition centres, as well as mainstream and international schools, facilitate participation.

Role in school admissions

AMC 8 scores can be used in applications under the Direct School Admission scheme, which allows pupils to secure places in selected secondary schools before taking the Primary School Leaving Examination.

Zaobao reported that around 800 to 1,000 students in Singapore register for the AMC 8 each year, while about 50,000 candidates take the test annually in China.

All candidates aged 15½ and below sit the same paper worldwide.

According to organisers, answering 17 or 18 questions correctly places a student among the top 5 per cent globally.

Organisers acknowledge recurring challenges

Ms Zhou Xiuping, who oversees the AMC 8, 10 and 12 in Singapore and Southeast Asia, excluding the Philippines, said she has been involved in organising the tests for more than 20 years.

She noted that this year’s participants included two Integrated Programme schools, international schools and mathematics tuition centres specialising in Olympiad-style training.

Ms Zhou said complaints about leaked questions had been raised with the US organisers one to two years ago, prompting measures such as regional variations in answer options.

While the questions remain the same, the order of correct answers may differ between regions, making memorisation of answers less effective.

Despite these efforts, she acknowledged that it is difficult to eliminate leaks entirely.

In earlier AMC 10 and 12 tests, two students were found to have prior knowledge of the questions, leading to the cancellation of their results and bans from subsequent tests.

Student and teacher reactions

Concerns about fairness were also voiced on Chinese social media platforms, including Xiaohongshu.

Some users said they withdrew from the competition after learning that answers could be purchased in advance.

"The competition is not held simultaneously worldwide, so the test questions can be bought a day in advance. I won’t be a fearless companion for that."

Others claimed they had seen or bought answer sets priced between 9.90 yuan and 2,000 yuan, depending on the level of detail.

Some mathematics tuition teachers criticised the situation, noting that full sets of questions and solutions appeared online while many local students had yet to sit the test.

One teacher said such practices were unfair to students who genuinely wanted to assess their own abilities.

"Doing this is extremely unfair to children who genuinely want to assess their own abilities."

International standing of the AMC

The AMC series, including AMC 8, AMC 10 and AMC 12, is widely recognised internationally.

In the US, AMC 10 and 12 serve as gateways to the International Mathematical Olympiad.

The tests are also commonly used as academic indicators in applications by foreign students to some American universities.

According to MAA, more than 300,000 students across over 30 countries participate each year