Computational and Algorithmic Thinking
DATE
Tuesday 19 to Thursday 21 May 2026
TIME
Primary: 60 minutes
Secondary: 60 minutes
Cost
AUD $9.30 per student
*bundle discounts available
The Computational and Algorithmic Thinking (CAT) competition gives students the opportunity to develop their problem-solving skills through algorithmic thinking. The competition incorporates unique ‘three-stage tasks’ that encourage students to develop informal algorithms and apply them to test data of increasing size or complexity.
CAT is suitable for any maths class and requires no programming experience. It can be used to develop students’ interest and potential in computer programming.
Like all our competitions, the CAT contains unique problems designed each year by leading educators, academics and industry experts to challenge and extend your students’ problem-solving skills.
Key Dates
Printed paper entries close:
Friday 1 May 2026 – Australia and New Zealand
Friday 24 April 2026 – International
Online entries close:
Friday 15 May 2026
Submission of student answer sheets for printed paper entries close:
Friday 22 May 2026
Late submission of student answer sheets close:
Friday 5 June 2026
* Student answer sheets received after the submission deadline may not be included in the cut-off scoring which may disadvantage some students. Results will be processed after the late submission deadline.
* Student answer sheets received after the late submission deadline will be processed after Friday 13 November, based on earlier cut-off scores.
* Results and adjustments received after Friday 13 November will not be processed.
Sign Up
Find out how to register your students for this competition.
What students think
NEW CAT CODING!!
The AMT is excited to announce a new coding opportunity! CAT Coding is a long-form programming challenge based on questions from the CAT competition.
CAT Coding helps students develop their coding skills by coming up with programming responses to selected CAT questions. Students can participate unsupervised at home or in a school setting, and registration is free! Collaboration is a key part of CAT Coding and students are encouraged to work on problems with their peers.
It is open for a 5-week period, allowing students to engage deeply with problems and learn new coding strategies over time. CAT Coding is a group activity so students can collaborate with each other. Students may participate from home or at school and can use their programming language of choice.
Cat Coding is FREE and runs from Monday 25 May to Friday 3 July 2026.
Divisions
- Upper Primary – Australian Years 5 and 6
- Junior – Australian Years 7 and 8
- Intermediate – Australian Years 9 and 10
- Senior – Australian Years 11 and 12
Topics
- Applying rules
- Logic and case analysis
- Analysing algorithms
- Developing algorithms
Question and Answer Format
6 multiple-choice, 3 x 3 integer questions
(2 optional prize questions, Intermediate and Senior divisions only)
Delivery
Online
Printed paper
More Information
- Questions 1–6
3 marks - Questions 7–9
each question has 3 parts of 2 marks - Total 36 marks
There is no penalty for incorrect responses.
The Intermediate and Senior divisions have two optional prize questions. They are not part of the core competition and do not contribute to the overall score. Results for the prize questions will only be used in determining prize winners.
All students receive an award according to the criteria below.
Prize
Prizes are awarded to high-performing students in Intermediate and Senior divisions based on overall performance, including the results of optional prize questions, at the discretion of the AMT.
High Distinction
Awarded to a student who is in the top 2% of their year and region and has received no higher award.
Distinction
Awarded to a student who is in the top 15% of their year and region and has received no higher award.
Credit
Awarded to a student who is in the top 50% of their year and region and has received no higher award.
Participation
Awarded to a student who has participated in the competition and received no higher award.
Cut-off scores for awards are determined by comparing a student’s results with other students in the same year level and region (Australian state/territory, or country). Cut-off scores are approximate and will vary year by year depending on the difficulty of the competition.
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