AMC 8 Registration

Who is eligible

The AMC 8 is open to students in grade 8 or below who are under 15.5 years old on the day of the exam. There is no lower age or grade limit, so a strong younger student is welcome to sit the paper. The age limit is checked against the exam date, not the day you register.

You register through a test site, not the MAA

Students and families do not sign up with the Mathematical Association of America (MAA) directly. The AMC 8 is administered through an approved test site — a school, a test centre or an authorised learning centre — that enters its candidates and supervises them on exam day. In practice there are two ways in:

• Through your school, if it is already an official AMC testing site.
• Through an authorised education institution that acts as your test centre when your school does not run the exam — the same body then handles your seat, your paper and your results.

As an authorised AMC testing centre, we register independent candidates and students whose schools do not host the AMC, for both the online and the in-person exam.

The China-region channel

Where you register depends on where you are enrolled. Students based in mainland China register through the China-region channel and sit bilingual papers, with the question text in both English and Chinese. One important limit: students enrolled at American or Canadian schools cannot sit the exam in the China region — they take the AMC through their own school or an international test site instead. If you are unsure which channel applies, the China-region page explains local eligibility and the schedule in full.

When registration opens

The AMC 8 is held in January, and registration opens in the preceding months and closes shortly before the exam. The exact registration window, deadline and fee are set fresh each season and differ between the China region and the US, so we confirm the current dates and cost each season — contact us to check the live window before you plan around a specific date. After you register, detailed exam instructions are sent out roughly two weeks before the exam.

What you need, and what to expect

To register you will need the student’s full name, date of birth and current grade — the date of birth matters because of the under-15.5 age limit on exam day. Your test centre will tell you exactly what else it requires and how to pay.

On the day, the AMC 8 is a single multiple-choice paper: 25 questions, 40 minutes, and no calculator. Depending on the test site you will either sit it online from home under supervision or on campus at a test centre, with in-person centres in major cities across China including Beijing, Shanghai, Guangzhou, Chengdu, Nanjing, Suzhou, Chongqing, Xi’an and Qingdao. Scores are typically released about four weeks after the exam, with a digital certificate following six to eight weeks after. For the full format and exam-day rules, see the AMC 8 instructions.

Exact registration windows, deadlines and fees are confirmed each season and differ by region. For the current calendar and the channel that applies where you study, contact us or see the China-region schedule below.