National Mathematics Bee
Middle & Elementary School Divisions Homepage
New for the 2025-2026 Academic Year!
National Mathematics Bee Middle & Elementary School Divisions Overview
The National Mathematics Bee is a quiz competition for individual students, testing knowledge of “grade-level plus” mathematics knowledge and computational skill. Note: Grade-level plus means that the questions for this competition, particularly at the National Championships, and especially in the playoffs, may include topics from 1-2 years higher than a standard curriculum for that age group – but not more than that. For example, in the 8th Grade Division, some knowledge of Algebra II and Trigonometry will be needed, but not calculus. A specific distribution for all age divisions will be forthcoming. Uniquely, due to the sequential nature of a standard mathematics curriculum, all age divisions in this competition will have somewhat different questions (e.g. typically 5th and 6th graders play the same version of the questions in all other IAC competitions, but not for the National Mathematics Bee).
For students competing in the various Middle and Elementary School Divisions, the National Mathematics Bee consists of two stages. The first is a 35 question multiple-choice National Qualifying Exam. The second stage is the National Championships, which will take place in-person on Friday, May 22, 2026 (preliminary rounds) and Sunday, May 24, 2026 (playoffs) at the Hyatt Regency Orlando together with the other in-person events of the IAC Middle and Elementary School National Championships. The National Championships of the National Mathematics Bee is entirely a buzzer-based quiz competition.
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Competition Format
The National Mathematics Bee is a two-stage competition, consisting of the National Qualifying Exams and the National Championships.
Stage
1
National Qualifying Exam
For the National Mathematics Bee, students first compete in the Qualifying Stage through the National Qualifying Exam. The National Qualifying Exam is a 35 question multiple-choice exam. All questions have 4 possible answer choices. The National Qualifying Exams for the Middle and Elementary School Divisions are scored on the basis of 2 points for a correct answer, and 0 for a question left unanswered or for an incorrect answer. There is thus no penalty for guessing, and students taking these exams should answer every question as best as they can.
Students may take the National Mathematics Bee National Qualifying Exam online, at all in-person National Science, History and Geography Bee Regional Tournaments, or at all in-person National History Bee and Bowl Regional Tournaments during the lunch break. There are four versions of the Middle and Elementary School National Qualifying Exams, which are known as Red, White, Blue, and Gold. For National Qualifying Exams that are offered at National Science, History, and Geography Bee Regional Tournaments, the Exam Set corresponds to the question set that the tournament is using. If the Exams are taken at National History Bee and Bowl Regional Tournaments, then if the tournament is run on C Set, then the Red Set exam version is offered. If the tournament is run on B Set, the White Set exam version is offered. If the tournament is run on A Set, the Blue Set exam version is offered.
For the National Mathematics Bee, the questions on all four versions of the National Qualifying Exams follow the National Qualifying Exam Question Distribution.
If taking the National Mathematics Bee National Qualifying Exam online, students have a 20 minute time limit.
If taking the National Mathematics Bee National Qualifying Exam at an in-person National Science, History, and Geography Bee Regional Tournament, students may also take the National Qualifying Exams for the National Biology Bee, National Citizenship Bee, National Humanities Bee, US Geography Bee, and US History Bee. At these tournaments, National Qualifying Exams are not timed on an exam-by-exam basis, but rather, students can take them in the designated Exam Room whenever it is open. Students cannot leave the Exam Room and come back to an exam that they had previously started. Students should be mindful of their schedule for the day and plan the times when they wish to take exams accordingly.
If taking the National Mathematics Bee National Qualifying Exam at an in-person National History Bee and Bowl Regional Tournament, students may also take the National Qualifying Exams for the other five National Qualifying Exams as listed in the above paragraph. If a student takes just one exam, they have 20 minutes. If a student takes two exams, they have 40 minutes, but if they take three, four, five, or six exams, they still only have 40 minutes (as time is limited during the lunch break of a tournament).
Students qualify for Nationals through the National Qualifying Exams in one of three ways:
- 1
Scoring 50 or higher on any version of the National Qualifying Exam.
- 2
Scoring among the top 50% of students in one’s National Mathematics Bee National Championship age division (i.e. 8th grade, 7th grade, 6th grade, 5th grade, 4th grade, or 3rd grade and younger) at an in-person tournament. This is inclusive of odd numbers of students and ties for the last qualifying spot. By way of example, if there are nine 6th Grade students taking the exam, and two of these students tie for fifth place with a score of 43, they would both qualify.
- 3
Scoring at or above the official National Qualifying Score in one’s age division for each exam version. The National Qualifying Scores are calculated for each exam version on the following dates: Red Set – December 6, 2025, White Set – February 7, 2026, Blue Set – March 7, 2026, Gold Set – April 7, 2026. Thereafter, the National Qualifying Scores do not change even though additional students will take each exam version.
Students need only to qualify on any one version of the National Qualifying Exam in any given academic year to be able to compete at the National Championships. If a student qualifies on one version of the Exam, and then takes a different version of the exam but does not qualify on that version, they remain qualified.
The cost is $20 per Exam Version per student.
For all questions on the National Qualifying Exams of the National Mathematics Bee, please email ems-info@iacompetitions.com.
Stage
2
National Championships
The second stage of the National Mathematics Bee for the Middle & Elementary School Divisions is the National Championships, which for the 2025-26 academic year will take place in-person at the Hyatt Regency Orlando on Friday, May 22, 2026 (preliminary rounds) and Sunday, May 24, 2026 at the IAC Middle and Elementary School National Championships. We hope that you will be able to join us! Competing students will play four preliminary round matches. The exact format of each round is to be determined, however, we anticipate a rough split of 85% computational math in various formats, and 15% non-computational math. Sample preliminary and playoff packets for each age division will be posted in advance of the National Championships.
There will then be either one or two playoff rounds. One playoff round will be played if there are 30 students or fewer in an age division; two playoff rounds will be played if there are 31 or more students in an age division. The exact number of students who make the playoffs will be a function of the total number of registrants.
Different age divisions will be held at the National Championships for students in 8th Grade, 7th Grade, 6th Grade, 5th Grade, 4th Grade, and 3rd Grade and Younger.
The cost to compete at the 2026 National Mathematics Bee National Championships is $135. Registration for the National Championships of the National Mathematics Bee will open in November and run through early May on this page.
For all questions on the 2026 Middle & Elementary School National Championships, please email ems-info@iacompetitions.com.