AMC 10 prep
The AMC 10 is a 25-question, 75-minute multiple-choice contest for students in grade 10 and below, and one of the two ways into the AIME.
AMC 10 at a glance
- Length
- 25 multiple-choice questions in 75 minutes, about three minutes each.
- Who can enter
- Open to students in grade 10 and below.
- Scoring
- 6 points for a correct answer, 1.5 for a blank and 0 for a wrong answer, out of 150.
- AIME qualifying score
- From the 2026-27 cycle, 100 or above on the AMC 10.
What Lemmas has for the AMC 10
- Problems in the bank
- 1,300
- Years covered
- 2000 to 2025
- Median difficulty, out of 100
- 22
Half of the 1,300 AMC 10 problems on Lemmas rate between 16 and 31, and the full range runs from 3 to 60. They come from 52 papers dated 2000 to 2025, and the median of 22 is 8 points above the AMC 8's 14.
Every one of the 52 papers can be set in Arena on the exam's own clock. The 1 to 100 scale behind the ratings is set out in how Lemmas measures difficulty.
Where the AMC 10 gets hard
The AMC 10 gets harder in steps. The late problems rate 20 points above the early ones at the median, and the middle of the paper sits 8 points over the first third.
- Problems 1 to 8, median rating
- 14
- Problems 9 to 17, median rating
- 22
- Problems 18 to 25, median rating
- 34
Spread over 25 questions, the clock averages 3 minutes a problem.
Subjects in the AMC 10 bank
Algebra and Geometry together make up 67% of the AMC 10 bank, and Combinatorics and Number Theory share the other 33%.
- Algebra, 38% of the bank
- 499
- Geometry, 28% of the bank
- 367
- Combinatorics, 18% of the bank
- 229
- Number Theory, 16% of the bank
- 205
Who this is for
A blank scores more than a wrong answer on the AMC 10, so the paper is partly a decision about which of the 25 questions to fight for. It suits a student who already solves most of the early problems and is working out where to stop.
Past papers under timed conditions are the core of the work, and each miss is worth a second look a few days later.
Run an Arena paper on the contest clock and read the pacing breakdown afterward. Send every miss to the mistake notebook and re-solve it when it is due, two days on.
What the AMC 12 adds
The AMC 12 adds trigonometry, logarithms and complex numbers late in the paper, and it shares only about a dozen questions with the AMC 10. The format and the scoring carry over unchanged. Past it, the AIME is open from either exam.
Questions about the AMC 10
How is the AMC 10 scored?
Each correct answer is worth 6 points, a blank is worth 1.5 and a wrong answer is worth nothing, for a top score of 150. A guess only pays once you have ruled out some choices.
What score do I need for the AIME?
From the 2026-27 cycle the MAA fixes the AIME qualifying score at 100 on the AMC 10 and 85 on the AMC 12, and its AIME page lists later cycles.
AMC 10 or AMC 12?
A student in grade 10 or below may take either, and the two papers share about a dozen questions. The AMC 10 is the usual choice until you have the content for the harder second half of the AMC 12.
How do I prepare for the AMC 10?
Work past papers a year at a time on a three-minute clock, keep every miss in a notebook and re-solve it a few days later. Lemmas does the scheduling for you.
Where the AMC 10 problems come from
AMC 10 problems appear on Lemmas with the MAA's written permission, each labeled with its contest, year and number.
AMC 10 on the Mathematical Association of America website (opens in a new tab)
Make an account and try your first problem.
Username, email and password. No card.