Grades 3-4 paper · Math Kangaroo 2027
Math Kangaroo
grade 4 practice
Fourth grade is the second and last year on the Math Kangaroo grades 3-4 paper. The problems are the ones your child may have met as a third grader, but next year the paper grows to 30 questions and a top score of 120. This page is about making the most of that last 24-question year.
Math Kangaroo 2027 for a grade 4 student
| What | Grade 4 |
|---|---|
| Competition day | Thursday, March 18, 2027 |
| Paper your child sits | Grades 3-4 (Math Kangaroo USA “Levels 3 & 4”) |
| Ranked against | 4th graders only, nationally and by state |
| Questions and time | 24 multiple-choice questions in 75 minutes, about 3 minutes and 7 seconds each |
| Points | 8 questions each worth 3, 4 and 5 points; top score 96; nothing lost for a wrong answer |
| Calculators | Not allowed |
| Level rule | Your child sits the level for their school grade; a lower level is not allowed |
| Regular registration | September 15 to December 31, 2026 ($20 per student) |
| Late registration | January 1 to February 1, 2027 ($35 per student) |
Source: Math Kangaroo USA's scoring rules, registration page, logistics page and 2027 host letter, checked October 21, 2026. Internationally, the Kangourou sans Frontières association's regulations call roughly this age band Ecolier, though each country groups its levels its own way.
Where grade 4 sits on the grades 3-4 paper
A fourth grader is the older child on the grades 3-4 paper, so the ideas on it should feel more familiar than they did a year ago. Our grade 4 papers lean on bigger place values, fractions of an amount and longer word problems.
Rankings are by single grade, so a fourth grader is compared with other fourth graders. The top 20 scores nationally and the top 3 in each state are listed at each grade.
Fourth grade is also the year to get ready for fifth. From grade 5 the paper has 30 questions in the same 75 minutes, about 2 and a half minutes each instead of just over 3, and the top score rises from 96 to 120.
The 3rd grade page covers the other year on this paper: Math Kangaroo grade 3 practice.
How scoring works on the grades 3-4 paper
| Question value | How many | Points available |
|---|---|---|
| 3 points each | 8 | 24 |
| 4 points each | 8 | 32 |
| 5 points each | 8 | 40 |
| Whole paper | 24 | 96 |
A grade 4 student who answers every 3- and 4-point question correctly and misses all 8 of the 5-point ones scores 56 out of 96. Each 5-point question is worth about 5.2% of the top score, so the 5-point third of the paper carries the most weight. A wrong answer costs nothing, so a blank is never better than a guess.
Results are ranked among 4th graders only. The top 20 scores nationally and the top 3 in each state are listed, students who tie on the top score all rank first, and the percentile shows the share of 4th graders, in the state and in the country, who scored lower.
Math Kangaroo USA's own practice for this level includes online past exams by year and practice sets sorted by point value (3-point, 4-point and 5-point questions), plus PDF exams and written solutions going back to 1998. Find them on its grades 3-4 practice page.
Two grade 4 practice problems
Written by us in the Kangaroo style, five answer choices each. Try them before opening the answer.
The digits 1, 2, 3 and 4 are each used once to make two 2-digit numbers. What is the largest possible sum of the two numbers?
- (A) 64
- (B) 68
- (C) 73
- (D) 77
- (E) 100
Show answer
73. A digit in the tens place is worth ten times as much, so the two biggest digits, 4 and 3, go in the tens places. 42 + 31 = 73, and 41 + 32 = 73 as well. The trap is 64, from 43 + 21, which puts both big digits in one number.
A rectangle has a perimeter of 20 cm, and its side lengths are whole numbers of centimetres. What is the largest area it can have?
- (A) 20 square cm
- (B) 21 square cm
- (C) 24 square cm
- (D) 25 square cm
- (E) 100 square cm
Show answer
25 square cm. The length and width add up to half the perimeter, 10 cm. The pairs are 1 and 9, 2 and 8, 3 and 7, 4 and 6, 5 and 5, with areas 9, 16, 21, 24 and 25. A 5 by 5 square is a rectangle too, so 25 is allowed. Children who leave squares out stop at 24.
What our grade 4 papers ask
Our five grade 4 papers are our own, hand-written on the SOF olympiad blueprint rather than the Kangaroo format: 35 questions for 40 marks in 60 minutes, ending with 5 Achievers questions worth 2 marks each. The thinking carries across. Across the five papers you will find:
- Place value into the thousands, including the smallest 4-digit number from a set of digits.
- Fractions: comparing fractions like 3/5 and 5/8, and finding three fifths of 45.
- Angles: picking out which turns and corners are right angles.
- Multiplying and dividing with grams and kilograms, such as how many days a 7 kg bag of dog food lasts.
- Remainders: a number that leaves 2 when divided by 3 and by 5.
- Counting arrangements, such as how many 3-wheel codes run from 000 to 999.
Every answer is explained, and every wrong option names the mistake that leads to it. For the official grades 3-4 past papers, go to mathkangaroo.org.
A practice plan for grade 4
- Sit our grade 4 papers under time first. They are longer than the Kangaroo paper, so finishing one comfortably is good stamina practice.
- Use the official grades 3-4 past papers on mathkangaroo.org for the real format: 24 questions, 75 minutes, 3, 4 and 5-point questions.
- Near the end of the year, try one grade 5 paper of ours to see what the step up to 30 questions feels like.
Grade 4 Math Kangaroo questions parents ask
Is the Math Kangaroo grade 4 test different from grade 3?
Math Kangaroo USA groups grades 3 and 4 together: there is one set of practice materials and past papers for "Grades 3-4 (Levels 3 & 4)". Fourth graders are ranked separately from third graders, with national and state winner lists at each grade.
What is the highest score on Math Kangaroo for grade 4?
96 points: 24 questions, eight each worth 3, 4 and 5 points. From grade 5 the paper has 30 questions and the highest score is 120. Wrong answers lose nothing at either level.
When is the Math Kangaroo 2027 registration deadline?
Regular registration closes December 31, 2026 ($20 per student). Late registration runs January 1 to February 1, 2027 ($35). The competition is on Thursday, March 18, 2027.
What happens if several fourth graders get a perfect score?
They all rank first. Math Kangaroo USA says that when several students at a grade share the highest score, they all rank 1 and all receive gold medals; the next score down is second place.