April 2026 Contest — Grade 5
The April 2026 North Star contest paper for Grade 5 has 12 questions and a 60-minute limit. Two sample questions with worked solutions are below, and you can take the whole paper online for free — no account, no sign-up.
- Grade
- Grade 5
- Questions
- 12
- Time limit
- 60 minutes
- Contest
- April 2026
- Subject
- Mathematics
- School year
- 2025-26
Before you start
- The timer starts when you press Start and runs for 60 minutes.
- Answer the 12 questions in any order; each is multiple choice.
- Your answers are marked as you go. Nothing is saved to an account, so finish in one sitting.
Sample questions
The first and last questions from this paper, with their worked solutions.
Question 1 — Data & Statistics
The following image shows what percentage of students got a question correct, among five questions in a recent North Star contest for grade 2. Based on the image, which of the five questions was the easiest?
- A.1
- B.2
- C.3
- D.4
- E.5
Show the worked solution
To find which question was the easiest, we need to look at the percentage of students who got each question correct. An easier question will have a higher percentage of correct answers.
Step 1 — Read the image:
Let's list the percentage correct for each of the five questions shown in the bar chart:
Q1: 46.2%
Q2: 67.7%
Q3: 50.8%
Q4: 60.0%
Q5: 84.6%
Step 2 — Solve:
Now, we compare these percentages to find the highest one:
84.6% is greater than 67.7%, 60.0%, 50.8%, and 46.2%.
Since Q5 has the highest percentage of correct answers (84.6%), it means more students answered this question correctly than any other. Therefore, Q5 was the easiest question.
Step 3 — Select:
This corresponds to option E.
The answer is E
Question 12 — Advanced Mathematics
A toy store has three sections: the Big Toy Room, the Medium Toy Room, and the Small Toy Room. The Big Toy Room has a 3-digit number of toys. If you ignore the first digit of the Big Room's number, you get the number of toys in the Medium Room. If you ignore the first digit of the Medium Room's number, you get the number of toys in the Small Room. All three rooms together have 469 toys in total. What is the middle digit of the Big Room's number of toys?
- A.0
- B.1
- C.2
- D.3
- E.another digit
Show the worked solution
To find the middle digit of the Big Room's number of toys, let's represent the number of toys in each room using digits:
1. Let the number of toys in the Big Room be a 3-digit number: ABC.
2. If we ignore the first digit (A), the number of toys in the Medium Room is the 2-digit number: BC.
3. If we ignore the first digit of the Medium Room's number (B), the number of toys in the Small Room is the 1-digit number: C.
We are given that the total number of toys in all three rooms is 469. We can write this as a column addition:
begin{array}{r@{quad}l}
A & B & C \\
& B & C \\
& & C \\
hline
4 & 6 & 9
end{array}
Let's solve this step-by-step:
Step 1: Find the ones digit (C)
Looking at the ones column, we have C + C + C ending in 9.
The only single digit that satisfies this is C = 3 (since 3 + 3 + 3 = 9).
Step 2: Set up the equation for the remaining digits
Now we substitute C = 3 into our sum:
(100A + 10B + 3) + (10B + 3) + 3 = 469
100A + 20B + 9 = 469
100A + 20B = 460
If we divide the entire equation by 20, we get:
5A + B = 23
Step 3: Find the digits A and B
Since A and B must be single digits (from 0 to 9, with A not being 0):
If A = 4, then 5 x 4 + B = 23, which gives 20 + B = 23, so B = 3.
If A = 3, then 5 x 3 + B = 23, which gives 15 + B = 23, so B = 8.
This gives two possible numbers for the Big Room: 433 (with middle digit 3) and 383 (with middle digit 8). Looking at the given options, the digit 3 is listed as Option D.
Therefore, the middle digit of the Big Room's number of toys is 3.
The answer is D
Take the whole paper
All 12 questions, 60 minutes, marked as you go. No account needed.