2026 YMSA WINNING, SHORTLISTED AND LONGLISTED ENTRIES

THE YOUNG MATHEMATICAL STORY AUTHORS (YMSA)
2026 COMPETITION

The Young Mathematical Story Authors (YMSA) competition is the world's first annual international competition set up to encourage young mathematics learners (aged 4-16 years old) from around the world to creatively embed their mathematics learning in a meaningful and engaging context through creating their own mathematical story picture books.

This competition is organised by the non-profit MathsThroughStories.org initiative, and it has been running every year since 2019. So far, we have received entries from more than 7,000 students across over 40 countries globally.

Judging Panel

In addition to Dr. Natthapoj Vincent Trakulphadetkrai (Founder of MathsThroughStories.org and Associate Professor of Mathematics Education at the University of Reading, UK), our judging panel also includes Helen Stacey (Commissioning Editor at Oxford University Press - the world's largest university press) as well as Stuart J. Murphy and Cindy Neuschwander (two of the world's most prolific mathematical story authors).

Judging Criteria

4-7 years old

Ability to come up with an engaging and original story (with a beginning, middle and end)
Ability to show how the chosen mathematical concept is used to solve a problem
Ability to use a combination of words, numbers and drawings to show the mathematical concept in the story
Ability to present your story clearly and the mathematics accurately (e.g., quality of drawings, neatness of presentation, mathematical correctness, etc.)

8-11 & 12-16 years old

Ability to come up with an engaging and original story (with a beginning, middle and end)
Ability to show how the chosen mathematical concept is used to solve a problem in a meaningful context (e.g., a problem that is aligned with one of the United Nations' Sustainable Development Goals [SDGs])
Ability to use a combination of words, mathematical symbols/notations and images to show the mathematical concept in the story
Ability to explain the chosen mathematical concept in the story clearly without assuming readers' knowledge of the concept
Ability to present your story clearly and the mathematics accurately (e.g., quality of drawings, neatness of presentation, mathematical correctness, etc.)

Quick 2026 Stats

This year, we received entries from 2,485 students from 142 schools (including two homeschooling sites) across 34 countries around the world, making this year's competition our most successful one in terms of the submission volume. This represents an 82.6% increase in the number of entries compared with last year's competition, which received 1,361 submissions.
Reflecting our commitment to inclusivity, this year’s competition welcomed entries from 1,419 girls (57.1%) and 1,066 boys (42.9%).

Most Engaged YMSA Schools in 2026

We would like to thank all participating schools for encouraging their students to take part in this year's competition. In particular, we would like to recognise the ten most engaged schools, whose students collectively submitted the highest numbers of entries to this year's competition:

I Can School (Vietnam) - 271 entries
Dulwich College Beijing (China) - 160 entries
Ghiyasuddin International School (Maldives) - 134 entries
Merryland International School (UAE) - 108 entries
Harrow International School Hong Kong (China) - 80 entries
Oberoi International School (India) - 78 entries
Huravee School (Maldives) - 77 entries
Manarat Al Riyadh School (Saudi Arabia) - 76 entries
Thaajuddeen School (Maldives) - 75 entries
City Junior School (UK) - 69 entries

Most Engaged YMSA Countries in 2026

Of the 34 participating countries this year, below are the top five countries in the world whose students are most engaged with our competition.

Maldives - 650 entries (26.2%)
UK - 614 entries (24.7%)
Vietnam - 271 entries (10.9%)
China - 250 entries (10.1%)
India - 164 entries (6.6%)

We are also delighted that 2026 marked an important milestone for our YMSA competition, as we received entries from students in Africa for the first time, including Egypt (Uptown International School), Ethiopia (Sandford International School), Kenya (Woodland Star School), and Nigeria (Redeemer's International Secondary School), as well as our first entry from Latin America, from Costa Rica (Golden Valley School).

Our Upcoming and Past Competitions

To learn about our upcoming 2027 competition, click here.
To read the winning, shortlisted and longlisted entries from our past competitions, click on a year of interest: 2025, 2024, 2023, 2022, 2021, 2020, 2019.