CAT Preparation: Computational and Algorithmic Thinking

Algorithmic thinking before any code

Computational and Algorithmic Thinking is run by the Australian Maths Trust and gives students the opportunity to develop problem-solving skills through algorithmic thinking. The AMT states plainly that CAT requires no programming experience.

That makes it unusual at the Class 9 and 10 level. Most computing competitions for this age assume a student already writes code; CAT does not, which means a whole year group can sit it regardless of whether the school teaches programming.

What an informal algorithm means

The phrase sounds vague and the competition makes it concrete.

CAT tasks ask a student to work out a procedure — a sequence of steps that would reliably produce the right result — and then apply it. The student never writes that procedure as code. They simply have to know what it would be, precisely enough to use it.

That is the skill underneath all programming, separated from the syntax that usually obscures it. A student who can do this will find learning Python considerably easier than one who learned syntax first.

The three-stage tasks

CAT is built around tasks that develop across stages, and this structure is the key to scoring well.

The first stage typically establishes an idea in a small case. The later stages apply that idea at greater scale or with an added constraint. A student who treats the stages as separate questions makes the later ones far harder than intended.

Reading the whole task before starting, and asking what the first stage is there to teach, is a trained habit that pays immediately.

The format

Sixty minutes for all divisions. The paper has 6 multiple-choice items plus 3 three-part integer questions, with 36 marks available. Intermediate and Senior papers also include 2 optional prize questions.

A Class 9 or 10 student sits the Intermediate division. The others are Upper Primary for Years 5 and 6, Junior for Years 7 and 8, and Senior for Years 11 and 12, so a student competes against their own year group.

The three-part questions deserve separate practice because they carry different marks from the multiple-choice items and reward sustained work on a single task.

For schools: the easiest computing contest to run

Three features make CAT unusually practical for a school.

It is AUD 9.30 per student with bundle discounts, which is low enough to enter a whole year group rather than selecting a few students. It is available in online or printed paper formats, so a school without reliable computer access for a hundred students can still run it. And it requires no programming, so the supervising teacher needs no technical background.

For 2026 it runs Tuesday 19 to Thursday 21 May, with online entry closing Friday 15 May and printed paper entry closing earlier depending on location.

Why it is worth doing even for students who code

A student who already writes Python sometimes dismisses CAT as beneath them. That is usually a mistake.

Writing code and reasoning about procedures are different skills, and the second is the transferable one. A student who can follow a tutorial but cannot explain why one approach is better than another has learned syntax rather than computer science.

CAT tests exactly the part that gets skipped, and it does so in a format where the student cannot hide behind a working program.

Where it leads

CAT is the natural precursor to the Australian Informatics Olympiad from the same organisation, where real programming is required and the reasoning built here is assumed.

It also sits alongside the Bebras Challenge and the Beaver Computing Challenge, which test comparable thinking at a younger level and in a different format.

Students who take to it and then learn a language are well placed for the Canadian Computing Competition Junior division within a year.

How the classes run

Live online group classes, maximum eight students, with students explaining their procedures aloud rather than only giving answers. That is how a child discovers whether they had a method or a lucky guess.

Divisions, format, dates and fees are set by the AMT each year. Confirm the current details at amt.edu.au before planning around them.