Abbreviation for National Mathematics Contest. In the UK, the first exam used to select sixth formers for the International Mathematical Olympiad (IMO) team. It consists of 30 multiple choice mathematical questions, which increase in difficulty towards the end of the paper, to be solved without the use of a calculator. Guessing at random is rendered pointless by the marking scheme: 4 points for a right answer, -1 points for a wrong answer, and 0 points for leaving a question blank.