The Bar-Ilan gifted math exam, explained
Updated
In Israel, people call it "the Bar-Ilan exam". Its full name is the entrance exam of the התוכנית לנוער מוכשר במתמטיקה, the program for mathematically talented youth. The program started in 1982. A nonprofit runs it, המרכז הישראלי לקידום מדעי המתמטיקה (Israel Center for the Advancement of Mathematical Sciences), together with the mathematics department of Bar-Ilan University, which gives it academic sponsorship.
It is not the Ministry of Education's gifted (מחוננים) test. Parents often mix the two up, and they have almost nothing in common: not the age, not the content, not what they lead to. The differences are set out below.
Every fact in this guide comes from the program's own website, checked on October 20, 2026. The links are at the end.
Two programs, two exams
The enrichment program (תוכנית העשרה מתמטית) runs from kita ה to kita ז: fifth to seventh grade in the US, Years 6 to 8 in the UK. Think of it as a weekly after-school math club for strong students: 30 sessions of 90 minutes, one afternoon a week, from October to June. The topics are ones school does not teach, such as logic, combinatorics, number theory and game theory. The program says so itself: there is no homework and nothing to study, and attendance is all it asks.
Students take the exam the year before. A child in kita ד (fourth grade; Year 5) takes it to join in kita ה, and the kita ה groups open in only fourteen locations. A child in kita ה takes it for kita ו, and a child in kita ו for kita ז. A student already in the program in kita ו does not retake the exam to continue in kita ז.
The acceleration program (תוכנית האצה לבגרות) lasts three years, from kita ח to kita י (eighth to tenth grade; Years 9 to 11). It leads to the math בגרות (bagrut), the Israeli matriculation exam, at the 5-unit level, the highest one, in three years instead of five. Students take the entrance exam in kita ז (seventh grade; Year 8). Students from the enrichment program must take it too. They get an advantage, not a guaranteed place.
The exam format
For every grade:
- 60 minutes, in one sitting.
- Multiple choice: four options, one correct, marked on a separate answer sheet.
- No calculator. Bring something to write with, and do the working on the question paper.
- A wrong answer costs nothing. The program advises answering every question.
- No score. The result says "accepted" or "not accepted", and nothing else. The program compares results with national cut-offs before it sends them.
The instructions printed on the paper warn that many students will not finish, and that no one should stay on a question for more than a few minutes. Time is the real challenge.
For the enrichment program, 24 questions in two parts. First, questions on the ministry curriculum as taught at school up to the middle of the year. Then, questions of mathematical and logical reasoning. The official documents give 24 questions for entry into kita ו and kita ז. For entry into kita ה, the grade's document does not give a number, but the published sample exam has 24 questions.
Some sites say 25 questions; no page on the program's site says so.
For the acceleration program, 28 questions in three parts: knowledge, reasoning, and a chapter students study on their own before the exam. The chapter changes every year; for the 2026 exams, it was the normal distribution. The program posts it online and says it takes one to two hours to learn.
What each grade is tested on
The program publishes the topic list for each grade. The reasoning part follows the same idea everywhere: puzzles, number sequences, invented operations.
- In kita ד, to join kita ה: whole-number operations, simple fractions, large numbers, tables and graphs, word problems, perimeter and area.
- In kita ה, to join kita ו: whole-number operations, simple fractions and decimals, graphs and averages, word problems, squares, rectangles and triangles.
- In kita ו, to join kita ז: fractions and decimals, percentages, ratio, probability, word problems, graphs, quadrilaterals, triangles and circles.
- In kita ז, to join kita ח: order of operations, negative numbers, percentages and ratio, algebraic expressions, reading graphs and averages, plane geometry, volume and surface area of boxes and cubes, word problems, logic puzzles, and the chapter of the year.
Three questions in the style of the exam
These three questions come from elev's free chapters, which follow the model of the sample papers the program publishes. They are not questions from a real exam. On elev, they are in Hebrew.
1. A sequence (kita ד). What number comes next: 1, 2, 4, 7, 11, … ?
- a) 16
- b) 15
- c) 14
- d) 22
Answer: 16. The gaps are +1, +2, +3, +4, so the next one is +5. When a sequence does not make sense at first sight, write the gaps underneath.
2. A rectangle (kita ה). A rectangle has an area of 48 cm², and its sides are whole numbers of centimeters. What is the smallest perimeter it can have?
- a) 32 cm
- b) 98 cm
- c) 38 cm
- d) 28 cm
Answer: 28 cm, for a 6 by 8 rectangle. The possible sides are 1 and 48, 2 and 24, 3 and 16, 4 and 12, and 6 and 8. The closer the rectangle is to a square, the smaller its perimeter. 32 cm is the perimeter of the 4 by 12 rectangle, and 98 cm is the largest of all.
3. A trickier sequence (kita ו). Which number completes the sequence: 5, 10, 8, 16, 14, 28, … ?
- a) 26
- b) 56
- c) 30
- d) 24
Answer: 26. The sequence alternates two steps: multiply by 2, then subtract 2. After 28 comes 28 − 2. The answer 56 is for the child who saw "times 2" everywhere: the trap is set for exactly that child.
For each grade, the program also publishes sample questions and a full sample exam, in Hebrew, on its page of teaching information.
How it differs from the ministry's gifted test
The ministry's screening is explained in detail in our guide to gifted programs in Israel. The differences that matter:
- Who runs it. The gifted test belongs to the Ministry of Education. The Bar-Ilan exam belongs to a nonprofit, working with a university.
- When. The ministry tests in kita ב or kita ג (second or third grade; Year 3 or Year 4). Bar-Ilan tests from kita ד to kita ז.
- What it measures. The ministry starts with reading comprehension and math, then a timed general-ability test (verbal, mathematical, figural). Bar-Ilan looks only at math, in one exam.
- What the result opens. The ministry opens gifted classes and enrichment centers, from roughly the 97th national percentile. Bar-Ilan opens its weekly program, or its accelerated track to the bagrut.
- Cost. The Bar-Ilan exam costs 180 shekels, paid at registration, and a student can take it only once a year.
Only one rule links the two. A child who wants to take the exam for a grade above their own must have been identified as מחונן (gifted) or מצטיין (excellent) by the ministry.
Dates
- Registration is online, on the program's website. Registration for the next round opens in January 2027.
- The exams take place in spring and early summer. In 2026, the published calendar put most of them in May and June, in about thirty locations, in one-hour sessions at 4 p.m. or 6 p.m. The last sessions take place at Bar-Ilan University in July and August, and admission from them depends on the places left.
- Results arrive by email in July (some of the program's own documents say June). After a late exam, they come about a month later.
- An appeal is possible, with a letter, the school report card and a recommendation from the math teacher. The committee meets in July.
A child who is ill on the day of the exam can ask the program for another date.
For an oleh child
The published papers are in Hebrew. None of the program pages we read mentions another language, or any accommodation for olim as such.
Accommodations exist, but they need a diagnosis: the family attaches the child's assessment to the registration form, with the page that lists its recommendations. For the enrichment program, extra time is not given in minutes. It becomes bonus points added to the result. For the acceleration program, the student really gets more time.
What helps an oleh child is the kind of question. The program itself writes that its questions do not carry much text. Vocabulary still counts: a child who does not recognize היקף (perimeter) or שטח (area) loses the question without doing any math. If your child arrived recently, ask the program before you register.
Preparing
The program says that no preparation is needed, apart from the acceleration chapter. It still sells its own online practice kit for each grade. It also states that no prep provider works on its behalf.
The best preparation is to know the format before the day: sixty minutes, no calculator, and a question you let go of in time.
elev prepares children for this exam, in Hebrew, with one track per grade: the exam topics, the reasoning part, and eight 60-minute mock exams. elev has no link with the program. The preparation is described here.
The free chapter of each grade is open to everyone: one step without an account, the whole chapter with a free account.
- In kita ד, to join kita ה: logical reasoning
- In kita ה, to join kita ו: squares, rectangles and triangles
- In kita ו, to join kita ז: logical reasoning
- In kita ז, to join kita ח: plane geometry
Where to check
Everything in this guide comes from the program's website, in Hebrew, checked on October 20, 2026. Dates and fees change every year: check them before you register.
- Registration and its rules: once a year, results in July, exam locations. The year's calendar is linked from this page.
- Teaching information: length, calculator, scoring, and for each grade the document with the topics, the number of questions and examples.
- Accommodations.
- Frequently asked questions: the exam fee, results, appeals.
- The enrichment program: the sessions, and the rule for children tested a grade above their own.
- The program's rules: Bar-Ilan's academic sponsorship, the advantage of enrichment students for the acceleration program, cancelling a registration.