The AMC 12 is a 25 question, 75 minute multiple choice examination in  secondary school mathematics containing problems which can be understood  and solved with pre-calculus concepts.

The main purpose of the AMC 12 is to spur interest in mathematics and to  develop talent through solving challenging problems in a timed  multiple-choice format. What happens before and after the AMC 12 can  have lasting educational value. Talents will be enhanced if one  practices beforehand, by working through previous examinations, by  participating in math leagues and, most importantly, by studying  mathematics more intensely than one normally does in high school.

Since the AMC 10/12 covers such a broad spectrum of knowledge and  ability there is a wide range of scores. The National Honor Roll cut off  score for the AMC 12, 100 out of 150 possible points, is typically  attained or surpassed by about 5% of all participants. For many students  and schools only relative scores are significant, and so lists of top  individual and team scores on regional and local levels are compiled.  These regional lists and information on score distributions appear in  the yearly summary sent to all participating schools. The more valuable  comparison students can make is between their own level of achievement  and their levels in previous years. In particular, they are encouraged  to begin taking the contests early in their mathematics studies and to  look back with pride each year on how they have learned to answer  questions that they could not have answered previously.

A special purpose of the AMC 12 is to help identify those few  students with truly exceptional mathematics talent. Students who are  among the very best deserve some indication of how they stand relative  to other students in the country and around the world . The AMC 12 is  one in a series of examinations (followed in the United States by the  American Invitational Examination and the USA Mathematical Olympiad)  that culminate in participation in the International Mathematical  Olympiad, the most prestigious and difficult secondary mathematics  examination in the world.