From what I remembered about 2012 & 2013 statistic data, there are much less kids participating 2013 NUMATS than 2012. Could it be the reason why they add more kids to the award pool?
The following is the cutoff and the number of students got invited from 2009-2011. I cannot find the number of students got invited for 2012:
2009
4th graders >= 81 38
5th graders >= 89 53
6th graders >= 93 41
Total EXPLORE Winners 132
2010
Grade 4 >= 80 34
Grade 5 >= 91 41
Grade 6 >= 94 31
Total EXPLORE Awards 106
2011
4th Graders >= 83 29
5th Graders >= 92 43
6th Graders >= 95 38
Total EXPLORE Winners = 110
2012
3rd Graders >= 76 6
4th Graders >= 85 20
5th Graders >= 90 37
6th Graders >= 95 23
Total EXPLORE Winners = 86
(the number of students attending the ceremony)
