Pupils from across the country recently took part in the Junior UK Maths Challenge. Schools from England, Wales, Scotland and Northern Ireland can take part in the challenge, which involves answering 25 questions in one hour under exam conditions. The contest is run by UKMT, a charity whose aim it is to advance the education of children and young people in mathematics, through organising national competitions and enrichment activities for young people. Over 600,000 top mathematicians from across 4000 schools took part in the Maths Challenge. Year 7 and 8 pupils took part in the contest.
An extremely difficult test, the Maths Challenge was not the faint-hearted. Tackling 25 questions in just one hour, which increase in difficulty as they go on, was not a simple task. Questions covered a large range of mathematical elements, such as problem solving and complex algebra, really testing our mathematicians’ knowledge of the subject! 25 pupils took on the challenge, proving that they have what it takes to master difficult subjects and keep a calm head under pressure.
The papers were then collected and sent off for marking, and the pupils had a nervous wait to see how they had done. Every student did brilliantly, with five pupils doing exceptionally well. Both Kai O’Hare and Jai Angell achieved Silver, whilst Ben Yeoman attained a Bronze award. Year 7 pupils Anthony Adamson and Jamie Liu did absolutely brilliantly, achieving a Gold award! Both Anthony and Jamie have also gained entry into the Junior Kangaroo Paper. This is a paper reserved for the top-scoring pupils across the country, and it is the first time that Shiplake have gained entry to it. The pupils now have this challenge to look forward to tackling! Acting Head of Mathematics Mr Pete Muhley was absolutely thrilled with the outcome, commenting that ‘we’ve had exceptionally high results and the Mathematics Department are very pleased with the outcome. All of the pupils who took part work very hard in their lessons and we can see that it’s paid off. Congratulations to everyone who participated!’
And if you think a Maths Challenge paper sounds like something you’d like to try at home, how about having a go at these example questions? Click here for the questions and here for the solutions!
