Photo left to right: Aimee, Emily, Rachel, Shreeya and Tasneem

Mr Jeffryes (Mathematics Teacher)

On Thursday 11th November, 39 Lower and 9 Upper Sixth Formers participated in the UKMT Senior Mathematical Challenge in the Assembly Hall. The Mathematical Challenge is a one and a half hour, 25 question multiple choice paper and aims to stimulate mathematical problem solving.  It encourages mathematical reasoning, precision of thought and fluency in using basic mathematical techniques to solve interesting problems. The questions on the paper are designed to challenge students to think, not to guess. No calculators allowed!

An example of a question on this year’s paper is:

The sum of four consecutive primes is itself prime.

What is the largest of the four primes?

A 37  B 29  C 19  D 13  E 7

The students had a chance to get a bronze, silver or gold certificate (in the ratio 1:2:3) if they were in the top 40% of the UK from all those students taking the challenge.

Nine students in the Lower Sixth achieved a bronze certificate and two got silver; Aimee Hughes and Emily Armitage were joint Best in Year. In Upper Sixth, three students got bronze and three got silver; Tasneem Hussain, Shreeya Nallagonda and Rachel Gibb achieved Best in School. A big congratulations to all these students!