The UK Maths Trust (UKMT) is a leading charity set up to advance the education of young people in maths through the coordination of national and international maths challenges. UKMT also have an enrichment programme which provides mentoring and an opportunity to be selected for UKMT Summer School. This year 8 Northern Education Trust secondary academies (Dyke House, Freebrough, Hetton, Kearsley, Kirk Balk, Red House, Thorp and Walbottle) took part in the UKMT Maths challenge, a challenge that over 700,000 students nationwide participate in every year.

Students took part in one of 3 events: The Junior Challenge (Year 7 and 8), The Intermediate Challenge (Year 9 and 10) and The Senior Maths Challenge (Year 12 and 13).  These challenges consist of 60-90 minutes multiple-choice questionnaires, designed to encourage mathematical reasoning and precision of thought.

The events progress into follow-on rounds – Kangaroo and Olympiad. Entry to these rounds is by invitation based on a qualifying Junior/Senior Maths Challenge score, or British Mathematical Olympiad score, or by discretionary entry. Students at Northern Education Trust had some amazing achievements in these challenges this year including:

Junior Maths Challenge: 92 bronze awards, 45 silver and 9 gold. 3 students progressed to the Kangaroo stage and 1 to Olympiad.

Intermediate Maths Challenge: 57 bronze, 19 silver and 7 gold awards. 3 students progressed to the Kangaroo stage and 2 to the Olympiad with a summer school invitation – only the top 1.5% of scorers in this round are invited.

Senior Maths Challenge: 5 bronze awards and 1 silver award.

Thorp Academy students Joshua and Ellen are just two of the many students who have proudly represented Northern Education Trust with their exceptional performances. Josh did amazingly well in the Intermediate Maths challenge, getting through to the Hamilton Olympiad and receiving an invitation to the 2023 National Mathematics Summer School with Oxford University; a week-long residential event where Josh will be able to meet like-minded students and maths teachers, and be introduced to a wide range of mathematical topics designed to improve problem solving and solution writing skills. Ellen did superbly well in the Junior Maths Challenge getting through to the Junior Olympiad where she received a distinction and a gold award.

Senior Director of Maths, Michael Forrest said: “We are very proud of all the students that took part in the challenges this year.  It was great to see how many of them achieved certificates.   For students from our Trust to be recognised on a national level and like Joshua, to be invited to work with Oxford University, raises the aspirations of all our students.”