All boys in Years 7 & 8 took part in this year’s Junior Maths Challenge – and the overwhelming majority took gold, silver or bronze for their performance.
In total, some 341 of the QE entrants won certificates – a significant increase on last year’s tally of 279 – with 154 achieving gold and a further 120 taking silver and 67 gaining bronze. Nationally, it is only the top 40% of pupils who receive gold, silver and bronze certificates, which are given in the ratio 1:2:3.
As a result of their performances in the Challenge, 21 boys this year have qualified for the Junior Mathematical Olympiad competition and a further 95 have qualified for the other follow-on round, known as the Junior Kangaroo. Around 1,200 of the highest scorers nationally are invited to take part in the Olympiad.
Assistant Head of Mathematics Wendy Fung said: “We are delighted with how well the boys have done and look forward to the results of the Olympiad and Kangaroo. Much of the success among the Year 8 boys stems from the excellent guidance and help given to them at our Junior Élite Maths group by mentors from Years 10 and 11.”
Best in School certificates went to Maxwell Johnson, of Year 7, and Yash Makwana, of Year 8, who achieved identical scores of 130 out of a possible 135 in the UK Mathematics Trust competition.
“I’m incredibly pleased with my result and would like to thank my Élite Maths Mentor, Vincent Tang [of Year 11], for helping me to learn how to go about Maths Challenge questions,” said Yash.
Having achieved such signal success at the first attempt in the Challenge, Maxwell said he is now “looking forward to trying the Olympiad”.