QE pupils achieved another record-breaking performance in this year’s UK Intermediate Maths Challenge – with every boy entered winning a certificate.
A total of 310 boys from Years 9 to 11 took park in the competition. Of these, 175, were awarded gold certificates (up from 143 in 2017 and 124 in 2016). A further 100 were awarded silver and the remaining 35 received bronze awards. Nationally, it is the top 40% of competitors who receive certificates: gold, silver and bronze are awarded in the ratio 1:2:3.
Twenty-seven boys (19 last year) have qualified for the Intermediate Olympiad and a further 140 (133 in 2017) for the other follow-on round, the Intermediate Kangaroo. James Tan from Year 10 was awarded the Best in School with his score of 130 out of 135.
Assistant Head of Mathematics Wendy Fung said: “We are delighted with how well the boys have done and extremely pleased with the continued increase in the proportion of boys reaching the follow-on rounds. As the new GCSE has a strong focus on problem-solving, success in the Challenge will stand the boys in good stead for the new-style exams.”
Around 500 of the highest scorers in each school year nationwide are invited to take part in the Intermediate Mathematical Olympiad papers. A further 5,500 pupils are invited to sit either the grey or pink European Kangaroo papers. These are one-hour papers with 25 multiple choice questions, taken by pupils from over 30 countries worldwide.
One of the boys who has qualified for the Intermediate Olympiad is Shimaq-Ahamed Sakeel Mohamed from Year 9, who said: “I’m really pleased with my result and I am looking forward to trying the Olympiad questions.”