Phenomenal! Olympiad medals haul puts QE among the UK’s Maths élite
The School’s younger pupils amassed a remarkable tally of 16 medals in this year’s Junior Maths Olympiad – 8% of all the prizes issued throughout the whole of the UK.
The five gold, seven silver and four bronze medals went to boys from Years 7 and 8 (entering Years 8 and 9 respectively in September) who were among the 62 QE pupils to sit the Olympiad. They qualified for it by achieving a strong score in the earlier Junior Maths Challenge (JMC) round.
Kirtan Shah, Assistant Head of Mathematics, said: “To have 16 of our students achieve medals in the Olympiad is an exceptional milestone so early in their mathematical journeys. Given that the UK Maths Trust only awards medals to the top 200 scorers across the entire country – the top 40 gold, the next 60 silver and the next 100 bronze –this is a phenomenal, élite achievement.”
He added: “We are incredibly proud of our entire Year 7 and 8 cohorts, who recently sat the Junior Maths Challenge. This competition is a wonderful opportunity to stretch our pupils and encourage them to embrace complex problem-solving.
“Whether securing a national medal or tackling the very first round, every single pupil demonstrated tremendous perseverance, enthusiasm, and a willingness to embrace a challenge. Congratulations to everyone involved!”
QE pupils qualified in some numbers for both follow-on rounds of the JMC – the Junior Mathematical Olympiad and the Junior Kangaroo. QE’s 62 Olympiad qualifiers had to fight off competition from around 1,140 pupils qualifying nationally from the JMC each year.
The Olympiad consisted of a two-hour challenge comprising six questions.
The medal-winners also received a certificate and a book, A Problem Solver’s Handbook by Andrew Jobbings, which provides guidance for those entering the UKMT’s competitions for slightly older pupils, including the Intermediate Mathematical Olympiad.
The medal-winners were:
- Gold (pictured top): Year 7 – Giritrah Ghosh, Sasha Karunaratne and Adhruth Parlattaya; Year 8 – Noah Bai and Huy Bui
- Silver (middle image): Year 7 – Siddhant Sharma; Year 8 – Ehan Islam, Anirvinn Lakshmipuram Sudarshan, Arjun Mulamalla, Duc Ta, Arthur Wang and Xuen Wu
- Bronze; Year 7 – Hercules Li, Ekansh Ponnaganti and Harry Xuan; Year 8’s Dhruv Srinath.
The junior boys’ successes follows strong QE performances in both the Intermediate Mathematical Olympiad and in the British Mathematical Olympiad itself, which is considered the UK’s hardest youth Maths competition. Two of this summer’s leavers, Hisham Khan and Joshua Wilkinson, reached the second round of the BMO, with Hisham named among the top 25% of the élite competitors in that final round. In the Intermediate Maths Olympiad, Year 10’s Liam Chen won a gold medal, which placed him in the top 20 nationally.