Students from Wisbech excel as they put their maths skills to the test at national competition

It was a real numbers game when students at a Wisbech academy recently took part in a maths challenge designed to test their knowledge.

Groups from Years 8 to 10 took part in the Intermediate Mathematical Challenge and represented the Thomas Clarkson Academy, with one student making it through to an invitational round later this month.

“We had great results and excellent feedback from the students who commented that they really enjoyed the challenge,” said Dani Stevenson, maths teacher and numeracy coordinator.

The only Year 8 student, Michael, will be taking part in the Grey Kangaroo round which is held on March 21, and is only open to those invited by the competition organisers based on results from the intermediate challenge. He received a gold certificate from the UK Maths Trust, the charity behind the contests.

“We wish Michael every success in the next round. He should be proud of what he has achieved, especially as he is in Year 8 and younger than most of the other participants,” said Mrs Stevenson.

The Intermediate Mathematical Challenge lasts for an hour and has 25 multiple choice questions to encourage precision of thought, reasoning and fluency and is aimed at students in Year 11 or under.

The Grey Kangaroo is for Y9 and below and is also an hour long with 25 multiple choice challenges for students to concentrate on.

Each year, more than 700,000 young people take part in a UKMT challenge, Kangaroo or Olympiad with junior, intermediate and senior competitions available.