Maths pupils prove they're some of the best in national competition

Year 8 Jacob was Best in School in the UKMT Junior Maths Challenge and admitted it took him by surprise.

The Junior Maths Challenge is a national competition for Years 7 and 8 with the top set in Priory put forward by Mr Hunter and Mr Raynor to undertake the multiple-choice exam. Pupils use their best problem-solving, fluency and reasoning skills to tackle some really difficult questions.

With a golden score of 95, Jacob then went through to the next round – the Junior Kangaroo which is a 25 question multiple-choice challenge over an hour.

“The Kangaroo round was tough, it was hard,” said Jacob. “I didn’t expect to be the best in school for the first round, I was really surprised with my results.

“I want to be an engineer so maths will help me with that.”

Year 7 Henry was the Best in Year with 87 points and he collected a Gold Certificate.

“The first few questions were easy but it got harder as it went on and I had to make an educated guess on a few. I was happy with my results, I didn’t expect to be best in Year 7.”

Year 8 Elliot also celebrated Gold with 87 points.  “It’s the first time I have done it and I was impressed with how well I did.”

Imogen received a Silver Certificate. She said: “It was challenging.”

Mr Raynor’s Year 8 class received four Golds, 14 Silvers and nine Bronze certificates, some of the best results Priory has had in the competition.

He said: “The UKMT Junior Maths Challenge is done under test conditions in school and it is a challenge, trying to apply the knowledge they have learnt in lessons to the questions. We are absolutely delighted with the results, they are outstanding.”