King’s Ely students qualify for national finals of UK Team Maths Challenge

Mathematicians from King’s Ely have reached the national finals of a fiercely-contested competition.

King’s Ely Senior students Elliot Bord and Ben Collier and King’s Ely Junior pupils John Lau and James MacGillivray are one of only 88 school teams to qualify for the national finals of the UK Team Maths Challenge.

More than 1,700 school teams entered the first round of the competition and Elliot and Ben, who are in Year 9, and John and James, who are in Year 8, came runners-up in the regional heats of the contest, which took place at the Centre for Mathematical Sciences in Cambridge.

Head of Mathematics at King’s Ely, Audrienne Bezzina, has received confirmation that the team’s score has secured them a place to compete in the national finals, which are taking place at London’s Royal Horticultural Halls on June 17th.

Mrs Bezzina said: “The national finals of the UK Team Maths Challenge, which is run by the UK Mathematics Trust, involve teams of four pupils from Years 8 and 9 competing in hands-on maths problems, a series of shuttle questions, a mathematical crossword, a relay race combining physical and mental agility, and a separate poster competition based on a mathematical subject. This is the second time that King’s Ely has qualified for the national finals, as we did so too in 2017. I am really proud of Elliot, James, John and Ben, and we are all wishing them the best of luck for the national finals in June.”

The team’s success comes just weeks after King’s Ely students achieved great results in the Kangaroo round of the Intermediate Maths Challenge. Thirteen King’s Ely students qualified for the Kangaroo round and Thomas Kim (Year 11), Joseph Coppin (Year 9) and James MacGillivray (Year 8) all received Merits, meaning their results were in the top 25% nationally. James sat the paper a year earlier than usual and achieved a very impressive 112 marks out of 135.

James’ sister, Eleanor, who is in Year 10, sat the first round of the Intermediate Maths Challenge together with the top Maths sets from Years 9, 10 and 11 at King’s Ely. She achieved a Gold certificate and was not only the top scorer in her year but the whole school. Around 500 of the highest scorers from each school year are then invited to take part in the next round, the Intermediate Mathematical Olympiad. Eleanor participated, as did Raphael Bisson (Year 8), John Lau (Year 8) and Ben Collier (Year 9). Eleanor’s score placed her in the top 100 in her year, thus she was awarded a medal. John and Ben both achieved Merits.