UKMT Intermediate Maths Challenge

Year 11 pupils at BRGS achieved 14 Golds, 18 Silvers and 12 Bronzes in this year’s UKMT Intermediate Maths Challenge.

Over 200,000 pupils from across the UK sat the Challenge, with roughly the top 7% receiving a Gold certificate, 13% Silver and 20% Bronze.

The percentages for BRGS were26% Gold, 34% Silver and 23% Bronze.

Eleven pupils, including top scorer Mark Rutherford-Shaw, were invited to sit a further round called the Pink Kangaroo, which is a multiple-choice Europe-wide challenge.

Maths teacher Mr Wilbraham, who organises the Challenge, said: “The pupils showed a fantastic attitude to this challenge and all tried their best to achieve a Gold certificate.

“The idea behind the challenge is to test mathematical thinking and application, rather than to tackle the style of questions found in text books and on GCSE examinations.

 “The pupils are required to think about their answers rather than just guess and our results show how mathematically able BRGS pupils are, as 83% received a certificate compared to 40% nationally.”

A sample question from this year’s Intermediate Maths Challenge is:

Amrita is baking a cake today (Thursday). She bakes a cake every fifth day. How many days will it be before she next bakes a cake on a Thursday?

A: 5                        B: 7                         C: 14                      D: 25                      E: 35