Subject Stars: Y13 Maths

By Emily

Late last year, the Senior Mathematical Challenge, hosted by UKMT, took place- with many of the Bolingbroke Sixth Form taking part. One of these people, Louie in Year 13, went on to (spoiler alert!) win the highest score in the school!

This impressive achievement earned him a glamorous gold certificate and an impressive title. Ms Tiemann chose Louie to be the Subject Star this week not only because he got the best score in the school but because he scored high enough to advance to the next round of the competition: the Senior Kangaroo!

Louie shared that his experience participating in the Senior Mathematical Challenge was both ‘interesting and challenging.’ In addition, he added that ‘It’s great preparation for anyone wanting to study Maths or Physics at university because it stretches you beyond the A-Level Curriculum.’

Louie recounted that he prepared for the Maths challenge by doing some UKMT practice papers and just before the exam itself, he listened to music to get himself energised and ready for the challenge.

The Senior Mathematical Challenge is a competition for keen mathematicians from school years 12-13 and has junior counterparts for lower years which most students have taken part in. In fact, you can see the numerous certificates up on the walls along the Maths department corridor.

For those aspiring mathematicians who wish to go above and beyond and potentially win Gold one day, Louie has some words of advice: ‘Write down everything you can gather from the question if you’re stuck as it could be a good starting point and could prompt you in the right direction.’ Wise words that I hope help any Maths students, not just for the UKMT, but also for Maths examinations. Remember that, ‘It’s a great achievement and really good to put on your personal statement.’

Good luck to everyone aspiring to complete the UKMT and congratulations to Louie once again!