Boys set new Mathematical Challenge record

Tonbridge School has achieved its best ever results in a national competition which tests students’ maths and problem-solving skills.

Around 80,000 candidates from 2,000 schools took part in the annual Senior Mathematical Challenge, which sets multiple-choice questions and is mostly aimed at A-level students. Gold awards are made to the top ten per cent; Silver awards to the next 20 per cent; and Bronze to the next 30 per cent.

Of its 108 entrants, Tonbridge received 40 Gold, 45 Silver and 16 Bronze awards. The number of Golds equals the school’s best, while the combined total of Gold and Silver awards is the best performance in its history.

Eleven Tonbridge boys will now be entering the next stage of the competition, the British Olympiad Round 1, which takes place on Friday 30 November and puts even harder questions to the 1,000 best performers from the Senior Mathematical Challenge.

A further 29 Tonbridge boys will be taking part in the Senior Kangaroo, an advanced multi-choice, Europe-wide paper, aimed at those who narrowly missed qualifying for the Olympiad stage.

The competition is aimed at schools and colleges across the country and is organised by the United Kingdom Mathematics Trust.

Ian Jackson, the school’s Head of Mathematics, said: “These are excellent results which highlight not only the mathematical talent we have among the boys, but also the quality of teaching in the department. To see a new school record being set in this competition is very pleasing.”