Tonbridge’s mathematicians excel in national contest

Tonbridge boys put in truly excellent performances in the latest stage of the British Maths Olympiad.

Four students – Sherman Yip (HS5), Isaac King (CH2), Hayden Lam (FH3) and Thomas Masding (OH5) – earned the right to take part in the second round of the Olympiad, a tough national examination which featured only the top 100 students across the country.

Sherman and Isaac then managed the extraordinary achievement of finishing in joint second place in the UK, each scoring 30 out of 40 available marks. The overall winner managed just one more mark, scoring 31 out of 40.

Ian Jackson, Tonbridge’s Head of Mathematics, said: “The School has performed extremely well in the British Maths Olympiad down the years, but this performance is in a league of its own. 

“To have four qualifiers making the national 100 was most impressive, but I estimate that it is about 40 years since any school across the country had two contestants placed in the top three in a British Maths Olympiad. This is a remarkable achievement for a single school. Very well done to all.”

In Round One of the competition, which took place late last year, eight Tonbridge boys were placed within the top 200 students across the country. In this round Isaac and Sherman were also ranked among the very best in the country, finishing joint 12th.

The British Maths Olympiad is run by the United Kingdom Mathematics Trust and is open to students from all schools and colleges in the country.