Young maths students from Bexhill College do brilliantly in national competition

Young maths students from Bexhill College showcased their numeracy skills when they took part in the final of a national competition.
Bexhill College Maths Challenge 1 SUS-190219-121932001Bexhill College Maths Challenge 1 SUS-190219-121932001
Bexhill College Maths Challenge 1 SUS-190219-121932001

After winning the regional final for the UKMT Senior Team Mathematics Challenge in December, the Bexhill Sixth Form College Maths team

were invited to the National Final on Tuesday February 5.

The team comprised 2nd year A-Level student Thomas Finn, and 1st year A-Level students: Dong Hyo Nam, Edvards Blinovs and Liam Veness.

Bexhill College Maths Students SUS-190219-122105001Bexhill College Maths Students SUS-190219-122105001
Bexhill College Maths Students SUS-190219-122105001
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At the National Final, Bexhill College came 21st out of 87 competing teams, but were notified that they had achieved the highest place amongst all participating non-selective Schools and Colleges.

Approximately 1,300 Colleges or Schools had taken part at the regional events.

The UKMT describe the STMC as a competition testing mathematical, communication and teamwork skills, and students compete against teams from other schools and colleges from their region.

There are four rounds, and an additional poster competition.

The challenging rounds in the competition are:

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Group Round: There are ten questions which the teams have around 40 minutes to solve. Teams must decide their own strategy: work in pairs, as a group or individually.

Crossnumber: Similar to a crossword but with numerical answers. Teams work in pairs. One pair has the across clues, and the other pair has the down clues. Pairs work independently to complete the grid using logic and deduction.

Shuttle: Teams compete against the clock to correctly answer a series of four questions. Each team is divided into Pair A (given Questions 1 and 3) and Pair B (given Questions 2 and 4). Question 1 can be solved independently of the others, but the answer to each subsequent question is dependent on the previous answer.

Relay: Teams split off into pairs, taking it in turns to solve problems in these pairs. This round involves lots of movement as well as mathematics: a race against the clock with lots of lively activity.

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For the Poster Competition teams are sent information in advance of the event about a topic for research and investigation.

At the Final, teams make a poster incorporating materials that they have prepared while addressing related questions given out on the day.

The four students from Bexhill College are now working towards their Maths and Further Maths A-Levels, and Thomas Finn has an offer to read Mathematics at Cambridge next year.

Visit www.ukmt.org.uk for more on the competition.