UKMT Challenge

[Aurea]

Hello!

I'd be grateful for any guidance from parents of mathematically gifted kids.

My 12 year old son (S1 in Scotland) has just done the UKMT INTERMEDIATE Challenge.

I believe he got a score off 55. Does this show promise for his age? He had no help form the school so it all came from him. I know the challenge caters for all ages up to 16.

If it's any good, I'd like to encourage him further.

Many thanks

[GHGN]

Assuming he is in year 7, the score is correct and no guessing, it is a very good score. It is (almost) guarantee a bronze, maybe a silver certificate depending on how other did. Certificates are awarded to the top 40% scorers in a ratio of 3:2:1. It is difficult to compare to other pupils of the same age. I think this year's paper is quite tricky as the last 10 questions require a wide range of GCSE skills, candidates will mostly score marks in the first 15-18 questions.

The Junior Challenge will be a better indicator. Just encourage him to do the Junior papers, the Junior Kangaroo and the Junior Olympiad. Websites like MrBarton Maths and DrFrost Maths have bank of questions on all levels that he can do.

[AlexanderHamilton]

I thought it took a couple of weeks to get scores back.

[OhYouBadBadKitten]

ghgn really knows what they are talking about. Follow the advice in terms of enrichment but most importantly try to chill about it, the aim is to give them maths that they enjoy and fulfills them.

[Aurea]

He brought the question paper home with his answers written on and the solutions are on the UKMT website, so it's easy to work out the scoring.

Thank you for your comments and suggestions. Yes, hopefully his school will put him forward for the Junior contest in April.

[OhYouBadBadKitten]

You could email to ask about that Aurea.

[JustRichmal]

Dd has been doing the UKMT challenges since year 5.(Now year 10) Sometimes she does well and sometimes not. She used to do better when she practised for them.
If he enjoys doing this type of maths, then there are the mentoring questions on the UKMT website which he could also try.
For years 8 and 9 there is also a team maths challenge, so you could ask his school if they do this.

[sandybayley]

DD (Year 9) also enjoys the UKMT.

Not sure if they run in Scotland but the Royal Institution runs maths master classes. DD has enjoyed attending. You have to be referred by school though.

[Hermanfromguesswho]

Hi. What ages are these challenges aimed at? My son is in year 7 and I know his school take part in the challenges. Can Year 7s take part? Just wondering if it’s something I can ask about if he can join

[user789653241]

My ds hasn't done actual thing, but started using this site.
It has questions from UKMT and also you can see how other children got the correct answer. I thought it was very useful to know how other able children solve the same problem.

diagnosticquestions.com/UKMT

[Hermanfromguesswho]

I ENAiled his teacher today. He’s already entered him into the competition, so that’s good news 👍

[yoyo1234]

I do not think there are age limits ( other than being too old). See about the team challenges, these are great fun for lots of participants.