UK Intermediate Maths Challenge 2012

[Leeds2]

About 60 girls from DD's school (top two or three sets?) took this earlier in the year. Results are just back, and the pupils got one silver certificate and about six bronze certificates between them.

Is this "normal"? I ask because a number of parents are complaining that the standard of teaching can't be very good if they didn't get any gold awards, and that more pupils should've got silvers and bronzes. Are they just moaning for the sake of it? I have never heard of this test, and have no idea what the standard is like.

Tia.

What year group was that? My son did what they called a Junior Maths Challenge, he's in year 8 so not sure if this is the same thing. There were around 40 boys who did the test and I believe there were a few gold awards, quite a few silvers and a couple of bronze awards. I believe they all achieved an award.

Well the type of maths in the maths challenge is a bit different from "school maths" and also you lose marks on the later questions if you get something wrong.

The maths challenge website www.mathcomp.leeds.ac.uk/individual-competitions/intermediate-challenge/ states that 40% of entries nationally get gold, silver and bronze in the ratio 1:2:3 so obviously 60% don't get anything. At my DCs school there are two parallel set ones and they will normally all enter. Usually there will be a gold or two, 6 or 7 silvers and a few more for bronze.

DD2 hated the maths challenges and never did particularly well in them and she's now studying maths at university so it hasn't been a problem for her and I saw it as something separate from the teaching in school. For the last one DS (year 10) got a gold because he decided to ignore the teachers advice about being cautious and attempted all the questions.

I don't think I would be particularly concerned about a low number of awards it might just be unfamiliarity with the type of questions and/or an over cautious approach.

It's uncommon for schools to even get a gold. I know selective schools that don't even get golds.

Intermediate is Yr 9 to Yr 11. Obviously Yr 9 students tend not to do as well. But it is a different "challenge" and good experience.

Many schools, even selective ones, seem to limit entries to top sets. So a certificate means being in the top 40% of an able group.

Thanks, everyone.

I think I will just keep my head down, which was my initial reaction!

A few children from the dds' Primary took the Junior one (Y5 and Y6), and got a couple of silvers and three bronzes. Not sure how many kids entered, but there are fewer than 50 children in the two classes together.

But I imagine Intermediary is a lot tougher!

DD (year 8) got a bronze in the intermediate. She is in the top set (they are not streamed by subject just by band) but her maths is not particularly strong. I think she just had the right technique. From what I recall part is multiple choice with negative marking further in the the paper (ie deductions for wrong answers). Quite a few bronzes, but only a couple of golds even with the older kids. She is at a comp.