UKMT Junior Maths Challenge - question

[incorrigible]

Am I right in assuming it's mostly Year 8s that get through to the Olympiad?

Do the students get a certificate for taking part?

For the JMC, there is a certificate of participation which the school can print off from their website, so it is down to the school whether or not they do this.

For the JMO their website says for the ones who do not get a merit or distinction:

those who qualified automatically for the JMO via the JMC receive a Certificate of Qualification

Can I just have a little proud moment reviving this thread? Cos I know you'll understand when I do a little dance because DS2 just did his first JMC in Y6 (state primary - they put a little group of able mathematicians in from Y5 and 6 and they all - from Y6- but one got a certificate) and got a silver certificate. He had no idea how to answer many of the second half questions but he had a good go! We looked at a few past papers beforehand but the school just chucked them into it this year.

No idea if his secondary school will carry it on though. Can he do the next one independently?

Anyone know if the Junior Kangaroo results have been sent out yet?

The threshold has been published, here - 89, so does that means the results are either already out or at least imminent?

Don't worry - Twitter has the answer I'm looking for: twitter.com/UKMathsTrust/status/879331423370584064

Now just need to get DS to chase school for his result!

WilfSell normally Year 5 and Year 6 at primaries do the Primary Maths Challenge.

Despite the name, the Junior Maths Challenge is aimed at up to Year 8, so you can rightly be proud if he got a bronze certificate in that.

Ooooh this is the thread I've been looking for!
DS did the JMC this yes and got a bronze too.
His school has some very able boys (prep) one of whom at least got a gold - am wondering how he compares to your average child though....as his top set doesn't have too many of those...he is bright....

generally, our term ended a while ago and DCs had JMK results quite a few days before end of term. (Merit here in Y6 - yay :) )

sorry just saw you answered own question good luck

Wow nightswimming that's great. Gotta ask, for context ....
Private or state? Tutored? Lots of preparation and practice beforehand with past papers? Self-motivated wider reading? Natural mathematical whizz destined for a future Field Medal?

My DS did the Primary Maths challenge bonus round this year and got a gold medal. The website mentions previous gold medalists going through to the Olympiad but there isn't much information about how that comes about. We were never given his actual score either. We only know that he is one of 90 who got a gold. Another child in his class got a bronze. ( state Primary school)

Does anyone know if the Primary challenge is linked to the junior one?

No they are different.
If you google it they are different organisations.
PMC has bee going for a while - we have always done them and if you look at the papers that are slightly simpler than JMC which is aimed at boys from yr 6-8.
From what I can gather this is the first year of JMC. DS said it started off easy but got trickier - I guess aimed at older boys? Most of his top set I think got bronze or silver / one at least got gold. They are all mainly going to grammars or selective privates in London.
HTH

WilfSelf - we were the same / only boys from top set sat the JMC without any prior warning so no prep.
Having said that after doing 11plus most boys are at at decent standard.

Just to confirm JMC is for girls as well!

DD did it in Year 7 and Year 8 and got a Merit in the Kangaroo both times.

It's a great competition and has really inspired her. I think the SMC next year is going to be quite a step up though.

wouldn't she do intermediate Sandy?

jmc has been going a number of years wimbles and state school students of both sexes do very well in it too.

Sorry I wasn't trying to suggest they don't - I can only speak from my experience. I'm sure they do do just as well - I never said anything about that 🤔

you said it was aimed at boys :)

If you had a female mathematician facing issues with sexism and expectation you would understand why I'm prickly about this.

Not quite getting all the hype about this tbh. My dd s did it at secondary with no prep and told about it on the day or the day before. Top set maths usual smattering of results. Certainly no one on edge to see what they got!

Like any other competitive activity, RedHelenB, maths can be done with varying degrees of seriousness. Taking it more seriously usually leads to better results - not only in this competition, but in future maths contexts. Some of us think that's a good thing! When people make a virtue of not preparing for UKMT competitions I'm reminded of the Flanders & Swann song:

"And all the world over, each nation's the same
They've simply no notion of playing the game
They argue with umpires, they cheer when they've won
And they practice beforehand which ruins the fun!"

The UK team just did very well, and came top of Europe, in the International Mathematical Olympiad, with three gold medals, two bronze and an Honorable Mention. You'd better believe those young people prepared, and the JMC is, for some, the start of that road. The IMO in turn is often the start of stellar careers: eg Maryam Mirzakhani, the Fields Medallist who has tragically just died, started that way.

It's like e.g. athletics - for the vast majority of us, our children's 100m time has zero significance, they don't practise, prepare for sports day, etc. For the few good ones - you bet they keep track of their times! And pay attention to others' at county/regional/national competitions And there are people higher up with a little list of interesting names to look out for in the future ...

My ds got a silver in the junior maths challenge. He is in year 5 and summer born at that! He didn't even know he'd done it- his teacher always gives him extension work so he just thought it was something to stretch him while the others were doing something else.
However, having got a silver he is now ultra keen to prepare for next year so he can get a better result. I'm just hoping his year six teacher will take the time to sort it for him & isn't just focusing on SATS.

Still not getting all the hype but each to their own.

Coming back to this a bit late. The Junior Challenge is Year 8 and below.

Intermediate is Year 11 and below.

www.ukmt.org.uk/individual-competitions/junior-challenge/

For aspiring young mathematians the maths challenges are a really interesting and fun way to encourage them to think about maths more deeply and can be life changing for children who are otherwise under challenged, because they provide a really good path for deepening thinking skills and learning how to think like a mathematician and not just as someone who can do maths.