UKMT maths competitions for girls are now for biological girls only

[TrepidationOfTheSpheres]

The UKMT have updated their website to clarify that the maths competition for girls, and the maths olympiad for girls, are now restricted to biological girls only. I actually hadn't realised that they used to allow self-identification in the past - I wonder how often it happened.

I know there are those who says that there shouldn't be any need for a girls-only competition, as physical differences don't affect maths ability, but I think in a lot of schools, boys can still dominate, especially in extra-curricular maths that involve more discussion and confidence. Plus stereotypes that lurk even from primary school of boys being better at maths. I don't think boys that identify as girls would have had that same background, so I think it's worth having this sort of specific encouragement of girls. All the other competitions are open to children of both sexes.

https://ukmt.org.uk/competitions/mathematical-competition-for-girls

I think it is more about what it says which is for girls…. So no boys

I think female (or male) only things to counteract under representation is a justifiable use of single sex.

yes that's what they are now doing, thankfully. Their previous policy apparently allowed transgender girls to enter, but they have taken legal advice and changed it. It's worded in a very neutral way, so I have no idea whether they are doing it grudgingly or gladly - I don't actually know if it was even an issue or had been challenged. I was just pleased to read the update today when checking for age-eligibility. I'd never really considered that there would be other eligibility issues!

yes indeed. I remember being in maths clubs and challenges at schools, and even at my school that was pretty encouraging, the boys absolutely dominated the discussions, were more confident, were louder, etc. And it was definitely seen as more acceptable for boys to be good at (which isn't their fault, but just the culture around it). We felt much more like we were nerds for being interested in maths than the boys did. I'm glad this competition is actually being expanded a bit so that more girls can enter now, rather than just the olympiad one where the numbers are much more limited.

Let us just rejoice that girls are allowed to have their own space.

I played darts and chess for my (female) college at university. We rarely came across other females when we played against other (mixed sex) colleges. Definite under representation there.

Consequently, our past practice of accepting entries by transgender girls to the girls’ competitions can no longer continue.

No such thing as a transgender girl.

More good news. Slowly, slowly we're returning to fairness and including women in our own sport, organisations and spaces.

OMG I missed that they were doing this.

I don't think anything other than biological reality would have happened in Tony's day.

I was pretty good at maths when I was a kid, I would have backed my mathematical abilities against any boy at my school. Running, no. Playing rugby, no. Maths, yes. And I would have considered any suggestion otherwise as patronising sexist crap.

It's a way for them to signal that they are doing this against their will.

Good for UKMT. I think this could be an area where boys identifying as girls was really distorting things. With overwhelmingly more boys engaging with the subject, and many of those not fitting masculine stereotypes, there's every chance a nontrivial proportion of "girls math club" was shy nerdy males wanting to identify out of societal expectations.

It's not about who's good at maths though. It's about the stereotypes around who's good at maths and giving girls a space where they can be good at maths away from boys trying to dominate. It would be the same for boy's group for fibre arts or something. They're not intrinsically worse, but because of cultural mores they can benefit from a specific place to shine

As a former maths teacher and a woman who loves maths, I hate girls only maths competition. It does feel pretty patronising and it seems to imply that girls are not capable of performing at the same level as boys (even if that was not the rationale for separating the competition). It's not a good look.

Good news.

I’m a Maths teacher.

The competitions aren’t separated, though. This is just an additional competition to the various other mixed sexed ones throughout the year. Both boys and girls compete equally in those and girls often do well, but are still under represented in maths. Maybe fewer of them enter or participate in the clubs leading up to them etc. And fewer of them go on to the team challenges or the Olympiads. So this is just an additional one to encourage them.

but whether it’s necessary to have the extra competition or not, if you’re going to have a girls only competition, I think it should be clearly for biological girls, which it now is.

This link has the latest stats regarding take up of further maths A level, computing and mathematical science degree applications. Boys significantly outnumber girls. If you acknowledge that boys are not necessarily better at maths than girls, then you have to also acknowledge that something else is going on, ie girls aren’t dropping maths because they’re no good at it.

Competitive maths aimed only at girls can help to increase female engagement at A level and degree level. That can only be a good thing.

https://royalsociety.org/news/2026/08/a-level-results-2026/

Although it’s worth noting that if they compete at European level, they’re potentially back to competing against boys who feel like girls.