Competition Adds Up To Maths Success For Yarm School Pupils

Two Yarm School pupils have achieved merits in the prestigious UK Mathematics Trust (UKMT) Intermediate Olympiad competitions.

Lower Sixth Form student, Abhinav Ramisetty and Fourth Year pupil, Keya Shah were among just 25% of participants who were awarded merits in the two-hour competitions, which aims to challenge mathematicians with complicated problems.

The pair were invited to take the Olympiad papers having placed in around the top 1800 in the initial Intermediate Competition. The Olympiads have separate papers for different age groups with Keya participating in the Cayley examination and Abhinav participating in the Maclaurin examination.

Abhinav has previously placed in the top 25% of the UKMT Senior Kangaroo round after achieving a high placing in the Senior Mathematical Challenge.

The UK Mathematics Trust was founded in 1996 and its charitable aim is to advance the education of young people in mathematics. It does this by working with hundreds of volunteers across the UK to organise competitions promoting problem solving and teamwork and other mathematical enrichment activities. Their biggest competitions are the Junior, Intermediate and Senior Mathematical Challenges which have over 700,000 entries each year.

Abhinav said: “I am very proud that I was one of few people who achieved a merit in the UKMT Maclaurin competition. I have really enjoyed taking part in these competitions and the grades I have received are testament to my hard work and that of the teachers at Yarm who supported me.”

Keya said: “The Cayley Olympiad was a lot of fun, despite there being some very difficult questions. Taking part in competitions like these is important to me as it enables me to challenge myself and it makes maths more enjoyable as a whole.”

Mr Michael Pointon, Teacher of Mathematics and Chemistry, said: “Keya and Abhinav have done incredibly well to achieve such grades in the UKMT Olympiad competitions, and they should be very proud of themselves.

Encouraging pupils to participate in competitions which showcase their talents in subjects they excel in is very important to us and competitions like this are a great way to boost pupils’ confidence in their knowledge.”