Bede students have been counting the success after achieving an impressive haul of awards in the Senior Mathematical Challenge.

Of the 35 maths learners that volunteered to take part in the national paper, 11 scooped participation awards, 17 achieved bronze, five silver and two received mighty gold awards!

Our gold award winners, Alex and Viyasan, are now eligible to enter the International Kangaroo Mathematics Contest.

Bede Maths teacher, Connor Cass, said: “It was great to see so many students wanting to take part, both from both Year 12 and 13.  It is a chance for them to challenge themselves at a national level.”

For gold winner Alex, the competition felt like something of a personal challenge to see if he could beat his own previous score.

“I took part last year and got a silver but was only around six marks off a gold,” said the 17-year-old from Stockton.  “I wanted to see if I could do better and get the gold.”

When the results came in, he said it felt pretty good and was also a welcome relief.

“I am not one for feeling nervous or doing loads and loads of revision before an exam,” said Alex, who is studying A level maths, further maths and computer science at Bede.

But he added: “It did feel quite stressful on the day because it is all done under exam conditions.”

With 90 minutes to answer 25 multiple-choice questions, points are deducted for getting an answer wrong so there’s no room for guessing.

The Senior Mathematical Challenge is set by the United Kingdom Mathematics Trust and is designed for those in Year 13 or below to encourage mathematical reason, precision of thought, fluency in using mathematical techniques and to make students think.