What are the maths challenges and why should students take them?
Maths challenges are events organised in countries around the world where students get to solve a range of interesting and unusual maths problems.
They focus on problem-solving and independent thinking a lot more than traditional exams.
You canโt really cram or revise for maths challenges - you need to practice over time with a range of problems that develop your skills more than just your knowledge.
Thatโs not to say there arenโt things to learn in advance - there is certainly a foundation of important topics that students need to know about.
But the challenges test how you can apply that knowledge more than what you know.
Students who do well in maths challenges can earn certificates and medals, but all students benefit a huge amount from taking them.
They end up getting better at maths a lot faster than just learning โtextbookโ maths.
They develop a range of transferrable logical skills that are useful in other subjects and prepare them to be great critical thinkers.
But most importantly students who spend time with the maths challenges end up finding maths a lot more fun.
So if you want maths to be a studentโs favourite subject, give them a maths challenge paper today!
Here in the UK, the
@Mathematical_A organise challenges for ages 7-11 and the
@UKMathsTrust organise them for ages 11-18, but similar competitions exist around the world too.
You can also find loads of past papers as well as totally free courses with my video hints and solutions for all ages 7-18 over at the Mathsaurus website.
Here's a question from a recent maths challenge - what age of student do you think this is for?