United Kingdom Mathematics Trust
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
The United Kingdom Mathematics Trust (UKMT) was founded in 1996 to help with the education of children in mathematics within the UK.
Contents |
[edit] Mathematical Challenges
The UKMT run a series of mathematics challenges to help gifted and talented children recognize and develop their skills:
- Junior Mathematical Challenge (UK year 8 and below)
- Intermediate Mathematical Challenge (UK year 11 and below)
- Senior Mathematical Challenge (UK year 13 and below)
[edit] Certificates
The top scoring 40% of the entrants receive bronze, silver or gold certificates based on their mark in the paper.
- The Gold award is achieved by the top 6% of the entrants.
- The Silver award is achieved by 13% of the entrants.
- The Bronze award is achieved by 21% of the entrants.
[edit] Junior Mathematical Challenge
The Junior Mathematical Challenge (JMC) is an introductory challenge for pupils in Years 8 (aged 13) or below. This takes the form of a twenty-five multiple choice questions to be sat in exam conditions. This is to be completed within one hour. The paper is divided into two sections. The first fifteen questions are supposed to be easier, and a pupil will gain 5 marks for getting a question in this section correct. The last ten questions are more difficult, and are worth 6 marks, but a penalty of 1 or 2 points for a wrong answer tries to prevent pupils guessing.
[edit] Junior Mathematical Olympiad
The top 40% of students get a certificate of varying levels (Gold, Silver or Bronze) based on their score. The highest scorers also get to go on to take part in the Junior Mathematical Olympiad (JMO). This is also divided into two sections. The first part is composed of ten questions in which the candidate gives just the answer(not multiple choice), worth 10 marks (each question 1 mark). The second encourages students to write out full solutions. Each is marked out of 10. If the solution is judged to be incomplete, it is marked on a 0+ basis, maximum 3 marks. If it has an evident logical strategy, it is marked on a 10- basis. The total mark is out of 70. Everyone who participates in this challenge will gain a certificate (Participation, Merit, Distinction); the top 200 or so gaining medals (Gold, Silver, Bronze); with the top fifty winning a book prize.
[edit] Intermediate Mathematical Challenge
The Intermediate Mathematical Challenge (IMC) is a trickier level for those who have completed the JMC. Any student in Years 11 (aged 16) or below is entitled to take this challenge. This marks a significantly greater age range than is entered into either of the other Mathematical Challenges. Following the same structure as the JMC, this paper presents the student with twenty-five multiple choice questions, divided into two sections; the first carrying 5 marks for a correct solution, and the second carrying 6 marks, but a penalty for incorrect answers.
Again, the top 40% of students taking this challenge get a certificate. There are two follow-on rounds to this competition: The European Kangaroo and the Intermediate Mathematical Olympiad.
[edit] European Kangaroo
The European Kangaroo is a competition which follows the same structure as the AMC (Australian Mathematic Competition). There are twenty-five multiple questions. This paper is taken throughout Europe by over 3 million pupils from more than 37 countries.
[edit] Intermediate Mathematical Olympiad
To prevent this getting confused with International Mathematical Olympiad, this is often abbreviated to the IMOK (Intermediate Mathematical Olympiad and Kangaroo).
The IMOK consists of three papers,'Cayley', 'Maclaurin' and 'Hamilton' named after famous mathematicians. The paper the student will undertake depends on the year group that student is in. Each paper contains six questions. Each solution is marked out of 10 on a 0+ and 10- scale; that is to say, if an answer is judged incomplete or unfinished, it is awarded a few marks for progress and relevant observations, whereas if it is presented as complete and correct, marks are deducted for faults, poor reasoning, or unproven assumptions. As a result, it is quite uncommon for an answer to score a middling mark (e.g. 4–6). This makes the maximum mark out of 60. Students getting two questions fully correct is considered "very good". All people partaking in this challenge will get a certificate; one of Participation, Merit and Distinction. The mark boundaries for these certificates change every year, but normally around 30 marks will gain a Distinction. Those scoring highly (the top 50) will gain a book prize; again, this changes every year, with 44 marks required in the Maclaurin paper in 2006.
In addition to the book prize, each year approximately forty students are chosen to go to The Queen's College, Edgbaston on a National Mathematics Summer School in July. The criteria for this selection are based not only upon the final mark a student gets, but also their understanding of mathematics, logical thinking and sometimes teachers' recommendations. At this summer school the students are stretched, with daily lectures to go past what is taught at GCSE level and explore some of the wider (and more appealing) aspects of mathematics.
[edit] Senior Mathematical Challenge
The Senior Mathematical Challenge (SMC) is open to students who are in Year 13 (aged 18) or below. This is supposed to build upon the ideas in the JMC and IMC. The paper has twenty-five multiple choice questions. A correct answer is worth 4 marks, while 1 mark is deducted from a starting total of 25 for an incorrect answer. This gives a score between 0 and 125 marks.
The top 40% get a certificate; and the approximately 800 students who obtain the best marks will go on to compete in the British Mathematical Olympiad. Mathematics teachers may also enter students who did slightly poorer, but are thought to cope well in the next round.
[edit] British Mathematical Olympiad
The very top candidates in the SMC gain entrance to the British Mathematical Olympiad (BMO). The Olympiad is a three-and-a-half hour examination including six more difficult, long answer questions, which serve to test entrants' puzzle-solving skills. As of 2005, a more accessible first question was added to the paper; before this, it only consisted of 5 questions. Around one hundred high scoring entrants are invited to sit the second round, with the same time limit in which 4 questions are posed. The twenty top scoring students from the second round of the Olympiad are subsequently invited to a training camp at Trinity College, Cambridge for the first stage of the International Mathematical Olympiad UK team selection.
[edit] Team Challenge
The UKMT Team Maths Challenge is an annual event. One team competes from each school comprising of four year 8's and 9 (ages 12-14). There are 46 regional finals which are usually held in March or April. The top two teams from the regions go the London for the National Final which is usually held in late June. No more than 2 pupils on a team may be from year 9.
There are 4 rounds:
- Group Questions
- Cross-Numbers
- Head-to-Head
- Relay
In the National Final however an additional 'Poster Round' is added at the beginning. The poster round is a separate competition, and does not count towards the main event.
[edit] Senior Team Challenge
A similar pilot event aimed at 16-18 year olds was launched in the Autumn of 2007. The format is much the same, with a limitation of 2 year 13 (upper sixth-form) pupils per team. There were 19 regional heats held in November, with the winning team from each heat going to a national final held in London on 7 February 2008, with the winners being Torquay Boys' Grammar School.
