HELP: UKMT Senior Maths Challenge

Original post by Maximus The 1st

I'm in Year 10 and just achieved gold in UKMT Intermediate. However, this was with one day preparation (on a strike day for an hour) and I would like to qualify for the olympiad in Year 11. In terms of school, I tend to achieve near full marks in maths without much revision, but there isn't anyone I know who could help me in my preparation for the Senior Maths Challenge next year. It would be great if anyone could recommend anything.
Thank you! :smile:

Surely your teacher can help? Why won't you enter thw IMC again in Year 11? You might qualify for a Summer school if you do well enough.

There's a whole database of past questions here: https://www.drfrostmaths.com/worksheets.php?wdid=44

https://www.ukmt.org.uk/product/69

Reply 3

Original post by Mr M

Start looking at past papers?

https://www.ukmt.org.uk/competitions/solo/senior-mathematical-challenge/archive

DR Frost has a database - all free :smile:

Reply 4

OP

Original post by Muttley79

Surely your teacher can help? Why won't you enter thw IMC again in Year 11? You might qualify for a Summer school if you do well enough.

There's a whole database of past questions here: https://www.drfrostmaths.com/worksheets.php?wdid=44

https://www.ukmt.org.uk/product/69

Year 9 and 10 do intermediate and year 11 do senior.
Is it possible to learn enough maths to qualify for a summer school in a year, and if so how should I go about it?

Reply 5

OP

Original post by Muttley79

Surely your teacher can help? Why won't you enter thw IMC again in Year 11? You might qualify for a Summer school if you do well enough.

There's a whole database of past questions here: https://www.drfrostmaths.com/worksheets.php?wdid=44

https://www.ukmt.org.uk/product/69

My teacher can help, but I would like to get information from different sources in order to give me the best chance of doing well.

Reply 6

Original post by Maximus The 1st

Year 9 and 10 do intermediate and year 11 do senior.
Is it possible to learn enough maths to qualify for a summer school in a year, and if so how should I go about it?

NO Year 11 can do IMC see here; https://www.ukmt.org.uk/imc [Many Year 11s get invited to the NMSS - National Maths Summer schools]

The Intermediate Mathematical Challenge is a 60-minute, multiple-choice Challenge.

It encourages mathematical reasoning, precision of thought, and fluency in using basic mathematical techniques to solve interesting problems.

The problems on the Intermediate Mathematical Challenge are designed to make students think. Most are accessible, yet still challenge those with more experience.

Next Year's Date: Wednesday 31st January 2024

Eligible year groups: England, Wales and Overseas - Year 11 or below, Scotland S4 or below, Northern Ireland - Year 12 or below

Reply 7

OP

Original post by Muttley79

NO Year 11 can do IMC see here; https://www.ukmt.org.uk/imc [Many Year 11s get invited to the NMSS - National Maths Summer schools]

The Intermediate Mathematical Challenge is a 60-minute, multiple-choice Challenge.

It encourages mathematical reasoning, precision of thought, and fluency in using basic mathematical techniques to solve interesting problems.

The problems on the Intermediate Mathematical Challenge are designed to make students think. Most are accessible, yet still challenge those with more experience.

Next Year's Date: Wednesday 31st January 2024

Eligible year groups: England, Wales and Overseas - Year 11 or below, Scotland S4 or below, Northern Ireland - Year 12 or below

I know but our school does it for year 9 and 10 and year 11 does senior - I’m not doing it outside of school.

Reply 8

Original post by Maximus The 1st

I know but our school does it for year 9 and 10 and year 11 does senior - I’m not doing it outside of school.

As a person who did get Gold in SMC in year 11.

First, DrFrostMath past papers and stuff. Keep working on it.

Curriculum-wise, SMC covers all of GCSE, so make sure you have that nailed first.
Watch out for prime numbers and numbers related to the year - these often come up.
There's a high emphasis on geometry in SMC, so make sure you practice that. Many often fail there.

To save time, focus on the first twenty questions and make sure you can nail them. If you nail them all, you'd get 105 marks... which may be enough for BMO1 or at least very close.

(edited 1 year ago)

Reply 9

Original post by Maximus The 1st

I know but our school does it for year 9 and 10 and year 11 does senior - I’m not doing it outside of school.

That's crazy - you have a better chance of a good results at IMC and the opportunity to go to a Summer school. Ask why you don't do the IMC - the Year 11s do the IMC where I teach :smile:

Reply 10

Original post by Muttley79

That's crazy - you have a better chance of a good results at IMC and the opportunity to go to a Summer school. Ask why you don't do the IMC - the Year 11s do the IMC where I teach :smile:

I'm not in the UK.

But when I was in Year 11, I did manage a Gold in SMC (invited to Kangaroo) despite almost no preparation (perhaps 2-3 hours or so last minute). I never really had mentors for maths and stuff.

Some people genuinely can do very well in the SMC at year 11 or even earlier. Hell, people have gotten Gold in IMO at that age or earlier.

(edited 1 year ago)

Reply 11

Original post by justlearning1469

I'm not in the UK.

But when I was in Year 11, I did manage a Gold in SMC (invited to Kangaroo) despite almost no preparation (perhaps 2-3 hours or so last minute). I never really had mentors for maths and stuff.

Some people genuinely can do very well in the SMC at year 11 or even earlier. Hell, people have gotten Gold in IMO at that age or earlier.

Yes but you can't get an invitation to the Summer school if they don't do IMC ... none of the UKMT competitions require prep.

Reply 12

Original post by Muttley79

Yes but you can't get an invitation to the Summer school if they don't do IMC ... none of the UKMT competitions require prep.

Well, sure. Although practicing the stuff and trying to see the connections and whatnot would help you get higher marks.

Plus... to me if a 15 year old can already get into BMO1/Kangaroo... it might be better to start training for BMO1 a year early... so when the chance in Yr12/Yr13 comes, that person can try to get better in BMO1 or even advance.

Reply 13

OP

What maths would you recommend learning to do better in Maths challenges? My goal is to become closer to the best in year 10 - I’m probably second but the person ahead of me got full marks in intermediate.

Reply 14

Original post by Maximus The 1st

What maths would you recommend learning to do better in Maths challenges? My goal is to become closer to the best in year 10 - I’m probably second but the person ahead of me got full marks in intermediate.

For Senior: https://www.ukmt.org.uk/product/68 and https://plus.maths.org/issue20/reviews/book2/2pdf/index.html/op.pdf

(edited 1 year ago)

OP

Any free options?

Original post by Maximus The 1st

What maths would you recommend learning to do better in Maths challenges? My goal is to become closer to the best in year 10 - I’m probably second but the person ahead of me got full marks in intermediate.

As someone who has attempted the UKMT SMC in 2020 (achieved a bronze) and 2021 (achieved a gold), I’d say that a few things I noticed were that there are a lot of differences of two squares hidden in SMC algebra questions and they often use the number of the year (in this case 2024) in the question.

Maybe practice factorisation and learn the factors of 2024 (in prime factor form 2^3 x 11 x 23).

(edited 1 year ago)

Reply 17

OP

Thank you, and if I may ask, how did you improve from bronze to gold?
I have achieved gold in UKMT IMC recently without guessing any questions I could lose points on and I want to know how to improve for SMC next year (I'm in Year 10)

Reply 18