Maths Fest 2023

On the 9th February, 30 students from Year 11, 12 and 13 attended ‘Maths Fest’ at the Royal Institution to participate in a day-long mathematical extravaganza. 

The programme of events included 6 talks from inspiring speakers who demonstrated the variety of real life applications of mathematics, explored how numbers are used in the News and gave useful exam advice.

The speakers included Tom Crawford, a mathematics tutor from Oxford University, Sammie Buzzard, a glaciologist and climate scientist at Cardiff University and Matt Parker, a maths author and YouTuber. The ‘Maths Slam’ event saw groups of students give short presentations on their chosen area of mathematics to the rest of the attendees, with the winning group being announced at the end of the day.

During the Break and Lunch times, students explored the ‘Maths Village’ which boasted a range of stalls at which students could win prizes, complete challenges and network with university students. Each speaker set all students a unique puzzle to be solved over the course of the day which our students enjoyed solving.

The students had a great day and many picked Colin Wright as their favourite speaker, demonstrating how juggling tricks are based on mathematical combinations! Most students commented that they didn’t realise how studying mathematics can lead to many varied careers and research areas.