Alex Chui, a student representing the United Kingdom at the International Mathematical Olympiad, has become the most decorated Maths Olympiad participant of all time.

Alex, who is in Year 13 at Tonbridge School, came joint 1st with a perfect score of 42/42, earning his fifth Gold medal at this year’s edition in Shanghai.

These 5 Gold medals, along with 2 Silver medals, means Alex is now the most successful participant of all time in the world’s most prestigious school-age academic competition, which has been running since 1959.

The UK team, which is entered into the competition by the United Kingdom Maths Trust and supported by Jane Street Europe, was awarded 2 Gold, 1 Silver and 3 Bronze medals and placed 8th overall out of 117 participating countries.

Alex Chui said, “I really cherished this experience of my last IMO in China, getting to compete alongside my teammates and meet other contestants from around the world. I am very happy to be able to round it off with a perfect score, and now looking forward to life at university.“

Dr Dominic Yeo, Senior Lecturer in Mathematics at King’s College London, and IMO Team Leader, said, “IMO problems are always challenging, and finding the right approaches to this year’s hardest tasks was genuinely demanding. To have solved every problem perfectly at IMO 2026 is a formidable achievement, and Alex’s five Gold medals are a reflection of his hard work over many years, and remarkable problem-solving creativity.“

Dr Geoff Smith, Chair of Trustees at UKMT, said, “The dazzling performance of the British pupils at IMO 2026 will lift the spirits of everyone who celebrates excellence in education and problem solving. They all did well, but Alex Chui’s achievement in becoming the most decorated IMO contestant of all time is astonishing.”

More about the International Mathematical Olympiad (IMO)

The UK’s participation at the IMO is organised by the UK Maths Trust (UKMT). The team was identified through a rigorous training process, including two examination rounds held across UK schools and multiple training camps organised by UKMT. UKMT also runs many other school maths competitions. For more information, please go to ukmt.org.uk.

The six students representing the UK team, and the medals they received, were: 

• Alex Chui (Tonbridge School) – Gold
• Adavya Goyal (St Paul’s School) – Bronze
• Anango Prabhat (King’s College London Maths School) – Bronze
• Yuvan Raja (Royal Grammar School Guildford) – Silver
• Michael Sydorenko (King’s College London Maths School) – Bronze
• Kevin Wai (Magdalen College School) – Gold

IMO 2026, the 67th IMO, took place from 13-21st July 2026 in Shanghai, China. The competition consisted of two four-and-a-half hour examination papers, sat across two days. Each paper contained three problems of increasing difficulty. 55 students out of 666 were awarded Gold medals.

The first IMO was held in Romania in 1959, with seven countries taking part. Today, 117 countries participate, representing over 90% of the world’s population. The IMO is the oldest, largest, and most prestigious of all the international science Olympiads and the problems of the IMO are notoriously difficult. Being identified as capable of Olympiad-level maths is a strong predictor of winning major science prizes and innovation in a STEM career.

The problems from this year’s IMO can be found at the official IMO website and here.