National Mathematics Summer School
Our National Mathematics Summer Schools (NMSS) are designed for young people with an interest in maths. They promote mathematical thinking, and provide an opportunity for participants to meet other like-minded students, volunteers and maths teachers. These residential events are one week long.
Who can go?
Invitations are sent to students selected at random from the top 1.5% of results from the Intermediate Mathematical Challenge, in Years 10-11 (England, Wales) or S3-S4 (Scotland) and Years 11-12 (Northern Ireland). Students must be aged 14-16 years. Invitations are sent through schools in March. Half of the students are girls and 90% are from state schools.
Only one student per school can be invited, and schools cannot send students two years in a row to ensure wider access.
Attendees must be UK passport holders not requiring a visa for the duration of the events, and must have valid UK-based emergency contacts.
Summer School 2023 Highlights
What happens at UKMT’s Summer School? Take a sneak peek behind the scenes.
Our National Mathematics Summer Schools are designed for young people with an interest in maths. They promote mathematical thinking and provide an opportunity for participants to meet other like-minded students, volunteers and maths teachers. Residentials are one week long.
Summer School FAQs
General
What’s the criteria for being invited to UKMT Summer School?
Students are selected, at random, from the 1.5% of top scorers in the Intermediate Mathematical Challenge.
Students must be in Year 10 or 11 or the equivalent for Scotland and Northern Ireland, and must be aged between 14 and 16 years old.
Invitations are sent to students, via their school teacher, in March each year.
We aim for a 50/50 gender split and a 90/10 state vs independent school split.
Only one student per school can be invited, and schools cannot send students two years in a row to ensure wider access.
Attendees must be UK passport holders not requiring a visa for the duration of the events, and must have valid UK-based emergency contacts.
What provision do you have for students with additional needs?
We will work with schools and parents to ensure that the student’s EHCP/ILP is adhered to as closely as possible while attending Summer School. It is important that any pertinent details are shared with us as soon as possible.
We are always striving to improve our diversity and inclusivity, and encourage 1-1 conversations with parents/teachers who may hesitate to accept a student invitation.
Summer School staff are experienced educators, and we have pastoral leads who will focus on supporting students.
How are Senior students selected?
Seniors are students who have attended Summer School as a Junior in previous years. Usually we have one Senior per group of six Juniors.
Volunteers will highlight students they think are especially suitable, then the Juniors from the previous two years can submit applications to attend as a Senior. These applications usually go out in December.
When do UKMT Summer Schools take place?
Usually from the start of August onwards. At present, we run three events a year, running Sunday through to Friday.
Where do students stay?
At our current venue (Woodhouse Grove School in Bradford), female and non-female students are separated into two accommodation blocks, each supervised by volunteers of the same gender. Students are usually in twin rooms, but we do have some limited availability of single rooms too.
Please feel free to contact us if you would like to discuss accommodation options for students who do not identify as male or female
What do the mathematical elements of Summer School consist of?
Sessions range across a broad number of subjects, including, but not limited to; Number Theory, Geometry, Combinatorics, Graph Theory, Proof by Induction, Writing Maths, Maths at University, Repetition and Chaos, Polyhedra, Logic Puzzles, and many more!
We also run more specialised sessions for our Seniors each year, pushing beyond secondary school curriculum into subjects covered at university.
What social activities take place at Summer School?
Students have down time between maths sessions, and with this in mind, we have a large social area with games, books, craft activities and practical resources. We also have a quiet room for anyone who might want to relax.
During the course of the week we also run various evening sessions, which usually includes a maths crafts session, film and/or quiz night, talent show (participation optional) and an excursion (usually bowling).
Who leads the maths sessions at a Summer School?
Sessions are run by our volunteers – often maths teachers or maths professionals working in a number of fields. Many of our volunteers are also former Summer School attendees, so they have a great deal of experience at these events!
How are students supervised at Summer School?
All of our volunteers have Enhanced DBS checks and have completed Safeguarding training. We also have pastoral observers who are dedicated to ensuring attendees’ welfare and safety.
We carefully consider staff to student ratios as part of our risk assessment process, working closely with parents, teachers and the venue to cover any additional needs.
Students are encouraged to move around in groups, and these are often accompanied by volunteers. We also conduct regular check-ins, including an evening and morning roll-call.
Students are not permitted to leave the venue site.
Teachers
Why did x student receive an invitation when y student gained a better score in the IMC?
Out of all IMC results (somewhere around 226,000 in 2024), we take the top 1.5%, and then randomly select one student per school (to hit 843 students in 2024) – this also excludes schools that had students attend in the previous year. From there, we again select by lottery to get our final number of invitations (108 Juniors in 2024).
What happens if our student can’t attend?
In the event that a school or student turns down an invitation for whatever reason, that place at Summer School will again be selected by lottery and the place will be offered to another school and student.
Parents
My child’s school does not take part in the IMC. How can they attend Summer School?
Contacting another school in your area and entering IMC as a visiting student may be possible. Unfortunately, they are under no obligation to accept this request, and we cannot share data about schools that are local to you.
How do you provision for dietary requirements such as coeliac, or severe food intolerances?
We deal with food intolerances yearly at multiple events. Woodhouse Grove is very experienced in catering to additional needs (they have been our venue for eight years and a boarding school for a long time). If your child is invited, we will do everything possible to make their stay as pleasant and accommodating as possible.
How do you provision for medical conditions and allergies?
We have trained first aiders at every event and coordinate with parents and schools to ensure that all eventualities are accounted for. As with additional needs and dietary requirements, this information must be shared with us as soon as possible.
