New City College students’ efforts add up to national Maths Challenge final

New City College students competed in a cross-campus Maths Challenge – and now the top 12 winners will go on to compete in the national finals.

The Challenge, run in colleges across the UK by MEI (Maths, Education, Innovation) is a competition for students in further education working towards gaining a Functional Skills qualification or improving their Maths GCSE grade.

It emerged from the successful ASK Maths project and it has been found to improve student confidence and engagement.

At New City College the challenge was set in clusters and all campuses – Ardleigh Green, Epping, Hackney, Havering Sixth Form, Rainham, Redbridge and Tower Hamlets – took part.

For the first round, students completed a Kahoot quiz in class and winners from each class went through to the College Final. There they completed a Tarsia puzzle and Kahoot quiz. The pair with the highest score in each category were presented with a trophy and Amazon vouchers.

The 12 winning students will represent NCC in the national finals on Wednesday 23rd March at the University of East London, competing against students from colleges including Newcastle, Stoke-on-Trent, Leicester, Greater Brighton Metropolitan and Leyton Sixth Form College, among many others.

One student said: “The competition was really good. Having more practical challenges does help. It’s about maths that applies to the real world which is what I like.”

Emma James, Group Curriculum Director for Maths at NCC, said: “It’s great to finally have a national competition for our students, which caters for all levels. They really enjoyed the competitive nature of the challenge, and our 12 finalists will represent NCC at the grand final at the University of East London. The students have done a wonderful job, and I’m sure they will do us proud in the final.”