Ruoshui led our school’s success in this year’s Junior Mathematical Olympiad, becoming the only student in the UK and worldwide to achieve full marks of 70/70. Now in Year 9 at Westminster School, we congratulate him and wish him continued success. Sixteen of our other pupils who entered earned distinctions, a remarkable achievement for our young mathematicians.

The Junior Mathematical Olympiad (JMO) is a prestigious challenge for some of the brightest young minds in mathematics. As the bonus round of the Junior Mathematical Challenge (JMC), the JMO assesses students’ mathematical skills and problem-solving abilities. Participants complete a comprehensive two-hour exam, comprising 10 quickfire questions followed by six complex problems that require clear, logical, and thorough explanations.

This year, 41 of our pupils qualified for the JMO, with an impressive 36 of them receiving awards for their outstanding performances. Leading this exceptional group was Ruoshui, a Year 8 pupil at the time of the Olympiad. He became the only student in the UK and worldwide to achieve full marks of 70/70 – an astonishing feat.

Reflecting on his experience, Ruoshui shared, “I greatly relished all the problems in the contest (especially the last problem, a number theory-combinatorics fusion), but even more so the support of my teachers and friends at WUS, which encouraged me to continue problem-solving. Many of them also achieved extremely high scores in a test where writing fully lucid solutions can be challenging, and overall, I am amazed by the standard of maths here.”

Mr Matthews, Head of Mathematics, said: “Ruoshui has shown incredible dedication to the subject since his first day here, participating in our weekly Maths Hat, attending Mr Sverrisson’s weekly extension club where he worked through UKMT Mentoring Scheme resources, and extensive reading around the subject which he often presented to his classmates. This endeavour has paid off, and his incredible achievement is richly deserved. Ruoshui has a very exciting future ahead of him in the subject, which we will monitor with intrigue from afar.”

Ruoshui’s achievement is only part of the story, as 16 other students earned distinctions in the JMO. These top-performing pupils were: Chaochao, Andy, Feihong, Harvey, William, Alexander, Christos-Marios, Jiawei, Arthur, Keita, Rayan, Daniel, Aryan, Yao-Yao, Brandon and Adam.

Well done to all!