YOUNG mathematicians in York have been taking part in the semi-finals of a national award.

The National Young Mathematicians’ Awards took place at the explore learning centre at Sainsbury’s Monks Cross with pupils from Badger Hill, Dunnington CE, New Earswick and Poppleton Road primary schools going head-to-head with teams from across the country, competing for a coveted place in the national finals.

The annual event, organised by tuition provider, Explore Learning, and the NRICH Project at the University of Cambridge, is aimed at stretching and inspiring the minds of the country’s brightest young students, allowing them to explore their full potential and flourish beyond the classroom.

Sadly, on this occasion the York schools did not make it through.

Charlotte Gater, head of curriculum at Explore Learning said: “The schools did extremely well to make it through to the semi final after some very hard fought first rounds.

“The National Young Mathematicians’ Awards are all about having fun while learning, working in teams and being the best you can be.

“The children were challenged to solve a multi-layered, high-level problems and on the day were assessed on their ability to get to the root for the problem, teamwork and their true mathematical thinking.”

Five of the highest scoring teams have now gone through to the grand final at the University of Cambridge on December 7, when children will get the chance to meet TV presenter, author and broadcaster Stefan Gates who is Explore Learning’s National Young Mathematicians’ Awards Ambassador for 2016.

Those that went through this year were schools from Colchester, Shirley, Aberdeen, Rugby and Borehamwood.

Stefan Gates said: “I’m delighted to be teaming up with Explore Learning for this year’s National Young Mathematicians’ Awards.

“I am so excited to see some of the nation’s best young minds at work.

“To be brilliant at maths is an invaluable skill and this competition is a fantastic way of encouraging more children to develop those skills and enjoy their talent.”

The National Young Mathematicians’ Awards are the only team maths competition for primary schools in the UK. The competition consists of three rounds. The first is a regional knock-out from which the winners go through to the semi-final where school teams will battle it out against other top schools in their region to try and win a space at the Grand Final the University of Cambridge.