Congratulations go to Ark 6th Form East Sussex student Jaikun Yu, who has now been confirmed as being in the top one percent of mathematics students in the entire country!

Jaikun, who was a student at Ark William Parker Academy before joining Ark 6th Form East Sussex, beat the odds to take part in the second round of The UK Mathematics Trust’s Senior Challenge, which pits top maths students from across the country to compete for the privilege of representing the UK in the International Mathematical Olympiads.

Participation in the second round of the competition was by invite only, with only the very top students being invited to compete. Jaikun was selected from hundreds of students across the country after achieving an outstanding score in the first round of the UK Mathematics Trust’s Senior Challenge.

Jaikun, who plans to study Medicine at university after completing his studies at Ark 6th Form, was just a few points off being eligible to compete in the Olympiad. He said, “While I enjoy studying Maths and Further Maths for A level, it was exciting to be involved in a national competition that required a different set of mathematical skills and pushed me to the very limits of my ability.

“The questions were really challenging and the time was very limited, so I was pleased to have got through to the second round.”

Maths teacher Lawrence Smallman said, “Jaikun’s performance puts him in the top one percent of Mathematic students in the UK – it was a phenomenal achievement.

“Jaikun’s success has inspired other students too; our talented mathematicians in Year 11 have just taken part in the Intermediate Maths Challenge which was held last week. We should know how they’ve done next month.

“Next year, I’ll be looking for Ark William Parker to be take part in the team competitions as well as the individual events. So Jaikun has been inspirational in this regard, setting a true standard that may well take a few years to beat.

“As a maths teacher at the school, it’s a real privilege to be able to work with students to foster a real love of the subject and to see them excel in their academic goals.”