What is the First Maths Challenge?
The First Maths Challenge (official website here) is a UK based maths challenge (but open to students all over the world) for ages 7-9 (or enthusiastic younger students) that runs annually in June. It has 20 increasingly difficult multiple choice problems that must be solved without a calculator in 45 minutes. It’s excellent enrichment material for keen students and a great introduction to competition and challenge style mathematics. More information about the challenge can be found on this page and also on the official website here.
How can I prepare for the First Maths Challenge?
You can practise real past paper questions from the First Maths Challenge with my video hints and solutions in this totally free course. It’s great to prepare a little for the challenge so students are familiar with the format and the questions. But do also remember that it’s meant to be a fun challenge to help students enjoy maths – the questions will help students learn maths, but those that end up doing the best tend to be the ones that also enjoy it the most and work on it without too much pressure!
Past Papers for the First Maths Challenge
The table below contains links to online versions of all of the past First Maths Challenge papers. Note, these are hosted at the Mathematical Association website, not here at Mathsaurus, and the most recent papers may be available there before this page is updated.
What are the grade boundaries for the First Maths Challenge?
Unlike the UKMT challenges for older students, the First Maths Challenge does not have fixed grade boundaries. Although the competition’s organisers do suggest possible boundaries for awarding certificates, it is up to each individual school to set the grade boundaries for their own students.
How do I register? (and other questions)
There is a page of further FAQs and practical information about the First Maths Challenge on the official website here. Whilst I try to provide useful and accurate information about preparing for the challenges at the Mathsaurus website, I am not directly affiliated with the competitions. I am happy to offer advice about preparing for the challenges but all organisational and other queries should be directed to the organisers of the competition.