Can you name three positive integers with a value of greater than 2 that satisfy the equation below?
If you are currently counting on your fingers or reaching for a calculator without knowing what to input, then the new 1729 specialist Maths school is not for you.
Opening in September 2026, this will be the first specialist Maths school in the UK. This means that the school – which will be housed within the Mill Hill campus, will have use of its facilities, but will be a separate campus – will focus its syllabus primarily on Maths from year 7 and Science from year 9. There will be 11 hours of Maths teaching from Monday-Friday, which is about 3 times more than most schools. Students will be stretched far beyond the national curriculum and independent work will be encouraged. The students will enter Maths competitions, spend plenty of time problem solving and will sometimes be taught in lectures, as if there were at university.
Students will have to pass a Maths entrance test and there will be £2.4 million available each year to fund “means-blind” bursaries, with the school following a strict meritocratic policy.
Clarendon’s take:
- This venture, funded by XTX Markets founder Alex Gerko, has gained plenty of attention in recent weeks.
- Some of the coverage has painted this school as Maths only, whereas it is really Maths focused.
- Clarendon thinks that this is an interesting venture and there is a lot to be said for a school that can keep Maths whizz kids engaged, when so often there are students who have completed Maths and Further Maths ahead of time. Clearly, if you have an innate talent, the national syllabus is a constraint.
- Clarendon will be watching eagerly to see if the school can be successful in implementing other elements of a child’s education that are so vital – social, physical, psychological, cultural.
- Lastly, we understand the desire for meritocracy, but, as discussed on previous newsletters, meritocracies aren’t always meritocratic; this test will necessarily reward children from affluent backgrounds. This seems a shame, as Clarendon could have really got behind a venture to unearth the nation’s top mathematicians from all backgrounds.