Girls excel in national Oxford University Computing Challenge

Eight pupils in Year 6 were recently invited to participate in the prestigious Oxford University Computing Challenge, a national competition that aims to help talented computational thinkers develop their skills by asking them to solve tasks with programmed solutions.

The Year 6 girls were invited to join the challenge, following an exceptional performance in the Bebras Computational Thinking Challenge 2020 in November where they achieved scores in the top 10% nationally out of the 68,636 students in their age group.

Only 2,713 students were selected from across the UK to participate in this year's Oxford University Computing Challenge, which took place in February, with girls accessing the competition from home. All St Mary' girls put in excellent performances, with five achieving a 'Merit' award. Special congratulations to Diya S. who narrowly missed out on a Distinction award - the highest award only presented to 31 participants this year.

Mr Severy, Computer Science Coordinator in Junior School comments: "Once again, the girls have demonstrated their resilience, perseverance and enthusiasm by competing at the highest national level, despite a global pandemic, and they should all be extremely proud of what they have achieved."

STEM at St Mary's Junior School

Oxford University Computing Challenge