IT all added up to success for a team of students from Sir John Thursby Community College in Burnley, who have finished second in a national maths competition.

Year 9 pupils Aisha Baig, Charlotte Cornwell, Sabrina Anwar, Abeda Shultana and Habeebah Khanom missed out by just a few points to a school in Kent.

The National Grand Final of the Edge Hill University Maths Challenge annually attracts between 200 and 300 school teams who display their maths skills at the Ormskirk campus.

Headteacher David Burton said he was incredibly proud of the team.

He said: “The team used complex ratio and similar triangle problem solving skills. One of the challenges was to calculate the height of a pupil skipping, given only the heights of the students holding the rope.

“They have done brilliantly and did wonderfully well under pressure. I would like to congratulate our students for using their skills so superbly in such a prestigious national competition.

"This is an example of the outstanding maths work taking place every day at Sir John Thursby which means that our students are predicted to beat national standards each year.

"I congratulate the team and their teacher Mr Whitelaw for coming so close to winning this contest against teams from all over the country.”

The girls, aged 13 and 14, were up against teams from across England and Wales.

Edge Hill judges were treated to a presentation of the students’ work, a scrapbook diary of their efforts and results and finally given a detailed explanation of the complex maths behind their answers.

The Sir John Thursby team, called ‘I am a Shape’, received certificates and an Escher book prize Mr Burton added: “The team returned home determined to build upon their wonderful performance in future years.”