While many high school students were out enjoying their summer break, Kristin student James Allen (17) already had his mind in gear for the residential Mathematical Olympiad training camp in January. The workshop was held at Grafton Hall of the University of Auckland and brought together twenty four of the top mathematics students from throughout New Zealand.

A critical part of the selection process for the International Mathematical Olympiad (IMO), the New Zealand selectors used this week-long workshop to assess the work of the participants and, at the end of the week, named the twelve students who will form the 2012 IMO training squad. From this team only six will be selected to travel to Mar del Plata, Argentina in July for the 2012 International Mathematical Olympiad.

No stranger to the process, James Allen attended the same camp last year and went on to be named on the final team of six who travelled to Amsterdam to take part in the international competition. On his impressive debut, Allen scored a total of 27 points which gave him the highest score on the New Zealand team and a silver medal – only one point shy of gold.

Attracting teams from more than 100 countries, the International Mathematics Olympiad is the world championship mathematics competition for high school students. Held over 8 days, the event requires teams to sit two 4.5 hour exams, with 3 questions in each test. Students must demonstrate their workings to secure a maximum of 7 points per problem.

Following the residential training camp, James has been named on the New Zealand squad and is in line for selection for the 2012 tournament. Not only does he have his 2011 performance to aid in his selection but James has also achieved impressive results in the Round 1 exams of the British Mathematical Olympiad in December. Twenty of the twenty four students selected for the training camp took part in the exam where James was the only New Zealander to achieve a perfect score.

The final team of six to travel to Argentina will be announced in April by the New Zealand Mathematical Olympiad Committee.