Someone who teaches this age group in secondary schools, comprehensive and\n independent, and marks these papers.
\nGrammar school entry is a beginning, not an end. Our KS3 and GCSE courses carry the same approach into secondary school: taught topics, checked weekly, with papers that show what has actually stuck.
Content is written against the specification, so revision targets what is examined rather than everything that was ever taught.
","howSteps":[{"icon":"📘","title":"Follow the spec","text":"Topics ordered to match the exam specification, not a textbook's whim."},{"icon":"🧮","title":"Practise by topic","text":"Adaptive practice serves questions at the right difficulty for each child."},{"icon":"📊","title":"Revise what's weak","text":"The topic report drives revision instead of guesswork."}],"media":{"kind":"none","url":"","caption":"","embed":null},"details":[{"title":"Which subjects?","text":"Maths, Physics and Chemistry, with more added each term."},{"title":"Which exam boards?","text":"Content is board-agnostic where the specifications agree and flagged where they differ."}],"showcase":{"on":false,"eyebrow":"","headline":"","summary":"","facts":[],"cta1":{"label":"","href":""},"cta2":{"label":"","href":""},"flip":false},"art":[],"artHero":{"svg":true,"svgWhich":"","items":[]},"artRow":{"svg":true,"svgWhich":"","items":[]},"blocks":[],"ctaLabel":"See KS3 and GCSE courses","ctaHref":"","groupByProvider":false,"pageCustomMode":"body","custom":{"html":"\n\nTaught by someone who teaches this every day. The same\n specifications, the same papers, the same marking.
\nTaught by someone who teaches this every day. The same\n specifications, the same papers, the same marking.
\nIn every course
\nSomeone who teaches this age group in secondary schools, comprehensive and\n independent, and marks these papers.
\nMaths, Physics, Chemistry and Computer Science, each as its own course.
\nKS3 built so that GCSE is a continuation rather than a fresh start.
\nSo a gap shows up in the week it appears, not in a mock five months later.
\nMarked with the working shown, in the format the board actually uses.
\nHomework, quizzes and a topic report on their own account, exactly as on our other\n courses.
\nOlympiad problems are not bigger sums. They are puzzles that cannot be solved by recognising a method, which is exactly why they build the reasoning that the 11 Plus, and everything after it, actually tests.
Workshops run weekly in small groups. Pick your child's year group and the day that suits your family.
","howSteps":[{"icon":"🎓","title":"Pick a year group","text":"Workshops are pitched by year, so the challenge is right."},{"icon":"🗓️","title":"Choose your time","text":"The same workshop runs at several times each week."},{"icon":"🏆","title":"Solve together","text":"Small groups, real problems, strategies that transfer everywhere."}],"media":{"kind":"none","url":"","caption":"","embed":null},"details":[{"title":"Does my child need to be top of the class?","text":"No — they need to enjoy being stuck for a while. That is the whole skill."},{"title":"Does it prepare for competitions?","text":"Yes: the Primary Maths Challenge and similar competitions use exactly this kind of problem."}],"showcase":{"on":false,"eyebrow":"","headline":"","summary":"","facts":[],"cta1":{"label":"","href":""},"cta2":{"label":"","href":""},"flip":false},"art":[],"artHero":{"svg":true,"svgWhich":"","items":[]},"artRow":{"svg":true,"svgWhich":"","items":[]},"blocks":[{"type":"facts","title":"","lead":"","rows":[{"label":"Years","value":"4–9"},{"label":"Runs","value":"all year"},{"label":"Each session","value":"90 min"},{"label":"Where","value":"online or Reading"},{"label":"Join","value":"any term"}]},{"type":"strategies","title":"Six ways in to a problem you cannot do","lead":"Olympiad questions are not harder sums. They are questions where the method is the answer — so these are the methods, taught one at a time and then used until they are automatic.","rows":[{"name":"Work backwards","text":"Start from the answer and undo it. A machine doubles a number then subtracts three and gives you 25 — add the three back, halve it, done. Half the questions that look like guesswork are one line of arithmetic read the other way round.","icon":"arrow"},{"name":"Try a smaller case","text":"Twelve people at a party is hard; four is easy. Do the small one, spot the pattern, then show why the pattern has to keep going. This is how a child gets from counting to reasoning.","icon":"shrink"},{"name":"Find what cannot change","text":"Some things survive every move you are allowed to make — whether a total stays odd, whether a colour balance holds. Spot the thing that cannot change and a whole family of impossible-looking questions falls open at once.","icon":"circle"},{"name":"The pigeonhole principle","text":"Put thirteen people in a room and two of them share a birth month. Obvious once said, and startlingly powerful: it proves something must exist without ever finding it. The work is deciding what the pigeons and the holes are.","icon":"boxes"},{"name":"Push it to the extreme","text":"Take the biggest one, the smallest one, the first one that fails. Extreme cases turn a vague question about all of them into a precise question about one of them.","icon":"bars"},{"name":"Show it cannot happen","text":"Assume it can, and follow it until it contradicts itself. Proving something impossible is a different skill from finding an answer — and it is most of the marks on a written Olympiad paper.","icon":"cross"}]},{"type":"problem","title":"Try one of ours","lead":"This is the sort of problem your child will meet. Have a go — the answer matters less than the trick.","rows":[{"question":"A machine doubles a number, then subtracts 3. Put in 7 and out comes 11. What must go in to get 25 out?","options":"11, 14, 16, 22","answer":"B","why":"Run the machine backwards. Undo the subtract first — 25 + 3 = 28 — then undo the double: 28 ÷ 2 = 14. Working backwards turns a guessing game into one line of arithmetic."},{"question":"Six children are at a party. Every child shakes hands with every other child exactly once. How many handshakes happen altogether?","options":"12, 15, 30, 36","answer":"B","why":"Each of the 6 children shakes 5 hands — that is 30. But every handshake got counted from both sides, so halve it: 15. Spotting a double count is worth more marks than counting faster."}]},{"type":"pathway","title":"The papers this is actually for","lead":"Every strategy we teach is one the real papers reward. This is the ladder your child is climbing.","rows":[{"step":"Where it starts","title":"Primary Maths Challenge","text":"Sat in school in Years 5 and 6. Short, non-routine problems — the first time most children meet a question their textbook has not prepared them for.","specs":"Years 5–6, In school"},{"step":"The main event","title":"Junior Mathematical Challenge","text":"The UKMT paper sat by around a quarter of a million children in Years 7 and 8, with Gold, Silver and Bronze awarded by national percentile.","specs":"Year 8 and below, 25 questions, 60 min, Multiple choice"},{"step":"By invitation","title":"Kangaroo or Olympiad","text":"A strong Challenge score earns an invitation to a follow-on round — the Junior Kangaroo, a harder multiple-choice paper, or the Junior Mathematical Olympiad, which asks for full written solutions. The Kangaroo is not a step before the Olympiad: children are invited to one or the other depending on how they score.","specs":"Kangaroo · 25 Q · 60 min, JMO · 6 Q · 2 hours"}]}],"ctaLabel":"See the workshops","ctaHref":"/olympiad","groupByProvider":false,"pageCustomMode":"full","custom":{"html":"\n\nA machine doubles a number, then subtracts 3. Put in 7, out comes 11.\n What goes in to get 25 out?
\nRun it backwards. 25 add 3 is 28, then 28 divided by 2 is\n 14. Working backwards turns a guessing game into one line of arithmetic.
\nIn every workshop
\nLong enough to get properly stuck on something and then get unstuck, which is where\n the learning is.
\nWork backwards. Try a smaller case. Find what cannot change. And three more, taught\n one at a time.
\nThe strategies do not run in a fixed order, so no term is the wrong one to start\n in.
\nEnough children to argue about a problem, few enough that everyone gets to say what\n they tried.
\nJoin the workshop online, or come to it in person. Same problems either way.
\nThe national papers reward these same methods. Entries are made through the school,\n not by a parent.
\nThink · Solve · Explore · Achieve
\n \n\nA year-round workshop where curious children meet the problems that school never sets them.
\n \nNo sign-up, no email
\nThis is the sort of problem your child will meet in week one. Have a go — the answer matters less than the trick.
\nThree problems · roughly 90 seconds
\nWhat we actually teach
\nOlympiad questions are not harder sums. They are questions where the method is the\n answer — so these are the methods, taught one at a time and then used until they are automatic.
\n\nStart from the answer and undo it. A machine doubles a number then subtracts three\n and gives you 25 — add the three back, halve it, done. Half the questions that look like guesswork\n are one line of arithmetic read the other way round.
\nNot a five-week course. It runs through the\n year, one strategy at a time, revisited on harder problems each term.
\nWhere it leads
\nEvery strategy we teach is one the real papers reward. This is the ladder your child\n is climbing, and where it goes next.
\n\nSat in school in Years 5 and 6. Short, non-routine problems — the first time most children meet\n a question their textbook has not prepared them for.
\nThe UKMT paper sat by around a quarter of a million children in Years 7 and 8, with Gold, Silver\n and Bronze awarded by national percentile.
\nA strong Challenge score earns an invitation to a follow-on round — the Junior Kangaroo, a harder\n multiple-choice paper, or the Junior Mathematical Olympiad, which asks for full written solutions.
\nA point worth knowing: the Kangaroo is not a stepping stone to the Olympiad.\n Children are invited to one or the other depending on how they score, and both are entered through the\n school — never by a parent directly.
\nWhy join
\nPitched at the Primary Maths Challenge and the UKMT Junior Challenge — the papers school enters them for.
\nThe strategies Olympiad students actually use, so an unfamiliar question stops being a dead end.
\nTimed challenges every week, so the clock stops being the thing that beats them.
\nRecognition for finishing, not for winning. Everybody leaves with something.
\nOne monthly subscription covers every Maths Olympiad course — the panel beside this page has\n the price and everything it opens. Join in any term; the strategies do not run in a fixed order.
\nSmall groups, on purpose.
\nRun under the TED-Ed Student Talks framework, this programme teaches the skill no exam measures and every interview, presentation and viva depends on: standing up and saying something worth hearing.
Children choose an idea they care about, research it, cut it down to what matters, and rehearse it until it is theirs. The programme ends with each child delivering their talk to an audience.
","howSteps":[{"icon":"💡","title":"Find the idea","text":"What does your child actually care about? Everything starts there."},{"icon":"✂️","title":"Shape it","text":"Research, structure and cut — one idea, clearly made."},{"icon":"🗣️","title":"Rehearse it","text":"Voice, pace, pauses and nerves, practised until they are ordinary."},{"icon":"🎤","title":"Deliver it","text":"The talk, in front of a real audience — filmed only with your permission."}],"media":{"kind":"none","url":"","caption":"","embed":null},"details":[{"title":"Is it filmed?","text":"Talks are filmed only where a parent has given permission — recorded at registration and asked again for each individual session."},{"title":"Who is it for?","text":"Children in Years 4 to 9. No prior public speaking experience is expected — most start nervous."},{"title":"What does it cost?","text":"Registration is free. Any charged sessions are always stated before you commit."}],"showcase":{"on":false,"eyebrow":"","headline":"","summary":"","facts":[],"cta1":{"label":"","href":""},"cta2":{"label":"","href":""},"flip":false},"art":[],"artHero":{"svg":true,"svgWhich":"","items":[]},"artRow":{"svg":true,"svgWhich":"","items":[]},"blocks":[{"type":"facts","title":"","lead":"","rows":[{"label":"Ages","value":"8–18"},{"label":"Sessions","value":"13"},{"label":"Group size","value":"20–30"},{"label":"Filmed","value":"only with consent"},{"label":"Cost","value":"free"}]},{"type":"journey","title":"From signing up to being heard","lead":"Seven steps. Only one of them costs anything, and only if you want a seat in the room.","rows":[{"title":"Register with Sparks Academy","text":"Two minutes. Your child's name, and your permissions — which we ask for before anything else happens.","who":"free"},{"title":"Come to the webinars","text":"Live online sessions where they find out what a talk actually is, watch a few, and pull them apart.","who":"free"},{"title":"Find the idea","text":"Not the idea we give them. The one they already carry around and have never been asked about.","who":"your child"},{"title":"Shape it","text":"Research it so it holds. Cut it until only what matters is left. Rehearse it until the nerves are ordinary.","who":"your child"},{"title":"Say it out loud","text":"Rehearsed until the nerves are ordinary — then recorded, in one take, as their own short talk.","who":"your child"},{"title":"The panel watches every talk","text":"Our facilitators review each recording with a small panel. Some are chosen to go further.","who":"we do this"},{"title":"The chosen talks are shared","text":"Published on our channel, and the strongest submitted to TED-Ed's own team for review — with your written permission, and never without it.","who":"free"}]},{"type":"routes","title":"Two ways to be heard","lead":"Most children do both. Neither happens without your permission.","rows":[{"title":"Recorded & published","blurb":"They give the talk once, properly, to a camera.","steps":"Recorded with us in one take, Watched by the facilitator panel, Chosen talks published on our channel, The strongest submitted to TED-Ed","note":"TED-Ed decides what it features — we can submit, we cannot promise. And nothing goes online without a separate written yes for that specific talk, which you can withdraw later."},{"title":"Live, on a stage","blurb":"An evening in a hall, with an audience, chairs and a microphone.","steps":"Open to every child in the group, Family and friends in the room, Filmed only where you have said yes","note":"Seats cost £5 towards the hall. Free tickets are always available, and we will not ask why."}]},{"type":"ledger","title":"Where a £5 seat goes","lead":"Taking part is free and always will be — TED-Ed requires it. The stage night has a hall to pay for, and it runs at cost.","rows":[{"label":"Hall & chairs","percent":"52"},{"label":"Filming & printing","percent":"24"},{"label":"The next run","percent":"24"}]}],"ctaLabel":"Register for the talks","ctaHref":"/ted-ed#register","groupByProvider":false,"pageCustomMode":"full","custom":{"html":"\n\nIt ends with a talk, filmed. Every session builds towards one\n piece the child is ready to present.
\nHow a talk gets made
\nNot a topic handed out, but the thing this particular child already cares about\n and has not said out loud yet.
\nMost first attempts are three talks at once. The work is deciding which one it\n actually is.
\nReasons, examples, and the one story that makes a stranger care.
\nPace, pauses, and what to do with your hands. Practised in front of the group,\n which is the hard part.
\nBeing asked something you had not thought of, and answering it without falling\n apart.
\nThe talk is filmed and submitted. A panel judges the submissions, and a selected\n talk is published on the TED-Ed site.
\n[ house lights down ]
\nTED-Ed Student Talks, facilitated by Sparks Academy. Free, and always will be.
\n \n↓ scroll
\nThe whole thing, start to finish
\nSeven steps, and every one of them is free. The only thing that ever costs anything is a seat at the stage night.
\n\nTwo minutes. Your child's name, and your permissions — which we ask for before anything else happens.
Live online sessions where they find out what a talk actually is, watch a few, and pull them apart.
Step 03
\nNot the idea we give them. The one they already carry around and have never been asked about.
\nStep 04
\nResearch it so it holds. Cut it until only what matters is left. Rehearse it until the nerves are ordinary.
\nStep 05
\nOne take, in front of a camera — their own short talk, in their own words, recorded with us.
\nOur facilitators review each recording with a small panel. Some are chosen to go further.
Published on our channel, and the strongest submitted to TED-Ed's own team for review — with your written permission, and never without it.
Two ways to be heard
\nMost children do both. Neither happens without your permission.
\n\nThey give the talk once, properly, to a camera.
\nTED-Ed decides what it features — we can submit, we cannot promise. And nothing goes online\n without a separate written yes for that specific talk, which you can withdraw later.
\nAn evening in a hall, with an audience, chairs and a microphone.
\nSeats cost £5 towards the hall — see exactly where that goes below. Free tickets are\n always available on request.
\nOur part
\nNobody hands a child a worksheet and wishes them luck. Every step above happens with a facilitator, live.
\n\nLive, with a facilitator, in a small group. They talk, argue, draft and rehearse — never alone with a worksheet.
\n Free\nTimed run-throughs, honest feedback, and the nerves worked on properly — until standing up to speak feels normal.
\n Free\nWe book the hall, set the lights, print the programme and film the talks — for the children whose parents have said yes.
\n At cost\nThe run sheet
\nSteps 03 to 05, week by week. Every session builds one piece of the talk —\n nothing is left to the night before.
\nBefore you ask
\nWhat it costs your child
\n£0 — all thirteen sessions
\nTED-Ed requires these activities to be free to students, and we run them that way.\n No fee, no upsell, nothing sold on the back of them.
\n\n\n The stage night has a hall to pay for · £5 a seat\n
\n \n \n\n Money is never the reason a seat is empty.\n Ask us for a free ticket and you will get one. We will not ask why.\n
\n[ lights up ]
\nThe dates and the registration form sit below this page. It takes two minutes, and it asks for\n your permissions before anything else.
\n Register your child — free →\nSparks Academy facilitates the TED-Ed Student Talks programme for students aged 8–18.\n Groups are 20–30 students. Taking part is free. The stage night runs at cost — Sparks Academy takes no\n profit from it, and anything left over pays for the next run. TED-Ed materials are free and remain the\n property of TED-Ed.
\n