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Two Gonville & 91ֱ�� College alumni have created a UK charity to support talented pre-university students to excel at mathematics.

Izaak Fairclough (Maths 2019) and Gabriel Corrigan (Maths 2019) are passionate about maths, but also access and widening participation. Both Izaak and Gabriel were state educated and access ambassadors at 91ֱ��. The friends, who met at 91ֱ��, also volunteered as tutors for Maths Beyond Limits, which operates camps in Poland and Bosnia-Herzegovina, and now, under that banner, they are running a British-based scheme for 15- to 19-year-olds.

This summer’s first UK residential camp will take place in West Yorkshire from July 24 to August 2, with applications for both participants and tutors open until Sunday 12 April. Around 50 places are available, and there are no fees involved for students. Tutors and organisers are voluntary, with expenses for all covered by funding secured by Maths Beyond Limits.

“The students are already going to be operating at a level far beyond what's required for the school system,” Gabriel says.

“For a lot of them, this is the only exposure they're going to get to university-level maths given to them by people that they can talk to in a relaxed setting. The ability to see a path of different maths that they can potentially do will open their eyes to what maths is.

“There will be interactions between participants and tutors, lots of opportunity to ask about maths, but also about applying to a particular university, what it’s like studying a particular type of maths… I went to something similar when I was 17, but nothing as high level as this, and it was great.”

Some will have participated in mathematics competitions such as national or international Olympiads. Izaak and Gabriel did the UK Mathematics Trust challenges, but while other schools prepared specifically for the events, theirs did not. The residential is a major part of the initiative, with other components likely to follow, providing opportunities to those who otherwise might not have them.

Izaak adds: “We want a good diversity of backgrounds and experiences represented amongst our tutors because we think that is very valuable to the participants coming. We don't want them all to have gone to the same university and all to be doing PhDs in the same area of maths. 

“We want the students to be able to find someone that they can relate to and get some advice about how they might want to approach the next few years of their life as they're figuring out what they want to do and where they want to go. Not just spending the entire time thinking about problems and maths.”

Emulating Izaak and Gabriel by earning a place at Cambridge is “not the explicit goal”, Gabriel says, although he admits the level at which the students are operating would make it a realistic ambition. This is not a “preparation camp”, but a broader opportunity for those attending. 

Participants can apply via a ‘qualifying quiz’, questionnaire and personal statement. Application guidance is provided. “The mathematics part of the admissions process is just one component: applications are assessed holistically to find the participants whose presence at the camp will be as mutually beneficial as possible,” Gabriel adds.

Both Gabriel and Izaak are now doing PhD research in maths, Gabriel at Glasgow and Izaak at King’s College, London. Izaak’s academic and career path to date was not something he anticipated.

Izaak adds: “I was personally very late to maths. I only really became interested in it aged about 17, and I certainly didn’t think I’d be applying for university courses in maths. It was quite miraculous that I ended up in Cambridge in the first place. 

“That inspires me to speak to students that age and reveal to them that it is an option to go and do this, particularly if you're very passionate about it – you don't have to have this grand plan to become an academic or whatever from a young age.”

For further information visit the Maths Beyond Limits website: 

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