By Salem Y and Iris C, Year 12

On Tuesday 27th February, the Year 12 Mathematicians went on an exciting trip to Maths Fest held in the Royal Institution. It consisted of a series of lectures about how Maths is used in a wide range of jobs and their favourite examples of maths in the real world intertwined with competitions and mini presentations from students. Whether you’re into paradoxes, statistics in the news or imaginary numbers there was something for everyone. There was a friendly, positive, and almost competitive atmosphere as complex puzzles were explained, the Maths Slam took place – with all the Notting Hill students supporting Millie as she explained the birthday paradox – and an examiner even talked us through common mistakes made in maths exams and how to avoid them! Our favourite talk was from Sylvia Butti as she talked about different paradoxes, such as the infinite hotel paradox.

Overall, although some of the maths puns went over our heads, all the mathematicians who went to Maths Fest thoroughly enjoyed the experience and found it fun and rewarding.