James Munro

I'm in the semiprime of my life!

(I've realised that my age is the middle of three consecutive semiprimes (each is the product of two primes). Fun fact; you never get four semiprimes in a row. Can you see why?)

Mathematics and Computer Science | University of Oxford Course overviewUCAS code: GG14Entrance requirements: A*A*A with the A*s in Maths and Further Maths if availableCourse duration: 3 years (BA); 4 years (MMathCompSci)Subject requirementsRequired

Small admissions update for 2027 entry; the standard conditional A-level offer for joint-honours Maths & Computer Science at Oxford will now be A*A*A incl. A* in Maths and Further Maths (where available), the same as the other Mathematics courses at Oxford. www.ox.ac.uk/admissions/u...

Prospective Cambridge applicants are welcome to join in with our free online TMUA support livestreams over the summer at www.maths.ox.ac.uk/r/tmua ^James

Out of interest, does Edexcel publish this data somewhere publicly accessible? (I'm not a teacher, if that matters)

I'm using Google Keep because they haven't yet added Gemini to it (maybe they have forgotten that Keep exists)

We think that a lot of Oxford applicants will probably take the TMUA anyway if they're applying to Durham / Imperial / LSE / Warwick / UCL. ^James

Note that this is part of a wider move by the University of Oxford to use UAT-UK tests, and there will no longer be an Oxford-only test for any course. We're planning to continue to interview roughly three candidates per place for Mathematics and joint honours. ^James

Oxford is switching from MAT to TMUA for Maths, Computer Science, and joint honours, as part of a wider move to UAT-UK tests. See www.maths.ox.ac.uk/r/tmua for info and resources. As you can imagine, our website says MAT in lots of places, please bear with us as we change them all to TMUA! ^James

Thanks for posting this Sarah! I'm looking forward to supporting our applicants with TMUA, and I'll be updating the department's new TMUA page at www.maths.ox.ac.uk/r/tmua with resources. ^James

New academic year, new Step Support Programme website!

Over the summer we have updated our website, had a bit of a tidy up, and added some new content.

One of the new features is a "Check in test' for students who have completed the foundation modules complete with marksheme.

maths.org/step/

Laura has very helpfully put instructions on her website, I can't wait to make them when I get home! warwick.ac.uk/fac/sci/math... and scroll down to "a pair of hyperbolic paraboloids".

Two ruled surfaces (in this case, a hyperbolic paraboloid, like a Pringle crisp). Each is made of a collection of cross-sections in two colours, criss-crossing each other at right-angles. At first glance they're different; one has cross-sections aligned with the curvature and for the other they're at 45 degrees. But the surface is the same!

Yesterday I saw a question here about mixed partial derivatives and it got me thinking about how a surface might or might not have d^2 f / dx dy = 0 if we rotate it. Today I saw these two ruled surfaces at #TMiP25 made by Laura Bradby. No such thing as coincidence in maths!

Our much missed colleague Vicky Neale wanted to tell the world about maths. So who better for the second Vicky Neale Public Lecture than Simon Singh who has spent a career doing just that.

Wednesday 6 August, 5pm, Oxford. Online three weeks later. More info: www.maths.ox.ac.uk/node/72339

🚨🍩 Torus alert!! 🍩🚨

No, I've got no idea whether this is true or not, sorry.

The University of Oxford is aware of the complaints. Have you approached Ofqual? ^James

The Curse of the Diaeresis

You might be interested in the way the New Yorker handles this www.newyorker.com/culture/cult...

I'm imagining a number like 9.499999999997, with so many 9s in the middle that the calculator gives up and rounds this to 9.5, which begins 9.5. I've interpreted the question as being about the difference between the true answer and what the calculator says, which is probably not intended.

I don't know any procedures for this, but my answer depends on the number of digits the calculator has (my lower bound is slightly below 9.5 to allow for some tiny amount of rounding, and similarly at the other end). Am I supposed to imagine a calculator that doesn't round?

The MEGA Grant is a bursary scheme for maths communicators who want to put together large-scale, hands-on interactive maths events and this year's closing date is 22/7. If you have a cool idea and just need some support and £££ to make it happen, visit: tmip.uk/mega-grant

All that tech and all that prep and I still forgot to unmute myself at the start haha ^James

Two computer screens, and a mess of tech peripherals like a tablet and microphone and a mini stream deck. One screen says MAT Livestream 2025 in large letters.

In #MathsToday we've started the MAT Livestream again; free online support for people thinking of applying for Maths or CS at university (and especially Oxford). See www.maths.ox.ac.uk/r/matlive for more! ^James

Thanks Emily! ^James

I'm not a primary or secondary teacher, but I'm interested in this! Why do you think the question says "on average"? The intention seems to be for children to just ignore those two words? But that bit is interesting to me because in general E(1/X) isn't 1/E(X)! Of course, KS2 kids don't know that...

Love the choice to use (2,0) instead of (1,0) and similarly on the y-axis. What changes if it's not convex? (Maybe I'm wrong, but I get the same answer in terms of a and b)

Templeton is attempting the Table Cubes activity; there are nine dice, each with four numbers written on them, and they can be arranged to show 9 times table, or the 8 times table, and so on down to the 1 times table. Activity adapted from magicmathworks.org/oldsite/exhi...

A large red dragon mascot (wearing a T-shirt identifying him as the mascot for Templars Square shopping centre) attempts a maths activity with dice at the Oxford Maths Festival.

Maths for everyone at the Oxford Maths Festival, even dragons! #MathsToday

ta v cool

Exciting! Do you know how much of the £8.2m is going to support girls' mathematics education? In the video you say "part of this funding". Is it a large part?

Nice! Do you want feedback / bug reports on this web version?