Published on: 15 March 2013

Alexander Chua (Year 12) took part in the Asian Pacific Mathematics Olympiad (APMO) in Perth this week after receiving a perfect score in the recent Australian Mathematics Olympiad (AMO). Six students from Christ Church were invited to sit the AMO exam paper with two placing in the top 25 in Australia.

Alexander, who received a gold award for his perfect AMO score, was selected to take part in the APMO, which is sat simultaneously at the individual students’ schools with scores combined as a team. The top Australian candidates will then receive a special invite to the Olympiad Selection School at Macquarie University next month, ahead of this year’s International Mathematics Olympiad (IMO) to be held in Santa Marta, Columbia, in July.

In the AMO, which also included students from New Zealand, Nicholas Lim (Year 11) finished in 31st place receiving a bronze award. Albert Qiu (Year 10), Devin He (Year 9), Leo Li (Year 9) and Vandit Trivedi (who recently moved overseas) were also invited to sit the AMO.

Head of Mathematics Jan Honnens said the AMO was a prestigious competition with only 96 students invited to sit the two, four-hour problem-solving exams. “This is the first time Christ Church has had six students invited to sit the paper and also the first time that we have had two students ranked so high,” Mr Honnens said.

“Alexander’s performance puts him in great standing ahead of selection for the Australian team for the International Mathematics Olympiad.”