10,511 questions, 925 new skills, 141.7 hours and a 100% pass mark are impressive numbers, even to the non-mathematically minded. For one of our Fifth Formers, these numbers were more than just a perfect result, as they were the result of months of planning, determination and sheer hard work.
Sam Blewitt is one of only a handful of students out of the 1.5 million who use Hegartymaths who have managed to work their way through the maths puzzles and questions with 100% accuracy.
During the summer of 2020, Sam set himself the goal of completing all 925 skills on the online maths platform, which schools across the UK use to aid classwork and homework. While some of the questions were set as homework, Sam decided to spend his lockdown hours completing extra questions, which saw him working evenings, weekends and during the holidays.
Sam took a very methodical approach. He explained, “I scored 100% through perseverance and by tracking my progress. It required planning.”
However, it was not all plain sailing. Sam had hoped to finish at the end of 2020, but progress during the harder questions was slower than he would have liked, which meant that he finished a few weeks later than planned. It was Hergartymaths’ ethos, “Remember to always work hard and never give up”, that helped spurn Sam on. With a 91% accuracy rate, Sam had to redo the quizzes where he got a single question wrong to maintain his 100% record. He told us, “I had to do one of the differentiation questions 11 times as I kept getting an answer wrong. Through determination and over an hour’s work, it eventually went green.”
Head of Mathematics Miss Rebecca Jackson commented, “During such a challenging time, it is great to see that Sam has achieved something quite remarkable. Well done, Sam.”
Sam also puts his success down to the school’s provision during lockdown, saying, “Although I miss seeing my friends in person, I still feel connected on Microsoft Teams and other social networks. I have been taking advantage of Hegarty Maths and Educake to revise for my upcoming assessments, and my teachers have been responding to any questions I have about past papers or other academic questions.”
Sam received a certificate signed by Mr Hegarty for his achievement, who believes that Sam demonstrated empathy, humility, and agility in achieving 100% on each of the 925 skills.