Welcome to the Parallel Universe

Be challenged, get curious, do maths. Stretch your brain every week.

Teachers

Secondary School

The Parallel website is a great place to stretch your keen young mathematicians, because we offer three distinct approaches to stimulating and stretching their brains, with programmes that run week after week, year after year, from Year 6 (age 10/11) through to Year 11 (age 15/16). Our goal is to help increase the number and diversity of excellent mathematicians.

Crucially, we have designed all our projects to minimise the time and effort required of teachers, as you have enough to do already. All the activities take place while the students are at home, i.e., there is no disruption the school day. The only responsibility for teachers is to introduce students to our projects.

Below we will outline how to make the most of weekly puzzle sheets (Parallelograms) and our weekly webinars (Parallel Circles), which are both entirely free.

But, first, please read about our Parallel Academy, as the window for applications is now open and you can nominate your students in Year 7 (age 11/12).

Create a free account now.

Parallelogram Puzzles (age guide 11 to 16)

Each Thursday at 3pm (UK time), students will have access to a new set of online mathematical challenges tailored to their age - each set of challenges is called a Parallelogram. We have been offering these for five years, and students have completed over 1 million Parallelograms.

Each Parallelogam is set by Simon Singh, author of several best-selling books. There is a separate Parallelogram for Year 7, Year 8, Year 9, Year 10 and Year 11 students.

It should take just 15 to 30 minutes to complete each Parallelogram.

As soon as students hit the SUBMIT button, their Parallelogram will be marked, so they will be able to see their score and the full solutions.

As you can tell, we have tried to make everything as easy as possible for teachers, as we realise you are already very busy.

Parallel maths circles (age guide 10 to 16)

A maths circle is a group of students and a mentor who come together to explore the mathematical universe. Maths circles help to build curiosity, creativity, logic and tenacity. Face to face maths circles exist all over the world, from California to Mumbai, and from Iceland to South Africa, but they are hard to find and are often expensive... however now your students can join the biggest maths circle in the world for free, every week.

We have different Parallel Circles maths circles for different age groups, and each one is led by a so-called Ring Master, someone who is well-known for being a brilliant maths teacher.

Best of all, our maths circles are 100% interactive, so students won't just watch mathematics, you will actually do mathematics. They can answer questions via polls, send us answers in the chat and ask us questions, all live, all in real time.

Parallel Academy

The Parallel Academy will provide students with the opportunity to develop their reasoning and problem-solving skills beyond the curriculum. The project offers a long-term programme of small-group online tutorials, starting in Year 7 (ages 11/12) and continuing for five years. This is a life-changing opportunity that will prepare students for Further Maths A Level, applying to a to university and long-term success in a STEM-related career.

What is the cost of the project?

The project is entirely free for the first academic year, so there is no charge to schools or parents. In subsequent years we anticipate asking families to pay £5 per week, if they can afford it. Money will never be a barrier to participation.

Who is eligible?

For our 2024-25 programme, teachers from UK state schools are invited to nominate students who have just started Year 7 (aged 11 to 12 years). There is no limit to the number of nominations, but we suggest that large schools nominate up to ten of their strongest and most enthusiastic maths students.

Please note, every child who is nominated will either earn a place on our main tutoring programme (designed for the strongest students) or will be invited to join our webinar programme (aimed at strong students, who have not yet mastered key ideas)

How to nominate

As mentioned, we ask very little of teachers, as you are already overworked. We only need you to nominate students, and even this is a simple and easy process.
Identify a key school contact, perhaps yourself, who will be solely responsible for nominating Year 7 students. It could be the Head of Maths or Head of Key Stage 3 Maths or any teacher who shares our vision.
That teacher should then create an account on our Parallel site.
Once you have logged in, you will receive all the instructions, including a letter to share with parents of students you wish to nominate. This letter contains your school's unique registration link, and it directs parents to the signup form. Please try to share nomination emails with parents as soon as possible, as parents must register their child by November 16th. That is where the teacher's role ends. Job done.

Create your account now to nominate students

Further Information

Below are some details that might be of interest. As explained, your main role (and it is an incredibly important one) is to nominate students and help put them on the path to success. However if you would to know more about the admissions process, our safeguarding policy, etc., then please read on.

Admissions process

After receiving your email, parents who decide that they would like their child to be part of the Parallel Academy will register their child and select an online test slot.
Students will receive materials to help them prepare for the 1-hour online test, which we will organise and invigilate. Students will be assessed across several areas, including core maths, mental maths and problem solving. Results will then lead to three categories of students:
- Students who perform very well will be offered a place on the tutoring programme, which begins in January 2025.
- Students who fall significantly short of our entry requirements will be offered a place on a webinar programme, which also begins in January and covers similar material, but attendance and homework are not monitored.
- Students who fall just short of our entry requirements, but who display strong potential for growth, will be invited to a 2-week programme in November, where they will have the opportunity to get up to speed and take another test. Based on their performance in this test, they will then be offered a place on either the tutoring or webinar programme in January.

Thus every nominated student is guaranteed a place on one of our programmes.

What is expected of selected students?

Students are expected to attend weekly tutorials. They will also be set a homework task, which will take around 30 minutes to complete (and which will be automatically marked online). The total time commitment is therefore 90 minutes per week. Students may also be encouraged to explore other resources, although this will be optional.

The small-group tutorial format is designed to solicit maximum participation, so students will be required to demonstrate a willingness to share their ideas during tutorials.

How will students benefit from The Parallel Academy?

The Parallel Academy will enable students to:

boost their problem solving and reasoning skills through regular exposure to challenging maths questions, building on the mathematics they are learning in the classroom
improve their written and spoken communication skills as they elaborate their solutions,
identify and access the wealth of amazing maths resources that will stretch their thinking and nurture their mathematical curiosity
develop a strong mathematical identity as they interact with tutors and other like- minded students from across the country
prepare for a career in STEM as they consider options beyond secondary school.

Does The Parallel Academy follow a curriculum?

There is no formal curriculum, although the Academy will place emphasis on preparing students for UKMT maths challenges, as we believe they align with the aims of our project. Students will progress through modules of increasing difficulty. This is very much a programme that dives deeper into core curriculum concepts.

What is the format of the tutorials?

Tutorials will take place on Zoom, in groups of four to six, with each session lasting 50 minutes. All tutorials will place in the evenings and at weekends, so it will not disturb the normal school day.

Who are the people behind The Parallel Academy?

The Parallel Academy has been developed by Simon Singh MBE (author of bestselling maths and science books, including Fermat’s Last Theorem and The Code Book), Junaid Mubeen (a former Oxford admissions tutor and Countdown series winner) and Tom Bowler (a maths teacher with experience writing and marking UKMT challenge papers). All three have extensive experience working with budding mathematicians. Simon and Junaid and have been involved with large-scale online tutoring initiatives involving thousands of students since 2020. The are supported by a strong team of tutors, such as Ayliean Macdonald, a former maths teacher and YouTuber.

What safeguarding policies are in place?

Ensuring students’ safety and wellbeing is paramount to our work. Our safeguarding policy is informed by our experiences delivering online maths projects over the past few years. All of our tutors are required to have enhanced DBS checks.