MathsBombe is aimed at students up to Year 13 (England and Wales), S6 (Scotland), Year 14 (Northern Ireland). You don't need to be a computer whizz or a mathematical genius — you just need to keep your wits about you and be good at solving puzzles!

What do I have to do and how can I take part?

The current version of the Mathsbombe Competition opened on Wednesday 24th January 2024 at 4pm (UK time).

Every two weeks a new pair of puzzles will be released. Each puzzle set contains two mathematical puzzles for you and your team to solve. The puzzles span the whole spectrum of mathematics: from fiendish logic puzzles in pure mathematics to applications of mathematics in real-world settings. You'll need to keep your wits about you and think 'outside the box': complicated techniques from A-level or computer coding probably won't help you!

Whilst in previous years we ran a central competition with entry restricted to teams from UK schools, we now simply provide the puzzles for students anywhere in the world to try, or for teachers to use as a resource for running their own competition within their school.

MathsBombe is organised by the Department of Mathematics at The University of Manchester. It is the sister competition to the Alan Turing Cryptography Competition.

The competition has been supported by the Dame Kathleen Ollerenshaw Trust.