A programme of free maths support tutorials for talented students from disadvantaged backgrounds has been launched by science and maths author Dr Simon Singh.
Open to students in Year 8 and Year 11, the programme - Maths Masterclass Tutorials - will offer free, year-long maths tutoring online to small groups of students.
Teachers and parents can nominate students in Year 8 and Year 11.
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The deadline for nominations is 9 October, and the Maths Masterclass Tutorials will commence in November.
The programme aims to ensure that students from more diverse backgrounds can study maths to an advanced level, Dr Singh explained.
He said:“I am very lucky that I received a first-class maths education through to sixth form, which stretched and challenged me. Indeed, everything I have achieved since then has been based on that rigorous and ambitious teaching.
“The aim of the Maths Masterclass Tutorials is to give hundreds of students, particularly from disadvantaged backgrounds, the kind of opportunity I had to enable them to excel in mathematics. I want to increase the number and diversity of students who go on to study maths, science and technology at the top universities.”
The programme will be run in partnership with education charity TalentEd Education. Its primary supporter is Alex Gerko, founder and CEO of FinTech company XTX Markets.