In 2025, the Sunshine Coast will host a prestigious event that attracts the world’s brightest young mathematics minds, inspiring many dedicated mathematicians at Matthew Flinders Anglican College to strive to be involved.
From July 10-20, 2025, the International Mathematical Olympiad (IMO) will be held at the Sunshine Coast Convention Centre at Novotel Twin Waters.
The 66th IMO will be hosted by the Australian Maths Trust (AMT), on behalf of the Australian mathematics community, with support from the Sunshine Coast Council.
The IMO is the world championship mathematics competition for high school students. It attracts more than 100 nations and 620 students and is held in a different country each year.
This will be the second time Australia has hosted the event, the first being in Canberra in 1988.
Flinders Nurtures Bright Student Mathematicians
Daniel Probert in Year 12 at Flinders is a confident Maths student who has risen to many academic challenges, including through the IMO.
“I was involved with the Australian Intermediate Mathematics Olympiad in 2021 and 2022, and I found it rewarding to be pitted against some of the best Maths students in Australia,” Daniel said. “The Maths knowledge and application skills required to be successful in the Olympiad are incredible.”
College Principal Michelle Carroll said Flinders supported its students to grow through challenging enrichment opportunities such as the IMO.
“It is exciting to learn of the International Mathematics Olympiad being hosted on the Sunshine Coast in 2025, just 15 minutes’ drive from our Flinders campus in Buderim,” Ms Carroll said.
“At Matthew Flinders Anglican College, we are committed to attracting and nurturing bright mathematicians and problem solvers.
“We look forward to supporting our dedicated mathematicians to compete at a high level and put their intense study efforts to the test.
"Over many years, we have had multiple students in our Primary and Secondary Schools compete through the esteemed Mathematical Olympiad journey.
“This includes bright students like Daniel Probert and also Ben Szabo-Virag who in 2022 while in Year 10 achieved the highest result in Queensland at the 2022 Australian Mathematical Olympiad, winning a silver medal.
"We have also had multiple students win medals and become State Champions in the Australian Maths Competition, the Da Vinci Decathlon and the International Competitions and Assessments for Schools (ICAS).
“Our College curriculum provides all students with a range of enrichment opportunities in Mathematics, from everyday differentiated classroom activities through to international competitions and examinations.”
Maths in the Curriculum at Flinders
In the Primary School years at Flinders, students develop core and extension skills in Maths with the support of their classroom teachers and a Maths Specialist teacher, as well as through programs such as Xtra Maths.
In Secondary School, students deepen their Maths knowledge through extension classes, specially run programs and competitions, and increasingly complex subject choices from Preparatory Mathematical Methods in Year 10 and Specialist Mathematics in the Senior years.
