A MUSSELBURGH boy has taken home first prize in a worldwide maths competition.

Aarush Gosain competed in the aged 12-14 category at the International Mental Maths Olympiad organised by the British Youth International College (BYITC).

The Olympiad competition was based on the school’s Abacus Maths training programme and presented pupils with a series of mental arithmetic problems to test the skills they had honed through Supermaths tuition and other learning methods.

The challenge, carried out online, was open to students worldwide and split into four age categories. The top performers in each were awarded prizes for their mental arithmetic skills.

Aarush claimed victory in the school's oldest age category, beating competitors from England and Wales into second and third place respectively.

Prerna Gosain, Aarush's mother, was delighted to see her son succeed in the Olympiad, thanking the school for its support.

She said: “Thanks to the BYITC team for immense support extended to Aarush in developing his mental calculation skills, which will stay with him for lifetime and give him an edge in mathematics always.

"The learning journey with BYITC was amazing, not only that he learnt quick calculations of large numbers with precision, but his concentration skills improved a lot as well.

"The pattern of curriculum is very well designed to take out the best from the student, and the regular support and motivation from faculties is remarkable.

"This all helped Aarush in achieving the first rank in the International Mental Maths Olympiad.”

Dr Rashmi Mantri, BYITC founder, added: “Congratulations go to all the winners and runners-up of the Mental Maths Olympiad. We were pleased to have so many from overseas competing also.

“The competition challenged our students, and others, to engage with their training in a fun and interactive way, and, by having it open to people from all over the world, let them see how far they have already come.

“We know that working on arithmetic problems alone can be monotonous, so we introduced a competitive element so that students can improve their analytical skills in a more dynamic way.”