Six students from the English department have recently taken part in the first round of an exciting and challenging linguistics competition.  The annual UK Linguistics Olympiad, open to schools and colleges across the country, poses a range of gruelling language-based puzzles spread across three rounds.

This year, 8000 students from across the UK were entered into the first round of the competition, the results of which will be released at the end of February.  Only the top 16 students will progress to the second round, which comprises of a residential weekend in March.  From here a team will be selected to represent the UK at the International Linguistics Olympiad, which takes place in July in Prague.

Before taking on the first round, first year student Gavin Crump said, “I’m really looking forward to giving this competition my best effort.  I find the idea of the competition really exciting, combining English, maths and logic.  I’ve heard it is tough, but I’m up for the challenge!”

Dominic Eady, Senior Curriculum Manager for English added, “I’m delighted that a selection of our students are embracing the challenge of the Linguistics Olympiad.  We know from previous years that the standards are high, but I have every faith in our team.  Good luck!”

For more information and to try out some of the puzzles for yourself, click here.

Update - The results are in!