A SCHOOLBOY from Cirencester defeated thousands of other students in a difficult maths challenge and was the only pupil in the county to come away with a medal.

Joseph Giles, a pupil at Powell’s School, competed against over 77,000 other students in the competitive Primary Mathematics Challenge and ended up placing in the top 100.

“I’m really happy,” said 11-year-old Joseph. “It’s a great achievement and I’m the first person in my school to get this award in years and years.”

Joseph and his Year 5 and 6 maths classmates entered the annual maths challenge, which was opened to British schools worldwide, in November 2013.

He received the highest score in his school, even scoring high enough to get through to the bonus round, which only 520 students managed to reach.

The smart Cirencester pupil was able to sit the bonus round, a 45 minute math test, and received a silver award, placing him in the top 100.

“I was absolutely astonished,” said Joseph’s mother Sharann Giles. “I’m so proud. We checked the list afterwards and no other child in Gloucestershire received a medal at all.

“It’s remarkable really as it’s a difficult test. You need to right sort of brain to do it. Some of the questions hadn’t even been taught yet to the pupils," she added.

Pupils had to score at least 24 out of 25 marks on the bonus round to achieve a gold medal. Only 39 pupils were awarded gold while 76 pupils achieved silver. There were also 143 bronze medal winners.