The Spring Mathematics Programme 2026
The Spring Mathematics Programme a 7-week long intensive research and problem-solving programme aimed at ambitious students who are studying Mathematics at University or are planning to do so in the near future.
Competitively selected students gather to answer research problems and solve university-level problem sheets with a curated network of Cambridge Mathematics academics and students.
Application Process
Problem-Set Submission
31st Jan, 2026
Initially, students are required to submit their worked solutions to our problem set, a teacher recommendation, as well as a personal statement.
I. Problem-Set Submission
The problem set is coming soon.
II. Teacher Recommendation
Your recommendation must be written by a recent or current Mathematics teacher at school, a private tutor/mentor.
III. Personal Statement of Attendance
If you have already applied to University, please use your UCAS personal statement (or equivalent) for this portion of the application.
Please use the personal statement as an opportunity to describe to us why you are interested in the programme, your mathematical experience in and outside of school, including any programmes, competitions or projects you have undertaken, as well as your thoughts on them.
All of the above documents should be sent to us in PDF format.
Please upload these items in an email attachment to hueyslai@gmail.com and include your
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Full Name
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Date of Birth
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School/University
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Curriculum (or subject if in University)
The deadline for submission is the 31st of Jan, 2026, 23:23 GMT.
First Round and Counsellor Interviews
1st of Feb to the10th of Feb, 2026
Students who have done well in the problem-set submission round will be invited to the first round of interviews.
The first round of interviews will involve a brief conversation about your mathematical background, and your interests as well as career aspirations moving forward.
Candidates who show a good fit with the programme will then be invited to the Counsellor interviews, where they will meet the students and academics at the programme this year. You will likely discuss a brief mathematical problem together.
Results
11th Feb, 2026
Successful candidates will be emailed an offer letter, and be sent invites to all virtual meetings that the programme entails.
Programme
Every weekend starting from the 13th of Feb through to the 28th of March, 2026, students will partake in daily virtual sessions involving one or more of the following activities:
Research
Students will be posed a research problem at the start of the programme, and each week, teams will present to each other on their progress and next steps.
Problem-Solving
Participants will discuss problem sheets from the Cambridge University Tripos with student and research counsellors.
Guest Lectures
Participants attend lectures and QnAs from guests of the programme, including those with industry experience and other fields, such as Engineering and Philosophy.
Other Activities
Participants will be able to join various other activities such as participant-led integration bee problem solving sessions, translating mathematical problems from other languages and sharing with each other etc.
Since these sessions will be run during term time, we are conscious of students' busy schedules during weekdays. We will try to accommodate by moving as many weekday sessions to weekends.
Past Counsellors and Guest Speakers
Alex Yan
Alex Yan is a doctoral student at Balliol College, Oxford. He is on the Statistics and Machine Learning (StatML) programme, in which he uses statistical methods to gain insights in infectious disease epidemiology.
Alex studied mathematics for his MMath and BA at Christ's College, Cambridge, specialising in mathematical statistics in his fourth year. At Cambridge, he was a student representative sitting on the Teaching Committee of the Faculty of Mathematics as well as a student ambassador for College outreach activities. More recently, he has been an examiner for STEP 3 Mathematics.
Sizhe Pan
Sizhe is a 2nd year undergrad studying Mathematics at Trinity College, Cambridge. He has represented Australia at the International Mathematical Olympiad in 2022 and 2023 He enjoys helping students in-person and online with both high school maths and olympiad maths up to the IMO level. Sizhe is also the Membership Officer for the Trinity Mathematical Society and organises events by inviting speakers from various math backgrounds.
Chloe Hooton
Chloe Hooton is a 2nd year undergraduate studying mathematics at Murray Edwards College, University of Cambridge. She is passionate about widening participation in mathematics and is involved in mathematics outreach and volunteering work. Chloe teaches on the Murray Edwards College STEP Summer School for Year 12 female and non-binary students and has spoken on various Cambridge Admissions Webinars, including those run by the STEP Support Programme. Before this, she went to school in North Wales and used to work on her family’s farm.
Velian Velikov
Velian studies the Part III Master's in Mathematics at Trinity College, Cambridge. He represented the UK in the Balkan Maths Olympiad in 2021 and continues to volunteer for the UKMT, teaching at the Trinity IMO selection camp. He has 7 years of maths teaching experience, including Olympiads and university entrance preparation.
"It was great to see ambitious students challenging themselves to improve their mathematics and interview skills on the mock interview programme. Seeing the progress they made over the weeks was a testament to both the strength of the programme and the students’ commitment to mathematics and their applications to top universities. Huey organised an exceptional programme and created a supportive and intellectually vibrant environment for both students and tutors."
Chloe Hooton, Tutor on the Mock Interview Programme and Mathematics Undergraduate at Murray Edwards College, Cambridge
Fees
The standard fee for the entire programme is 1,000 GBP. This covers the cost of sessions involving our faculty of student and research counsellors, as well as the programme administration cost.
In order to make the programme more affordable for students, you will get 50GBP deducted from your fee for every successful applicant you refer to our programme. Please include the names and email of anyone you wish to refer, in your own application email. Once the results of the applications are confirmed, your fee will be adjusted accordingly.
We also try to reserve a number of spots for students from disadvantaged backgrounds. More details on this will be published imminently.