For maths applications, especially at Cambridge, admissions tutors and current students say the same thing consistently: your personal statement matters less than your STEP score and your interview. That's a genuinely useful thing to know before you invest hours polishing a personal statement, because it changes where your preparation time should actually go.

This guide covers what counts as a maths and computer science super-curricular activity, the specific tests and resources worth your time, and how to avoid over-investing in the wrong part of your application.

Quick takeaways:

• For Cambridge Maths in particular, STEP performance and interview matter more than personal statement content; don't over-invest in polishing the PS at the expense of test preparation

• Doing maths, working through problems, sitting past papers, entering competitions, counts for more than reading about maths

• STEP and MAT preparation resources double as super-curricular evidence and direct exam preparation, which makes them an efficient use of time

• Computer Science applicants benefit from the same problem-solving-first approach, with platforms like Project Euler and Advent of Code as a strong starting point

• A handful of idiosyncratic, specific topics, cryptography history, the maths of paper folding, are often more memorable at interview than generic wide reading

What Counts as a Maths Super-Curricular Activity?

A maths super-curricular activity is anything that involves genuinely doing mathematics beyond your A-level syllabus: working through STEP or Olympiad-style problems, digging into an area of maths not covered at school, or taking a topic you've encountered and pushing it further with your own problem-solving. This is one of the few subjects where doing consistently outweighs reading about; a maths admissions tutor is far more interested in a worked problem set than a list of books.

Why STEP and Interview Matter More Than Your Personal Statement

Cambridge maths applicants and admissions-adjacent sources are unusually consistent on this point: the personal statement plays a smaller role than it does for most other subjects, because the interview and STEP (or equivalent entrance test) results carry most of the weight. This doesn't mean the personal statement doesn't matter at all, but it does mean the time-to-value calculation is different here than for a subject like History or English.

Practically, this means: if you're deciding between another hour spent perfecting personal statement wording and another hour working through STEP problems, the STEP problems are almost always the better investment. Your super-curricular reading and activities should be genuine enough to discuss at interview, but they shouldn't come at the expense of the mathematical problem-solving practice that actually determines the outcome.

One real example from a student's own account: a strong Cambridge maths applicant listed reading six maths books, teaching a concept to a school maths club, and completing a problem-solving course as their main preparation. The advice they received back was direct: what mattered most wasn't the reading list itself, but converting what they'd read into actual problem-solving, taking a topic from a book and working through original problems based on it, rather than treating reading as the finished activity.

Pro Tip: If you can only do one thing consistently across Year 12 and 13, make it problem-solving practice: STEP-style questions, UKMT papers, or a structured problem set. Everything else on this page supports that core activity rather than replacing it.

STEP, MAT and Admissions Test Preparation Resources

• The STEP Support Programme — Cambridge's own structured programme for building the advanced problem-solving skills STEP assesses, and genuinely the most direct preparation available.

• Nrich — Cambridge University's maths extension activities, useful both for STEP-adjacent practice and for general problem-solving beyond the school syllabus.

• UKMT past papers — the UK Mathematics Trust hosts past Senior, Intermediate, and Junior Challenge papers, which are excellent for regular practice regardless of whether you're entering the live competitions this year.

• Oxford Mathematical Institute's online maths club — runs weekly livestreamed mathematical challenges, a genuinely active and current resource rather than a static archive.

• MAT past papers — Oxford's Mathematics Admissions Test has its own style, distinct from STEP, and working through past papers is the most direct preparation available if you're applying to Oxford, Imperial, or another MAT-requiring course.

Note that STEP and MAT test different things in different formats. If you know which universities you're applying to, prioritise practice for the specific test they require rather than assuming preparation for one transfers cleanly to the other.

Books and Reading for Maths Applicants

• Fermat's Last Theorem by Simon Singh — a widely recommended entry point that tells the story behind a famous unsolved problem and the mathematics used to eventually solve it, accessible without being simplistic.

• The Art of Problem Solving series — built specifically around competition-style problem-solving, which pairs directly with STEP and Olympiad preparation rather than sitting separately from it.

• Journey Through Genius by William Dunham — walks through historically significant proofs and theorems, useful for building a sense of how major mathematical ideas actually developed.

• Plus Magazine — a free, regularly updated online magazine covering current mathematics and its applications, useful for staying current between exam-focused problem sets.

Competitions Worth Entering

The UKMT Challenges (Junior, Intermediate, and Senior, depending on your year group) are the most accessible entry point, and strong performance gives you an objective, external marker of ability worth mentioning directly. The British Mathematical Olympiad and International Mathematical Olympiad sit above this for students who qualify through UKMT rounds, and represent the highest level of recognition available before university. Various universities also run their own maths essay competitions, worth checking each year since they change and aren't always well publicised.

Free Online Courses and Idiosyncratic Topics

Beyond core problem-solving, a handful of specific, slightly unusual maths topics tend to make for genuinely memorable interview material precisely because they're not what every other applicant has read about.

• The mathematics of cryptography, from historical ciphers through to modern encryption, available as a free university-led course covering the full historical arc.

• The maths behind flexagons, the paper-folding structures that turn out to have real underlying mathematical structure, a good example of maths appearing in an unexpected, playful context.

• Fibonacci numbers and the golden ratio, a classic topic with genuine mathematical depth beneath its popular-science reputation.

Picking one specific, slightly niche topic and going deep on it tends to produce better interview material than a broad survey of "interesting maths facts," since it shows you can sustain genuine curiosity rather than collect trivia.

Supercurriculars for Computer Science

The same problem-solving-first principle applies. Project Euler offers a large library of mathematical programming problems ranging from accessible to genuinely difficult, and working through even a modest number properly demonstrates real computational thinking. Advent of Code, a series of programming puzzles released each December, works similarly and has an active online community if you want to compare approaches. For applicants without much prior programming experience, a free structured introduction to computer science, such as Harvard's CS50, made freely available online, builds foundational knowledge that a syllabus-only background often lacks.

Common Mistakes Maths Applicants Make

• Over-polishing the personal statement at the expense of problem-solving practice. For maths specifically, this trade-off matters more than for most subjects; the interview and entrance test carry more weight.

• Reading about maths instead of doing it. A list of books read is weaker evidence than a worked problem set or a documented STEP practice log.

• Treating competitions as a one-off rather than ongoing practice. Past papers from UKMT and similar competitions are useful for regular practice throughout Year 12 and 13, not just in the lead-up to entering.

• Ignoring computer science-specific problem-solving if applying for a joint or related course. Project Euler and Advent of Code build skills that transfer directly if you're applying for Maths and Computer Science jointly.

If you're preparing for the TMUA or ESAT alongside your maths super-curricular work, our TMUA and ESAT preparation guidance covers overlapping problem-solving skills, so the two reinforce rather than compete for your time.

Frequently Asked Questions

Does my personal statement matter for a maths application at Cambridge?

Less than it does for most other subjects. Cambridge maths admissions weighs STEP performance and interview more heavily, so while a genuine, well-written personal statement still matters, it shouldn't come at the expense of problem-solving practice, which has a more direct impact on the outcome.

Should I do STEP even if my university doesn't require it?

It's still valuable practice even where it's not a formal requirement, since the problem-solving style STEP demands overlaps heavily with what maths interviews assess. Many applicants use STEP-style questions as general preparation regardless of which universities they're applying to.

Is Further Maths necessary for a maths degree application?

Most competitive maths courses expect or strongly prefer Further Maths, since it covers content that gives you a real head start on both entrance tests and the first year of a maths degree. If your school doesn't offer it, independent study through resources like the Cambridge virtual maths classroom can help close the gap.

What counts as a computer science super-curricular activity?

Working through problem sets on platforms like Project Euler or Advent of Code, completing a free structured course like CS50, or building a personal project that required genuine problem-solving rather than following a tutorial step by step. Depth of engagement with a smaller number of problems matters more than completing many superficially.

How many maths super-curricular activities do I need?

There's no fixed number, but for maths specifically, quality of problem-solving practice matters more than the number of activities listed. A student with a consistent STEP practice habit and one or two topics covered in real depth is in a stronger position than one with a long list of books read but limited actual problem-solving.