reports
Annual reports to UKLO’s supporters
- 2023
- report
- We report another good year, with a small increase at Round 1 to a record of just over 5,000 entries in total. The four-level competition continues to attract competitors from a wide range of ages, from Year 4 to Year 13, but state schools still account for only 30% of all our Round 1 entries.
- Round 2 was again held in schools for all the Gold award winners from the Advanced competition at Round 1, and allowed us to select eight competitors for the three-day residential training camp hosted by Edinburgh University.
- Because of high registration charges, we could only afford to send one team (of four) to the International event in Bulgaria, but our team performed outstandingly: every member won a medal (one Gold, two Silver, one Bronze) and they won the team competition outright.
- Meanwhile we are still hoping to launch our new portal in time for the new season, but in spite of a generous gift of £6,000 from a well-wisher our reserves are severely depleted.
- accounts
- report
- 2022
- report
- This year has been easier with all the schools open, though we’re still mindful of Covid during residential events. Round 1 (open to all schools) showed some encouraging trends:
- an overall increase in numbers
- a particularly strong increase at Foundation and Intermediate levels
- a particularly strong increase in years 7 and 10
- increased representation of state schools in the Advanced competition
- continued strong representation of girls among all entries (albeit with the usual falling off at higher levels)
- continued participation across all ages down to Year 4.
Past Gold-medal winners are playing an increasingly important role in the olympiad, both within UKLO and also in the IOL (the International Linguistics Olympiad).
We ran our first residential training camp for the IOL squad, which was excellently hosted by the University of Warwick and was followed later by some online training. At the IOL itself, in the Isle of Man, our squad performed really strongly and individuals won one Gold, four Silvers and an Honourable Mention, while one of the teams won the Bronze award.
We depend on technology for communicating and for managing the competition, so we have had a brand-new website built for us by a volunteer, and we are about to have a brand-new portal built by a contractor (one of our former champions). The latter cost will reduce our financial reserves to an uncomfortably low level (in spite of particularly generous contributions from schools and individuals), so we hope for continuing support from our regular sponsors.
- This year has been easier with all the schools open, though we’re still mindful of Covid during residential events. Round 1 (open to all schools) showed some encouraging trends:
- accounts
- Girls and state schools: a brief exploration of the statistical trends from 2016 to 2022 regarding the underperformance of girls and the underrepresentation of state-funded schools.
- report
- 2021
- report
- Summary: This was a difficult year for UKLO because of the pandemic, but although numbers were low, the competition did go ahead at all levels, from Round 1 to the International Linguistics Olympiad – unlike last year, when the IOL was called off. As anticipated in last year’s report, we changed the annual pattern to include a lot more competitors in Round 2, and to a residential event (hosted by the University of Greenwich) just for the IOL squad. We continue to depend heavily on the portal, and are still waiting and hoping for a manager to carry out serious developmental work (for which we will pay). Our finances are still healthy because we have had to spend less than normal on the IOL, so we have not asked any of our sponsors for financial support this year, nor received any. However, we have spent nearly £6,000, with only a little over £1,000 of income. Since we are trying to build our reserves for the next long-haul competition, possibly in 2023, we look forward to contributions for 2021-22.
- Accounts
- Note: in these accounts, most transactions fell within the UKLO financial year starting 1 September, but most donations from sponsors are out of step because they are linked to the UKLO report published at the end of the UKLO year. This discrepancy can be removed by closing payments for 2020-21, and counting all payments after 1 September 2021 as contributions for the 2021-22 year.
- report
- 2020
- report
- Summary: The number of entries for Round 1 this year has been somewhat disappointing, but this may have been because of Covid-19. Round 2 had to be run online, and the International Linguistics Olympiad was cancelled. In an attempt to support competitors from state schools, we’re planning to open Round 2 to a much larger number (about 80 instead of the current 16) and to provide ongoing individual online training. The residential event will be moved from March to July, and will be a training camp just for the UK squad. Other matters: the portal manager is fixing a number of flaws that have caused frustration or malfunction since it was created in 2016; Alex Bellos is writing a book full of olympiad-style problems; and our balance is growing slowly so we hope to be able to afford the next expensive international event.
- accounts
- report
- 2019
- 2018
- 2017
- 2016
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