Strong UKLO Round One Results

St Paul’s School is celebrating another year of exceptional success after Round 1 of the United Kingdom Linguistics Olympiad (UKLO), a national competition that challenges pupils to solve linguistics puzzles and explore the structure of the world’s languages.

The competition begins with Round 1, which is held in schools across the country. Pupils of all ages take on a series of language-analysis problems—ranging from decoding unfamiliar languages to identifying patterns in grammar and writing systems. No prior knowledge of linguistics is required; instead, students rely on logic, reasoning and creativity to deduce answers from the clues provided. Performances in Round 1 determine national cut-offs for Bronze, Silver and Gold awards.

This year, St Paul’s saw its overall percentage of medal winners rise once again. A particularly strong showing in the Bronze category and a consistent number of Silver medals highlight the depth of talent across linguistics in the School.

Special congratulations go to the three Gold medal winners (Adavya, Aman and Samuel), whose exceptional Round 1 results mean they are now invited to take part in Round 2 on 11 February. Round 2—hosted at a university —is significantly more challenging and is used to identify the top linguists in the country. The very best from this round may go on to train for a place in the UK team at the International Linguistics Olympiad.

Organisers noted that the competition has become unintentionally more difficult in recent years, making this year’s achievements even more impressive. Congratulations to all the St Paul’s participants on their problem-solving skills and enthusiasm for linguistics.