Maggie Gough Competition
The Maggie Gough Competition is an online competition which tests the problem solving skills of Junior and Senior Cycle students.
It is named after the first known Irish woman to receive a PhD in Mathematics – Maggie Gough (Sr Mary de Lellis Gough). More information can be read here.
The winning design of the trophy was by Ava Murray from Gallen Community School.
Below are links to previous competition questions which you can use with your own students. It is important that you click “Duplicate It”. This will duplicate the form and you can use it as your own. The questions are autocorrecting and you will be able to see your students’ responses.
2025 Analysis
- There were 23,936 entries from 232 schools across the country
- 416 were completed through Irish, from 13 schools.
- 91 students achieved 100%
- The overall mean was 68.92% and the standard deviation was 18.14%
- 5th Year mean 74.39% (7,160 students), TY mean 72.01 (7,929 students), 2nd Year mean 61.42% (8,165 students)
2024 Analysis
- There were 15,795 entries from 182 schools across the country.
- 230 were completed through Irish, from 7 schools.
- Six students achieved the maximum score
- A total of 53 achieved 95% or higher.
- The overall mean was 55.44% and the standard deviation was 16.6%.
- 5th Year mean – 62.14%, TY mean – 59.62%, 2nd Year mean – 51.72%
2023 Analysis
- There were 18,794 entries from 215 schools across the country.
- 464 were completed through Irish, from 13 schools.
- Four students achieved the maximum score.
- A total of 55 achieved 16 or higher (out of a possible 20).
- The mean was 5.38 and the standard deviation was 2.81.