Weekly Problems

Stage: 3 and 4 Challenge Level:

The weekly problems are easy to state and fascinating to solve. The content is aimed at the lower secondary level, but will give a dose of mathematical stimulation to solvers of all ages.

Go to the live weekly problem.

Fancy a challenge? See the more advanced post-16 challenges.

Need more? Take a look at our archives of weekly problems, each with a link into a more substantial problem on a similar theme.

2011

Week 1, 2011; see also the follow-up NRICH task No Right Angle Here
Week 2, 2011; see also the follow-up NRICH task Matchless
Week 3, 2011; see also the follow-up NRICH task Warmsnug Double Glazing
Week 4, 2011; see also the follow-up NRICH task Approximating Pi
Week 5, 2011; see also the follow-up NRICH task Consecutive Seven
Week 6, 2011; see also the follow-up NRICH task Power Mad!
Week 7, 2011; see also the follow-up NRICH task Partially Painted Cube
Week 8, 2011; see also the follow-up NRICH task Sticky Numbers
Week 9, 2011; see also the follow-up NRICH task Intersection Sums Sudoku
Week 10, 2011; see also the follow-up NRICH task What's Possible?
Week 11, 2011; see also the follow-up NRICH task Conway's Chequerboard Army
Week 12, 2011; see also the follow-up NRICH task Iff
Week 13, 2011; see also the follow-up NRICH task What's Possible?
Week 14, 2011; see also the follow-up NRICH task Symmetricality
Week 15, 2011; see also the follow-up NRICH task Peaches Today, Peaches Tomorrow
Week 16, 2011; see also the follow-up NRICH task Trice
Week 17, 2011; see also the follow-up NRICH task Remainders
Week 18, 2011; see also the follow-up NRICH task Can You Explain Why?
Week 19, 2011; see also the follow-up NRICH task Four on the Road
Week 20, 2011; see also the follow-up NRICH task Tilted Squares
Week 21, 2011; see also the follow-up NRICH task Painting Cubes
Week 22, 2011; see also the follow-up NRICH task An Average Average Speed
Week 23, 2011; see also the follow-up NRICH task Remainder
Week 24, 2011; see also the follow-up NRICH task Reflecting Squarely
Week 25, 2011; see also the follow-up NRICH task Ewa's Eggs
Week 26, 2011; see also the follow-up NRICH task Your Number Was...
Week 27, 2011; see also the follow-up NRICH task One or Both
Week 28, 2011; see also the follow-up NRICH task Children at Large
Week 29, 2011; see also the follow-up NRICH task Got It
Week 30, 2011; see also the follow-up NRICH task Floored
Week 31, 2011; see also the follow-up NRICH task Make 37
Week 32, 2011; see also the follow-up NRICH task Times Right
Week 33, 2011; see also the follow-up NRICH task Eleven
Week 34, 2011; see also the follow-up NRICH task Sums of Squares
Week 35, 2011; see also the follow-up NRICH task Factors and Multiples Game
Week 36, 2011; see also the follow-up NRICH task An Unusual Shape
Week 37, 2011; see also the follow-up NRICH task Curvy Areas
Week 38, 2011; see also the follow-up NRICH task Partly Circles
Week 39, 2011; see also the follow-up NRICH task Compare Areas
Week 40, 2011; see also the follow-up NRICH task More Number Pyramids
Week 41, 2011; see also the follow-up NRICH task Triangle Numbers
Week 42, 2011; see also the follow-up NRICH task Cinema Problem
Week 43, 2011; see also the follow-up NRICH task Poison, Antidote, Water
Week 44, 2011; see also the follow-up NRICH task Prime Magic
Week 45, 2011; see also the follow-up NRICH task Folding
Week 46, 2011; see also the follow-up NRICH task Fair Shares
Week 47, 2011; see also the follow-up NRICH task Semi-Regular Tessellations
Week 48, 2011; see also the follow-up NRICH task Power Crazy
Week 49, 2011; see also the follow-up NRICH task Handshakes
Week 50, 2011; see also the follow-up NRICH task Pair Products
Week 51, 2011; see also the follow-up NRICH task Sissa's Reward
Week 52, 2011; see also the follow-up NRICH task Shapely Pairs
Week 53, 2011; see also the follow-up NRICH task First Connect Three

2010

Week 1, 2010; see also the follow-up NRICH task Instant Insanity
Week 2, 2010; see also the follow-up NRICH task Mind Reader
Week 3, 2010; see also the follow-up NRICH task 100 Percent
Week 4, 2010; see also the follow-up NRICH task Smith and Jones
Week 5, 2010; see also the follow-up NRICH task Speedy Sidney
Week 6, 2010; see also the follow-up NRICH task Code Breaker
Week 7, 2010; see also the follow-up NRICH task Rudolff's Problem
Week 8, 2010; see also the follow-up NRICH task Shapely Pairs
Week 9, 2010; see also the follow-up NRICH task Sweeping Hands
Week 10, 2010; see also the follow-up NRICH task Floored
Week 11, 2010; see also the follow-up NRICH task Brailler
Week 12, 2010; see also the follow-up NRICH task Would you rather?
Week 13, 2010; see also the follow-up NRICH task Top Coach
Week 14, 2010; see also the follow-up NRICH task Slippy Numbers
Week 15, 2010; see also the follow-up NRICH task Writ Large
Week 16, 2010; see also the follow-up NRICH task Street Sequences
Week 17, 2010; see also the follow-up NRICH task Powerful Factorial
Week 18, 2010; see also the follow-up NRICH task Take Ten
Week 19, 2010; see also the follow-up NRICH task Coins on a plate
Week 20, 2010; see also the follow-up NRICH task Paper Folding - models of the Platonic Solids
Week 21, 2010; see also the follow-up NRICH task Konigsberg
Week 22, 2010; see also the follow-up NRICH task Consecutive Seven
Week 23, 2010; see also the follow-up NRICH task Put out the flags
Week 24, 2010; see also the follow-up NRICH task Cayley
Week 25, 2010; see also the follow-up NRICH task Not so little X
Week 26, 2010; see also the follow-up NRICH task Mixing Paints
Week 27, 2010; see also the follow-up NRICH task Pair Problems
Week 28, 2010; see also the follow-up NRICH task Pizza Portions
Week 29, 2010; see also the follow-up NRICH task Isosceles
Week 30, 2010; see also the follow-up NRICH task Stars
Week 31, 2010; see also the follow-up NRICH task Train Timetable
Week 32, 2010; see also the follow-up NRICH task Repetitiously
Week 33, 2010; see also the follow-up NRICH task Read this Page
Week 34, 2010; see also the follow-up NRICH task Square Pegs
Week 35, 2010; see also the follow-up NRICH task Happy Numbers
Week 36, 2010; see also the follow-up NRICH task Towers
Week 37, 2010; see also the follow-up NRICH task Cutting a Cube
Week 38, 2010; see also the follow-up NRICH task Fac-finding
Week 39, 2010; see also the follow-up NRICH task A Shade Crossed
Week 40, 2010; see also the follow-up NRICH task Colour islands sudoku
Week 41, 2010; see also the follow-up NRICH task Addition Equation Sudoku
Week 42, 2010; see also the follow-up NRICH task Cayley
Week 43, 2010; see also the follow-up NRICH task Sticky Numbers
Week 44, 2010; see also the follow-up NRICH task First Forward into Logo 7
Week 45, 2010; see also the follow-up NRICH task Seven Squares
Week 46, 2010; see also the follow-up NRICH task Magic W
Week 47, 2010; see also the follow-up NRICH task Chocolate
Week 48, 2010; see also the follow-up NRICH task Thirty Six Exactly
Week 49, 2010; see also the follow-up NRICH task Joh's Train is on time
Week 50, 2010; see also the follow-up NRICH task Countdown Fractions
Week 51, 2010; see also the follow-up NRICH task Floored
Week 52, 2010; see also the follow-up NRICH task Fibs

2009

Week 1, 2009; see also the follow-up NRICH task How much can we spend
Week 2, 2009; see also the follow-up NRICH task Attractive Rotations
Week 3, 2009; see also the follow-up NRICH task Compare areas
Week 4, 2009; see also the follow-up NRICH task Music to my eyes
Week 5, 2009; see also the follow-up NRICH task A Puzzling Cube
Week 6, 2009; see also the follow-up NRICH task Which solids can we make
Week 7, 2009; see also the follow-up NRICH task Consecutive Numbers
Week 8, 2009; see also the follow-up NRICH task Euromaths
Week 9, 2009; see also the follow-up NRICH task Bigger or Smaller
Week 10, 2009; see also the follow-up NRICH task Buying a balloon
Week 11, 2009; see also the follow-up NRICH task Two primes make one square
Week 12, 2009; see also the follow-up NRICH task Temperature
Week 13, 2009; see also the follow-up NRICH task Powerful Factorial
Week 14, 2009; see also the follow-up NRICH task Tree Tops
Week 15, 2009; see also the follow-up NRICH task Searching for Mean(ing)
Week 16, 2009; see also the follow-up NRICH task Wonky Watches
Week 17, 2009; see also the follow-up NRICH task How Old are the Children
Week 18, 2009; see also the follow-up NRICH task Orange Drink
Week 19, 2009; see also the follow-up NRICH task ?on the wall
Week 20, 2009; see also the follow-up NRICH task An Unhappy End
Week 21, 2009; see also the follow-up NRICH task Watch the Clock
Week 22, 2009; see also the follow-up NRICH task Power Countdown
Week 23, 2009; see also the follow-up NRICH task Litov's Mean Value Theorem
Week 24, 2009; see also the follow-up NRICH task Cayley
Week 25, 2009; see also the follow-up NRICH task Make 100
Week 26, 2009; see also the follow-up NRICH task For Richer and Poorer
Week 27, 2009; see also the follow-up NRICH task Primeter Expressions
Week 28, 2009; see also the follow-up NRICH task The Legacy
Week 29, 2009; see also the follow-up NRICH task Advent Sudoku
Week 30, 2009; see also the follow-up NRICH task Areas of Parallelograms
Week 31, 2009; see also the follow-up NRICH task Differences
Week 32, 2009; see also the follow-up NRICH task Reflecting Squarely
Week 33, 2009; see also the follow-up NRICH task Terminology
Week 34, 2009; see also the follow-up NRICH task Mirror, Mirror?
Week 35, 2009; see also the follow-up NRICH task Subtended Angles
Week 36, 2009; see also the follow-up NRICH task M, M and M
Week 37, 2009; see also the follow-up NRICH task Chances Are
Week 38, 2009; see also the follow-up NRICH task Farey Sequences
Week 39, 2009; see also the follow-up NRICH task Sums of Pairs
Week 40, 2009; see also the follow-up NRICH task Square Areas
Week 41, 2009; see also the follow-up NRICH task Flagging
Week 42, 2009; see also the follow-up NRICH task 5 on the Clock
Week 43, 2009; see also the follow-up NRICH task Kissing Triangles
Week 44, 2009; see also the follow-up NRICH task Can they be equal?
Week 45, 2009; see also the follow-up NRICH task Small Change
Week 46, 2009; see also the follow-up NRICH task Three Squares
Week 47, 2009; see also the follow-up NRICH task Why 8?
Week 48, 2009; see also the follow-up NRICH task The Money Maze
Week 49, 2009; see also the follow-up NRICH task Number Daisy
Week 50, 2009; see also the follow-up NRICH task Warmsnug Double Glazing
Week 51, 2009; see also the follow-up NRICH task Walk and Ride
Week 52, 2009; see also the follow-up NRICH task Number Tracks

2008

Week 1, 2008; see also the follow-up NRICH task Series sum
Week 2, 2008; see also the follow-up NRICH task Partly Circles
Week 3, 2008; see also the follow-up NRICH task Sweets in a Box
Week 4, 2008; see also the follow-up NRICH task Napkin
Week 5, 2008; see also the follow-up NRICH task Nicely Similar
Week 6, 2008; see also the follow-up NRICH task Power Mad
Week 7, 2008; see also the follow-up NRICH task Fractions in a Box
Week 8, 2008; see also the follow-up NRICH task Impossible Square
Week 9, 2008; see also the follow-up NRICH task Searching for Mean(ing)
Week 10, 2008; see also the follow-up NRICH task A Question of Scale
Week 11, 2008; see also the follow-up NRICH task Sums of Pairs
Week 12, 2008; see also the follow-up NRICH task Mixing More Paints
Week 13, 2008; see also the follow-up NRICH task Right Angles
Week 14, 2008; see also the follow-up NRICH task Multiplication Squares
Week 15, 2008; see also the follow-up NRICH task What's that Graph
Week 16, 2008; see also the follow-up NRICH task One or Both
Week 17, 2008; see also the follow-up NRICH task Consecutive Negative Numbers
Week 18, 2008; see also the follow-up NRICH task Sitting Pretty
Week 19, 2008; see also the follow-up NRICH task Walking around a Cube
Week 20, 2008; see also the follow-up NRICH task Wonky Watches
Week 21, 2008; see also the follow-up NRICH task All Variables Sudoku
Week 22, 2008; see also the follow-up NRICH task 14 Divisors
Week 23, 2008; see also the follow-up NRICH task Isoceles
Week 24, 2008; see also the follow-up NRICH task Areas and Ratios
Week 25, 2008; see also the follow-up NRICH task Partially Painted Cube
Week 26, 2008; see also the follow-up NRICH task Harmonic Triangle
Week 27, 2008; see also the follow-up NRICH task LCM Sudoku
Week 28, 2008; see also the follow-up NRICH task Some of the parts
Week 29, 2008; see also the follow-up NRICH task Efficient Cutting
Week 30, 2008; see also the follow-up NRICH task Hand Swap
Week 31, 2008; see also the follow-up NRICH task Reflecting Lines
Week 32, 2008; see also the follow-up NRICH task Buses
Week 33, 2008; see also the follow-up NRICH task Pumpkin Pie Problem
Week 34, 2008; see also the follow-up NRICH task Pick's Theorem
Week 35, 2008; see also the follow-up NRICH task Which is Bigger
Week 36, 2008; see also the follow-up NRICH task Symmetricality
Week 37, 2008; see also the follow-up NRICH task Mixing Lemonade
Week 38, 2008; see also the follow-up NRICH task Cyclic Quadrilaterals
Week 39, 2008; see also the follow-up NRICH task On Time
Week 40, 2008; see also the follow-up NRICH task Thousands and Millions
Week 41, 2008; see also the follow-up NRICH task Strange Numbers
Week 42, 2008; see also the follow-up NRICH task Magic W
Week 43, 2008; see also the follow-up NRICH task Your Number Is...
Week 44, 2008; see also the follow-up NRICH task Maths Filler
Week 45, 2008; see also the follow-up NRICH task At a glance
Week 46, 2008; see also the follow-up NRICH task Steady Free Fall
Week 47, 2008; see also the follow-up NRICH task A First Product Sudoku
Week 48, 2008; see also the follow-up NRICH task Rollin' Rollin' Rollin'
Week 49, 2008; see also the follow-up NRICH task Super Shapes
Week 50, 2008; see also the follow-up NRICH task Getting an Angle
Week 51, 2008; see also the follow-up NRICH task Intersection Sums Sudoku
Week 52, 2008; see also the follow-up NRICH task Do Unto Caesar

2007

Week 1, 2007; see also the follow-up NRICH task Flashing Lights
Week 2, 2007; see also the follow-up NRICH task Wag Worms
Week 3, 2007; see also the follow-up NRICH task Areas and Ratios
Week 4, 2007; see also the follow-up NRICH task Investigating the Dilution Series
Week 5, 2007; see also the follow-up NRICH task Remainders
Week 6, 2007; see also the follow-up NRICH task Coins
Week 7, 2007; see also the follow-up NRICH task One or Both
Week 8, 2007; see also the follow-up NRICH task Chocolate
Week 9, 2007; see also the follow-up NRICH task The Hair and the Tortoise
Week 10, 2007; see also the follow-up NRICH task Always Perfect
Week 11, 2007; see also the follow-up NRICH task Arclets
Week 12, 2007; see also the follow-up NRICH task Ice Cream
Week 13, 2007; see also the follow-up NRICH task Fair Shares
Week 14, 2007; see also the follow-up NRICH task Look Before You Leap
Week 15, 2007; see also the follow-up NRICH task Flagging
Week 16, 2007; see also the follow-up NRICH task Light the Lights Again
Week 17, 2007; see also the follow-up NRICH task What's Possible
Week 18, 2007; see also the follow-up NRICH task Pent
Week 19, 2007; see also the follow-up NRICH task Fibs
Week 20, 2007; see also the follow-up NRICH task Cayley
Week 21, 2007; see also the follow-up NRICH task Rudolff's Problem
Week 22, 2007; see also the follow-up NRICH task Where to Land
Week 23, 2007; see also the follow-up NRICH task Growing Rectangles
Week 24, 2007; see also the follow-up NRICH task Mixing Paints
Week 25, 2007; see also the follow-up NRICH task The Square Hole
Week 26, 2007; see also the follow-up NRICH task Diving the Field
Week 27, 2007; see also the follow-up NRICH task Brush Loads
Week 28, 2007; see also the follow-up NRICH task Thousands and Millions
Week 29, 2007; see also the follow-up NRICH task Tangram
Week 30, 2007; see also the follow-up NRICH task Picturing Triangular Numbers
Week 31, 2007; see also the follow-up NRICH task Plus Minus
Week 32, 2007; see also the follow-up NRICH task Circle-In
Week 33, 2007; see also the follow-up NRICH task Diminishing Returns
Week 34, 2007; see also the follow-up NRICH task Diamond Collector
Week 35, 2007; see also the follow-up NRICH task Ladder and Cube
Week 36, 2007; see also the follow-up NRICH task Fit for Photocopying
Week 37, 2007; see also the follow-up NRICH task M, M and M
Week 38, 2007; see also the follow-up NRICH task Qqq?cubed
Week 39, 2007; see also the follow-up NRICH task One and Three
Week 40, 2007; see also the follow-up NRICH task Smith and Jones
Week 41, 2007; see also the follow-up NRICH task Time of Birth
Week 42, 2007; see also the follow-up NRICH task Square Pegs
Week 43, 2007; see also the follow-up NRICH task Egyptian Fractions
Week 44, 2007; see also the follow-up NRICH task Take the Right Angle
Week 45, 2007; see also the follow-up NRICH task Partially Painted Cubes
Week 46, 2007; see also the follow-up NRICH task Dating Made Easier
Week 47, 2007; see also the follow-up NRICH task Numerically Equal
Week 48, 2007; see also the follow-up NRICH task The Greedy Algorithm
Week 49, 2007; see also the follow-up NRICH task Make 37
Week 50, 2007; see also the follow-up NRICH task Circle Packing
Week 51, 2007; see also the follow-up NRICH task Sissa's Reward
Week 52, 2007; see also the follow-up NRICH task Hex

2006

Week 1, 2006; see also the follow-up NRICH task Circles in quadrilaterals
Week 2, 2006; see also the follow-up NRICH task Pies
Week 3, 2006; see also the follow-up NRICH task Place your orders
Week 4, 2006; see also the follow-up NRICH task Cola Can
Week 5, 2006; see also the follow-up NRICH task Circle-in
Week 6, 2006; see also the follow-up NRICH task Beelines
Week 7, 2006; see also the follow-up NRICH task Bull's eye
Week 8, 2006; see also the follow-up NRICH task Equal Temperament
Week 9, 2006; see also the follow-up NRICH task Areas of Parallelograms
Week 10, 2006; see also the follow-up NRICH task Watch the Clock
Week 11, 2006; see also the follow-up NRICH task An average average speed
Week 12, 2006; see also the follow-up NRICH task Speeding Boats
Week 13, 2006; see also the follow-up NRICH task Track Design
Week 14, 2006; see also the follow-up NRICH task Mixing More Paints
Week 15, 2006; see also the follow-up NRICH task Trapezium Four
Week 16, 2006; see also the follow-up NRICH task Table Patterns Go Wild!
Week 17, 2006; see also the follow-up NRICH task Augustus' Age
Week 18, 2006; see also the follow-up NRICH task Diagonals for Area
Week 19, 2006; see also the follow-up NRICH task Semi-Circles
Week 20, 2006; see also the follow-up NRICH task Building Blocks
Week 21, 2006; see also the follow-up NRICH task Poly-Puzzle
Week 22, 2006; see also the follow-up NRICH task Inscribed in a Circle
Week 23, 2006; see also the follow-up NRICH task Pumpkin Pie Problem
Week 24, 2006; see also the follow-up NRICH task Code Breaker
Week 25, 2006; see also the follow-up NRICH task Sweets in a box
Week 26, 2006; see also the follow-up NRICH task Transformations on a pegboard
Week 27, 2006; see also the follow-up NRICH task Shape Times Shape
Week 28, 2006; see also the follow-up NRICH task Fence It
Week 29, 2006; see also the follow-up NRICH task A Square deal
Week 30, 2006; see also the follow-up NRICH task Rollin Rollin Rollin
Week 31, 2006; see also the follow-up NRICH task Partially Painted Cube
Week 32, 2006; see also the follow-up NRICH task Power Countdown
Week 33, 2006; see also the follow-up NRICH task Adding Triangles
Week 34, 2006; see also the follow-up NRICH task Your number is...
Week 35, 2006; see also the follow-up NRICH task 14 Divisors
Week 36, 2006; see also the follow-up NRICH task Spaces for Exploration
Week 37, 2006; see also the follow-up NRICH task Dozens
Week 38, 2006; see also the follow-up NRICH task The Puzzling Sweetshop
Week 39, 2006; see also the follow-up NRICH task Winning the Lottery
Week 40, 2006; see also the follow-up NRICH task Money Bags
Week 41, 2006; see also the follow-up NRICH task Coins
Week 42, 2006; see also the follow-up NRICH task Traingles and Petals
Week 43, 2006; see also the follow-up NRICH task Areas and Ratios
Week 44, 2006; see also the follow-up NRICH task Crossed Ends
Week 45, 2006; see also the follow-up NRICH task Number Pyramids
Week 46, 2006; see also the follow-up NRICH task Charlie's Delightful Machine
Week 47, 2006; see also the follow-up NRICH task Nice and Nasty
Week 48, 2006; see also the follow-up NRICH task Millennium Man
Week 49, 2006; see also the follow-up NRICH task The Pi are Square
Week 50, 2006; see also the follow-up NRICH task Buckets of Thinking
Week 51, 2006; see also the follow-up NRICH task Picturing Triangle Numbers
Week 52, 2006; see also the follow-up NRICH task Eight Ratios