Cayman student Thomas Penner, 17, has earned a ‘Top in the World’ award for gaining the highest standard mark in the Cambridge IGCSE mathematics exam that was taken in June 2021.
While acknowledging achieving that success was not easy, the teen noted the world-beating result was due to hard work and dedication.
And now he’s urging his fellow Cayman students who may find themselves challenged by maths not to give up.
“No matter what, in any subject, if you just keep working… [it] will become easier and you’ll grow to enjoy it more. Just be persistent because quite often there’ll be mistakes that you make, but just keep working hard and keep trying as best as you can and do not give up,” Penner told the Cayman Compass in a recent Zoom interview.
The recognition, announced by Cambridge Assessment International Education as part of the Outstanding Cambridge Learner Awards, celebrates students who have gained the highest mark in the world for a single subject.
According to the Cambridge Assessment International Education website, there may be “other learners in the world… who scored exactly the same mark”, and these students will receive equal recognition and “be awarded the Cambridge ‘Top in the World’ award for that subject”.
With this award, Penner finds himself among a select group of students who have been recognised for their “exceptional learner achievement in Cambridge examinations throughout the world”.
Penner is attending Brighton College in the United Kingdom, where he is studying engineering with the aim of becoming a hardware engineer, as he pursues his love of technology.
“I’d quite like to be a hardware engineer… working on chips and things… that go into computers and phones,” he said.
Passion for maths from an early age
Penner said that he always loved numbers and mathematics growing up.
“I do really enjoy maths. It is one of my best subjects. So, obviously, when you’re good at something, then you tend to enjoy it more,” he said.
Penner said he had expected to do well at his exams last year, but coming out tops in the world was beyond his imagination.
“I was quite surprised, but at the same time, obviously very pleased. I was quite shocked that I’d done that,” he said of his first reaction when he knew he had attained the highest marks.
Penner said his parents found out his results before he did.
“It was the school who contacted them. They were out at the time, they called me and said, ‘You’ve done the best in maths’… they were very pleased for me,” he said.
His father, Mike Penner, spoke of the family’s pride at Thomas’s accomplishment.
“We are very pleased for Thomas. Cayman Prep has been a terrific school for him and we are extremely grateful to all of the excellent and dedicated teachers who have taught him there over the years, including, of course, most recently through his GCSE subjects,” his dad told the Compass in an email.
Cayman Prep principal Karl Murphy said the honour was well deserved, and spoke of the student’s many academic achievements.
“I am delighted to be Thomas Penner’s Principal. My heart bursts with pride. I know a stellar career awaits for him and that he can be transformational upon his return to Cayman. Thomas is a luminary and has been an outstanding and exemplary student throughout his time at CPHS,” Murphy said in an emailed statement to the Compass, adding, “he achieved an astronomical 12 A* grades in his IGCSE examinations. He was part of the graduating class of 2021 and graduated with Distinction, winning Subject Awards for Biology, Chemistry, Physics, Mathematics, Computer Science and Geography… We are so proud of him.”
Penner, Murphy said, was also recognised at graduation for his excellence in school, winning the Dart Award of Excellence in STEM (science, technology, engineering and mathematics), as well as being named the Year 11 Top Academic Achiever in 2021.
The student expects his love of maths to carry over into his professional career.
“I’m looking to become an engineer, so there’s quite a bit of maths involved with that. But ever since I was quite young, I’ve always enjoyed doing maths… problems,” he said.
He said in the run-up to his exams he spent many hours taking practice tests.
“When it came to the exam, it was just really checking over my answers and just going through the paper again and again, making sure I made no mistakes.”
Cayman’s small size doesn’t matter
Penner advised his fellow students to continue to work hard and not to think that coming from a small island will stop them from achieving their goals.
“It doesn’t really matter where you are from,” he said. “The teachers here are all really good… [I]t doesn’t matter how big the place you’re from [is]… you can still do as good [as], if not better than, anyone else anywhere in the world because it’s just up to you,” he said.
Mathematics, especially in the Caribbean, has proven challenging for students, as indicated by regional maths scores, but Penner said success comes from practice and persistence.
“It’s hard for someone to [do well in maths], if they’re really set against it and they find it really hard. It’s going to be hard for them to enjoy it. But if you give it a chance, if you work hard at it and if you get some help if you are struggling with it in school, then as you grow and as you get better, as you just learn to think more logically, it gets easier and it gets more enjoyable,” he said.
Penner said he is yet to celebrate his achievement with his family, as he is preparing for other exams.
“I have to make sure I do well in those as well,” he said, adding he’s saving his reward request for a later date.
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