Hamptonians have once more excelled at the prestigious UK Linguistics Olympiad (UKLO), a national competition that challenges pupils to solve complex linguistic data problems and decode patterns in unfamiliar languages.
This year, 27 Hamptonians from Fourth Year to Upper Sixth took part in the advanced round of the Olympiad, joining over 1,500 pupils nationwide in tackling a notoriously difficult paper. The UKLO director even apologised for making this year’s exam particularly challenging! Despite this, Hampton pupils rose to the occasion, with over a third of the cohort securing awards – an outstanding achievement.
The 2025 paper featured fascinating languages such as Seri (a language isolate spoken in Mexico), Iñupiaq (an Inuit language spoken in Alaska), Lezgian (spoken in Russia and Azerbaijan), Khana (spoken in Nigeria), and even Cantonese Braille. These questions tested pupils’ ability to analyse linguistic structures and think creatively under pressure.
Special congratulations go to:
- Gordon, Kian and Henry, who earned awards in their first UKLO
- Jihwan, who achieved his third award and second Gold
- Shishir, who scored an incredible 25% above the Gold threshold!
Both Jihwan and Shishir have been invited to compete in round 2 in February 2026, giving them the chance to attend the UKLO training camp and potentially represent the UK at the International Linguistics Olympiad.
