A pupil from Caldy Grange Grammar School has achieved third place in national cyber security competition.

Gethin Brown, aged 14, took part in the Matrix Challenge at the beginning of January 2020 which saw them compete against 65,000 participants from around the UK.

Students aged between 11 and 17 went against each other using digital skills to tackle coding, code breaking and knowledge-based challenges.

Gethin said: “I’m really pleased to have come third place in the Matrix Challenge.

“It’s been a great experience and I’ve loved learning more about the law and cookies.

“I made sure I knew my way around the back end of a website before joining the challenge which I think definitely gave me a big advantage.”

The North West generated the largest amount of UK competition entries with 14,000 young people taking part before 38 made it through to the national final which took place in January 2021.

Gethin bagged third place nationally in the 11-14 category and won an Asus laptop.  

David Malkin, Head of the Yorkshire and Humber Regional Cyber Crime Unit, said: “This year has been our most successful Matrix Challenge to date, and there’s no doubt the standard of contestants was higher than we’ve ever seen before.

“The UK is blessed to have so many talented individuals and a huge well done to the winners.”

“The challenge has been proven to educate young people and improve their knowledge around the computer misuse act, as well as how to stay safe online, so each participant will have taken something away from the competition.

“Equally, the challenge has proven to be a great lead into cyber and digital careers, engaging with young people from a variety of diverse backgrounds.”