Pupils across the UK gear up to solve the final part of the 2018 National Cipher Challenge

More than 7000 pupils from about 700 schools and colleges across England, Scotland and Wales are getting ready to solve the final and most difficult challenge of the Kompromat files, an online code breaking competition, over Christmas.

The competition is proud of its record in attracting young women codebreakers, who make up 45% of the competitors this year, bringing the organisers and sponsors close to their ambition of a 50/50 split, representing the amazing mathematical talent across UK schools and colleges.

The competition winners will be announced in January, and a prize giving ceremony will take place at Bletchley Park in March 2019.

The National Cipher Challenge, which has been held annually since 2001, is designed and run by staff in the School of Mathematical Sciences. GCHQ, IBM, Trinity College Cambridge, Netcraft and The British Computer Society support the competition.

To find out more about the competition visit the CipherChallenge website or follow Harry the spy-hunter and codebreaker, @Cipher_Master on Twitter.