Clevedon School students have been performing impressively in a national code-breaking competition.

The school is currently in the top 78 out of 1,113 teams from across the UK taking part in the annual Alan Turing Cryptography Competition.

The contest sees the students solve online puzzles using their maths skills with each new chapter along the way accompanied by a story.

Teams study the techniques for sending secure communication with the competition heavily based on mathematical theories, algorithms and computer science.

Despite the school’s already lofty position, sights are being set even higher.

Assistant maths co-ordinator Deb Griffiths said: “Our students are doing amazingly and are cracking multiple codes regularly.

“These challenges demonstrate the high and wide ranging abilities of our students.

“We are hoping to finish in the top 50 in the UK.”