Overview
The Maths Society Platform uses a comprehensive user account system that manages student profiles, competition participation, and access control. Your account determines what challenges you see, which leaderboards you’re on, and how you interact with the platform.Account Structure
Each user account includes:Personal Information
Personal Information
- Full Name: Your display name across the platform
- Email: Unique identifier and login credential
- Year: Your current academic year
- Maths Class: Optional class/group identifier
Academic Classification
Academic Classification
- Key Stage: KS3, KS4, or KS5
- Determines which challenges you see
- Places you on the correct leaderboard
School Affiliation
School Affiliation
- School ID: Links you to your school (optional for regular users, required for summer competition)
- Used for summer competition school rankings
Competition Status
Competition Status
- Regular User: Access standard challenges and leaderboards
- Summer Competition Participant: Access time-limited competition challenges
- Administrator: Full access to all content and management tools
Account Types
Regular Users
Students accessing standard platform challenges, articles, and leaderboards
Competition Participants
Students registered for summer competition with school affiliation
Administrators
Staff with full platform access for content management and moderation
Key Stage Classification
Your key stage is critical to your platform experience:KS3 (Key Stage 3)
- Years: 7-8
- Challenges: Foundation-level mathematics
- Leaderboard: Compete with other KS3 students
- Curriculum: Early secondary mathematics
KS4 (Key Stage 4)
- Years: 9-11
- Challenges: GCSE-level problems
- Leaderboard: Compete with other KS4 students
- Curriculum: GCSE mathematics content
KS5 (Key Stage 5)
- Years: 12-13
- Challenges: A-Level and university prep
- Leaderboard: Compete with other KS5 students
- Curriculum: Advanced mathematics topics
Your key stage determines which challenges appear to you and which leaderboard tracks your scores. You only compete with students at your academic level.
Regular vs. Competition Accounts
Regular User Experience
What you see:- Regular challenges filtered by your key stage
- Challenges that have been released (not future-scheduled)
- Standard leaderboard with individual rankings
- All articles and newsletters
- Complete challenges to earn points
- Climb the key stage leaderboard
- No school affiliation required
- No time pressure on challenges
Summer Competition Experience
What you see:- Summer competition challenges only (no regular challenges)
- Time-limited challenges for your key stage
- Both individual and school leaderboards
- Competition-specific content
- Must be affiliated with a school
- Complete challenges within time limits
- Earn points for yourself and your school
- Compete in both individual and school rankings
Administrator Accounts
Administrators have special privileges:Full Content Access
Full Content Access
- View all challenges (regular and summer)
- See unreleased and future-scheduled challenges
- Access challenges from all key stages
Management Capabilities
Management Capabilities
- Create, edit, and delete challenges
- Manage articles and newsletters
- Control user accounts
- Adjust leaderboard entries
- Lock/unlock challenges manually
Preview and Testing
Preview and Testing
- Submit answers to locked challenges
- Test challenges before public release
- View admin-only statistics and metrics
Security Features
Password Management
Your account is protected by:- Hashed Passwords: Passwords are never stored in plain text
- Werkzeug security implementation
- Secure password verification on login
Authentication System
The platform uses Flask-Login for:- Session management
- Login state persistence
- Secure route protection
- Automatic logout on session expiry
Never share your password with anyone. Administrators will never ask for your password.
User Relationships and Data
Submissions Tracking
Your account maintains relationships with:- Answer Submissions: All your challenge attempts
- Leaderboard Entries: Your scores in each key stage
- Summer Submissions: Competition challenge attempts (if applicable)
- Persists across sessions
- Enables submission history viewing
- Powers leaderboard calculations
- Tracks your progress over time
Content Authorship
If you’re an administrator:- Articles you create link to your user account
- Establishes authorship and accountability
- Enables filtering content by creator
Cascade Behavior
If your account is deleted:- Submissions are removed (orphan prevention)
- Leaderboard entries are deleted
- Authored articles remain but lose author relationship
School Affiliation
School Model
Schools in the platform have:- Name: Official school name
- Email Domain: For email-based registration validation
- Address: Physical location
- Date Joined: When school was added to platform
User-School Relationship
Yourschool_id field:
- Links you to your school (optional for regular users)
- Required for summer competition participation
- Enables school leaderboard calculations
- Groups students for team statistics
Regular users don’t need school affiliation. It only becomes mandatory if you want to participate in the summer competition.
Profile Management
You can manage your account through the profile section:Viewing Your Profile
Access your profile at/profile to see:
Identity
Full name and email address
Academic Info
Year, key stage, and maths class
School
School name (if affiliated)
Activity
Submission history and leaderboard standings
Changing Your Password
You can update your password at/profile/change_password:
Deleting Your Account
You can permanently delete your account at/profile/delete_account:
Account deletion is handled through cascade rules:
- Submissions: Deleted automatically
- Articles: Deleted if you’re the author
- Leaderboard entries: Removed from all key stages
Account States and Access Control
Challenge Access Logic
Content Filtering
- Regular users: See released regular challenges for their key stage
- Competition participants: See summer challenges for their key stage
- Admins: See everything including unreleased content
Homepage Personalization
When you visit the homepage:- Authenticated Users: See challenges filtered by account type and key stage
- Competition Participants: See recent summer challenges only
- Regular Users: See recent regular challenges only
- Unauthenticated: See generic content or login prompt
Best Practices
Keep Information Current
Keep Information Current
Update your year and key stage when you progress to ensure you see appropriate challenges.
Use a Valid Email
Use a Valid Email
Your email is your primary identifier and used for important communications.
Choose Appropriate Account Type
Choose Appropriate Account Type
Decide whether you want regular participation or summer competition before registering.
Understand Your Key Stage
Understand Your Key Stage
Know which key stage you’re in to understand the difficulty level of your challenges.
Database Indexing and Performance
Your user account benefits from optimized database queries:- Full Name: Indexed for fast search
- Email: Unique index for login performance
- Key Stage: Indexed for challenge filtering
- School ID: Indexed for school queries
Multi-Key-Stage Support
The platform supports users having leaderboard entries in multiple key stages:- If you change key stage, old entries persist
- Useful for tracking progress over years
- Each key stage maintains separate leaderboard entry
- Historical scores preserved
User Representation
In database and logs, users are represented as:<User Alice Smith (KS4)>
This provides clear identification in administrative tools.
Next Steps
Start Solving Challenges
Use your account to attempt mathematical challenges
Check Your Ranking
See your position on the key stage leaderboard
Join Summer Competition
Learn about competitive mode with school teams