Year 5 student Lucas Strugnell came in first in the Tamworth region in the competitive Newcastle Permanent Mathematics Competition.

Lucas said he was very excited to find out about his award, especially because it wasn't something he was expecting.

"I didn't think much of it at the time because I don't really think about what I would get if I won, or even if I would win," Lucas told the Leader.

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The annual competition is in its 40^th year, and attracts more than 17,000 students from Year 5 and Year 6 classes, from close to 300 schools across Australia.

Lucas said he had to sit down and work through some tough questions during the 45-minute test.

"The first few questions were pretty easy, but when it got towards the end it started to get a lot harder," the student said.

His stellar performance means Lucas won the district award in the Year 5 division.

Aside from making his school and his parents very proud, the Tamworth Public School student also took home $50 in prize money.

He said he would be spending it, but not on what you might expect.

"I'll probably spend it on my mum and dad's grocery shopping," Lucas said.

The Year 5 pupil said he loved maths, but it would have to come in second behind English.

"I like algorithms and algebra and stuff like that, and angles are pretty fun too," he said.

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