Senior pupils recently competed in the National Cipher Challenge, an annual event run by The University of Southampton.
Against 6,250 competitors, 20 Hutchie pupils worked in 5 different teams to compete in 10 weekly rounds, solving coded messages which gradually revealed the plot of the fictional Lighthouse Conspiracy.
The most difficult of these are double encoded ciphers making the challenge even tougher.
The senior pupils performed to an excellent standard using a number of techniques to break the codes and get to the bottom of the plot.
A special mention must go to S5 pupils Esther, Isabella and Elli, who were placed joint 22nd nationally out of hundreds of teams taking part.
