This year our students competed in a variety of challenging competitions and have achieved great success in both biology and chemistry. In all four of the competitions we entered, our students have outpaced the national average. Generally, to gain a gold award, students have to be in the top 5-10% of all entrants.

In the Chemistry Olympiad, run by the Royal Society of Chemistry, we had 51 entrants and our students achieved one gold, 11 silver and 32 bronze. This is a highly difficult competition and many of our highest-achieving students were first years which bodes well for the future.

 The Cambridge Chemistry Challenge is a challenging competition aimed at first years and our students achieved 3 golds, 11 silvers and 23 copper.

UK Biology Competitions runs both the Olympiad and the intermediate Olympiad (aimed at first years). Our students entered both and in the Olympiad achieved 6 gold, 2 silver and 9 bronze, while in the intermediate Olympiad they achieved 5 gold, 11 silver and 8 bronze awards. 

All students received a certificate, and thanks to a donation from a former student, there were prizes for the highest-achieving students in the chemistry competitions. These competitions have given our students a great opportunity to explore beyond the curriculum and prepare them for future study. 

Second year student, Joe Davidson (gold in both the Biology and Chemistry Olympiad) said, “I thoroughly enjoyed the opportunity to experience difficult questions which challenged me beyond the curriculum.”

Simon Wood, Senior Curriculum Manager Chemistry, said, “The enthusiasm and results of our students have been brilliant; it’s great to be able to really stretch our strongest students and see them rise to the challenge.”