Chemistry Students are Among Nation’s Best In International Olympiad

Two students achieved gold awards in this year's 49th international chemistry Olympiad putting them among the top 10% of A Level chemistry students in the country. Victor Zhou and Wayne Wang, who are completing their A Levels, secured the awards in the prestigious international competition.

They were among the elite chemistry students nationwide selected for the event, which is run by the Royal Society of Chemistry to challenge students. It includes a written paper on real-world chemistry problems and is a chance to showcase skills required at university level. Students can win gold, silver, bronze or participation awards.

Head of Chemistry Paul Swainson, who presented them with their gold awards, said the competition is only for the brightest chemists in the country.

"It's a very challenging written exam and one which is very difficult to prepare for, as there's no set curriculum. They had to take the exam in their own time with questions well beyond the scope of A Level, making their performance in the first half of the lower sixth all the more impressive".

This is the second award in a month for Victor who also finished in the top 15 competitors at the British Informatics Olympiad hosted by Cambridge University.

Victor, 18, said, "The international chemistry Olympiad was interesting and challenging and it was great to do something a bit different because the questions ranged across the entire spectrum of chemistry. Some things in there we hadn't covered in the classroom but the gold award shows we had the knowledge to be able to work out the answers."

19th May 2017  Back to News