A QE team has reached the national final of the prestigious Top of the Bench chemistry competition after winning their regional round.
Amogh Bhartia and Heemy Kalam, of Year 9, Bikiran Behera, from Year 10, and Year 11’s Hari Gajendran won first prize in the Chilterns and Middlesex Region to secure their place at the final in the spring, where they will compete against the UK’s best-performing schools.
Chemistry teacher Charani Dharmawardhane said: “The boys led consistently throughout the competition; they had trained for weeks and their efforts certainly paid off.”
Top of the Bench is an annual event organised by The Royal Society of Chemistry. As well as providing pupils in Key Stages 3 and 4 with an opportunity to compete against each other, it also presents them with scientific challenges which take them beyond the confines of the curriculum. Its stated aim is to “encourage and reward high achievement in chemistry”.
The hour-long regional competition at St Benedict’s School in Ealing comprised nine rounds. The boys had to work together and apply their knowledge as creatively as possible. The questions ranged from naming compounds to knowing which former British Prime Minister read Chemistry at university (Margaret Thatcher).