Eleven of the 12 QE boys taking part in the 2017 Cambridge Chemistry Challenge were awarded gold or silver certificates, placing them all among the top 23% of the 7,056 entrants nationwide. The remaining QE entrant took copper, which was the next category of certificate.
The competition is designed to stretch Year 12 pupils, taking them significantly beyond the A-level syllabus.
Five of the boys who entered the competition won gold certificates after scoring at least 33 marks out of a possible 68 – a feat achieved by just 7.7 % of entrants. This performance was described as “very impressive indeed” by the organisers at Cambridge University, who added: “These students demonstrated their ability to tackle a range of chemical topics under time pressure.”
Six entrants took silver in the Lower Sixth competition, which is also known as C3L6. This was awarded for marks of 25 or above and was achieved by 14.8% of entrants – “We felt [this] represented a very good achievement on this paper and showed the students were able to think their way successfully through unfamiliar material,” stated the report from the C3L6 organising committee, drawn from representatives of the university’s Chemistry department and from St Catharine’s and Corpus Christi colleges. Copper certificates went to 36.4% of entrants, while 40.2% gained no award at all.
The gold certificate winners were:
- Abhishek Balkrishna
- Aneesh Chopada
- Aditya Gupta
- Showgo Kimura
- Michael Takla.
Silver certificates went to:
- Milan Hirji
- Abbeykeith Kugasenanchettiar
- Milun Nair
- Simon Rey
- Karthigan Sriranganathan
- Abhinav Vudathu.
The remaining QE competitor, Dillon Shah, was awarded copper.