Rising to the challenge: QE’s chemists show their mettle

Rising to the challenge: QE’s chemists show their mettle

The QE entrants in this year’s UK Chemistry Olympiad have acquitted themselves well in the first round, according to the published results.

All 11 of the Year 13 boys chosen to enter the competition were awarded either a gold, silver or bronze certificate. Nationally, of the 6,500-plus pupils who participated, only the top 8% received gold, with 25% achieving silver and 31% bronze – and nearly 40% received no award at all. By contrast, QE’s boys gained four golds, six silvers and one bronze between them.

Chemistry teacher Elizabeth Kuo said: “By any reckoning, our sixth-formers did very well in what is a deliberately challenging national competition. The questions set are very hard, but they provide the boys with an excellent opportunity to practise such difficult application-type questions.”

Round 1 consisted of a two-hour written paper set by the Royal Society of Chemistry.
Gold awards went to Aneesh Chopada, Milan Hirji, Showgo Kimura and Michael Takla.
Abhishek Balkrishna, Abbeykeith Kugasenanchettiar, Pranav Santhosh Kumar, Karthigan Sriranganathan, Mohit Vijayakumar and Abhinav Vudathu achieved silver, while Milun Nair was awarded a bronze.