Olympiad success for UK students

A team of A-level students from the UK have each brought home a medal from the 51st International Chemistry Olympiad (IChO), which took place in Paris in July.

The four were selected from thousands of students around the UK through a series of rigorous tests. Round one consists of a written test based on real-world chemistry problems. Around 30 of the highest-scoring students were then selected for round 2, a challenging residential weekend hosted by the University of Cambridge. 

The long weekend allowed students to experience lessons and demonstrations from respected academics, teachers and technicians. The students then had to complete theoretical and practical tests, after which the final four were selected.

Richard, Alexander, Benji and Phol underwent an intensive training camp to prepare them for the competition, before flying out to Paris to compete.

Nicole Morgan, Director of Education & Professional Practice at the Royal Society of Chemistry, said: "I sincerely congratulate Richard, Alex, Benji and Phol on their success, which we hope will inspire many more students to take part in the future. The IChO is a demanding competition, and this result is a testament to the hard work and dedication of the students and their mentors."

Head Mentor of the UK delegation Dr Ben Pilgrim, from the University of Cambridge, said: "We are thrilled with the outstanding results achieved by Richard, Alex, Benji and Phol, which place the United Kingdom amongst the top group of countries at the IChO. This was only achieved thanks to the hard work of the students and their teachers and members of the Olympiad Working Group. It also reflects the excellent quality throughout the British education system and highlights how the system is a still a gold standard internationally."

“It gets harder and harder to choose our top four students each year, and hence we must set a very challenging national selection paper, which I hope many aspiring young chemists will sign up to try in 2020.”

International Chemistry Olympiad 2020

The 52nd International Chemistry Olympiad will be held in Turkey in July 2020.

Registration opens in September for the UK selection rounds. Please join our mailing list to be notified when registration opens.