Science pupils at Nottingham High School have been celebrating after winning an array of awards in the first round of the International Chemistry Olympiad and the British Biology Olympiad – a national competition from which to select a team for the International Biology Olympiad.
Star pupil, Ted Pynegar, 18, gained a gold certificate in both biology and chemistry, the first gold in chemistry for four years, and received a special prize in recognition of this performance. Ted’s accomplishment in the biology competition also led to him being selected as one of four students, from over 1800 that entered, to represent the UK in the International Biology Olympiad in Japan this summer.
The International Chemistry Olympiad, run by the Royal Society of Chemistry (RSC), saw over 2000 pupils take part nationally and involved a challenging written test of chemical knowledge, designed to stimulate debate, raise awareness of chemistry and help develop some of the skills required for university. In addition to Ted, NottinghamHigh School pupils Wenhao Li, 18, William Gee, 18, and Kieron Kumar, 18, walked away with silver awards.
For the British Biology Olympiad, 10 year 13 High School boys took part in round one of the competition which, like Ted, saw Richard Cassidy, 18, and Wenhao Li, 18, win gold. In addition, Simon Durrent, 18, Nick Johal, 18, and Craig Woods, 18, all gained silver while Ayan De, 18, won bronze. Having performed exceptionally well, Ted and Wenhao were then selected for round two of the competition at BirminghamUniversity where they joined young biologists from across the UK. The three day event involved undertaking a series of theoretical and practical tests. From this stage, Ted was selected to represent the UK in Japan.
Gold, silver and bronze medal winners have been invited to receive their medals from Professor Steve Jones at Imperial College London in June.
“These are high profile competitions that attract a lot of tough competition and the boys have done both themselves and the school proud,” said Kevin Fear, headmaster NottinghamHigh School. “Ted in particular performed outstandingly and now faces an exciting challenge at the International Biology Olympiad. He is an asset to the school and we wish him and the rest of the UK team good luck in Japan.”
“I never imagined that I would get as far as I did in the Biology Olympiad competition, but now I have it really is a dream come true,” said Ted. “I am also interested in Japan as a country, so I am really looking forward to the international competition there in July.”
