‘Best ever performance’ as Burnley College science students celebrate Chemistry Olympiad wins
Burnley College students celebrated the college’s best ever performances as a lukcy thirteen were awarded certificates at this year’s Chemistry Olympiad.
The UK Chemistry Olympiad is a competition made up of three stages that develop critical problem-solving skills, learning to think more creatively and get a chance to test their knowledge in real-world situations.
The first round was a written test which is designed to test their knowledge with real-world chemistry problems.
Owen Harris (18) a former Unity College student who studied physics, chemistry and biology, secured silver this year, building on last year’s bronze.
He said: “I’m very proud of this, it’s a good achievement to have especially since it’s things from the syllabus rather than just memorising content.”
The second round consisted of lessons and demonstrations on new topics from respected academics, teachers and technicians, followed by theoretical and practical assessments.
Owen Thorpe (18) a former Burnley High School student who studies chemistry, physics and maths, who also took part, added: “I’m pretty happy with silver, even though I was hoping for gold.
“It was quite challenging, but it was interesting to see chemistry at a high level and it was fun to answer the more challenging questions.”
Zara Hussain, programme leader of applied science and chemistry, says she’s proud of all the competitors considering it was a very challenging paper:
“This is the best set of results we’ve had in the five years our students have taken part in the Chemistry Olympiad.
“It’s an outstanding achievement; all participants should be very proud of themselves. It shows you can apply knowledge to industry-based questions.”