Bright sparks awarded top marks for Cambridge Chemistry Challenge

Students from more than 20 schools across the UK received awards at an event at the Houses of Parliament last week for achieving top marks in a new competition launched this year called the Cambridge Chemistry Challenge.

The competition, which is supported by the University of Cambridge Department of Chemistry, University of Cambridge International Examinations and OCR (Oxford, Cambridge and RSA Examinations), is the brainchild of Peter Wothers from the Department of Chemistry.

It is a monthly online competition which is open to anyone, any age from anywhere in the world and is designed to push boundaries and stretch students’ science knowledge.

At the end of the online competition in June the Cambridge Chemistry Challenge team, made up of teachers and university chemists, set a written exam for Year 12 students at schools in the UK.

This was taken by more than 3000 students in 250 schools across the country. The top performing students were presented with their ’Chemistry Challenge’ awards by Cambridge MP and research scientist Julian Huppert at a ceremony in the Houses of Parliament.

One of the students who received an award was Alexander Moore who is studying Cambridge Pre-U Chemistry at Winchester College. Speaking of his success he said: "I really enjoyed the competition. The questions required you to think outside the box and apply other skills like Maths. I thought I’d done well but was surprised to find out I’d achieved one of the top marks in the country!"

Peter Wothers said: "It is fantastic to see this competition strike a chord with so many students. At school students are taught the facts but here they have to apply knowledge of other subjects and think creatively- these are exactly the kind of skills which are needed for university. It is therefore useful for students wanting to go on to study chemistry at undergraduate level because it gives them that competitive edge!"

Ann Puntis, Chief Executive of University of Cambridge International Examinations said: "I’m delighted that this competition has proved to be so successful – engaging and inspiring thousands of students around the world. These are our young chemists of the future. Through participating in the Challenge they demonstrate an interest in chemistry which goes beyond the classroom, preparing them for success at university and beyond."

The Cambridge Chemistry Challenge will continue into 2012 due to popular demand from students and teachers. The first online challenge will be available at 00.01, Sunday 1 January 2012. If you would like to find out more visit www.c3l6.org

Pictured (l-r): Julian Huppert, Peter Wothers, Alexander Moore and Andrew Wolters (Chemistry teacher, Winchester College).