A group of our Year 13 Science students have taken part in their first ever Biology Olympiad and have done rather well! Our team of three have managed to make excellent progress in the competition with two gaining a bronze award and one a highly commended.
This is the first year that Heart of England biology students have taken part in this national and international competition. It began with the interest of one of our current Year 13 students who thought it would be an interesting challenge to have a go at testing their biological knowledge with others.
Our successful team of Matthew, Annabel and Charlie managed to gain two Bronzes and a Highly Commended certificates between them which puts all three of them in the top 17% of participants. A Bronze student is in the top 15% with one of our students one mark away from Silver placing them close to the top 8%. A great result for our first outing.
The competition which is run by the Royal Society of Biology, covers a wide range of topics and is focused towards students who are seeking greater and deeper knowledge of the subject. The British Biology Olympiad challenges and motivates students with an interest in biology.
This year (2019) the event took place between 1-8 February and consisted of two 45-minute online tests, taken within school under strict exam conditions. The results were then assessed and the top scoring students were rewarded with publicly awarded certificates and medals. Competitors could also put themselves forward for selection to attend the awards ceremony at IET London: Savoy Palace.
The national results are used to select a team to represent the UK at the International Biology Olympiad to be held in Hungary in July.
A bonus for students taking part in the competition is the chance to receive free BioNet membership for a year which gives access to articles, newsletters and The Biologist magazine.
Biology teacher Mrs Beer said: “We’re delighted with the result from our first cohort and hope we’ve inspired our current Year 12 students to have a go next year.”