A group of talented A-Level Biology students from King Edward VI College have received awards in the UK Biology Olympiad 2014.
Seven second year Biology students received awards for the British Biology Olympiad. This is a national competition run by the Society of Biology which is open to post 16 high achieving students.
William Swift achieved a Gold award which puts him with the top 300 students in the country. Callum Garnham, who travels to college from Coalville in Leicester, was awarded a Silver and Rebecca Amos-Hirst and Cara Sutton, both from Nuneaton, achieved Bronze awards.
Hanifa Hamjee and Oliver Longfield were awarded Highly Commended and Dana Thompson, who is also from Leicester, achieved a Commended. William Swift, Gold medal winner from Coventry said “I decided to enter the Biology Olympiad to put what I have learned in AS and A2 Biology to the test. I was surprised when I found out how I had done as I found the Olympiad questions very challenging.”
The competition attracts over 5000 entrants from across the UK every year. The aim is to challenge and stimulate talented students by offering a wider syllabus than A-level allowing students to demonstrate their knowledge and to be suitably rewarded. Medals are presented to the winners at an annual awards ceremony in London. Rebecca Amos-Hirst said “I entered the biology Olympiad because I enjoy biology and wanted to try something challenging. I found it pushed me to really think about applying what I know and was very pleased with my result.” Ian Howard, teacher of Biology at King Edward VI College, said “Biology students from our college have always done extremely well in this national competition. We are very proud of their achievements and hope they go on to university this autumn. A-Level Biology is a very popular subject at King Edward VI College as it allows progression to a wide range of careers and professions.”