Seven golds in Chemistry Olympiad

Seven gold medals were awarded to Tonbridge boys in the latest Chemistry Olympiad, a national competition which tests students’ knowledge and problem-solving skills.

In what the school’s Head of Chemistry, Chris Lawrence, described as “undoubtedly the hardest Chemistry exam they will ever sit”, Tonbridge boys also won 17 silver and 13 bronze awards.

Aimed at those in the final year of their secondary education, the Olympiad challenges Chemistry students to apply familiar knowledge in new and interesting contexts. Question topics in a gruelling two-hour test ranged from fertiliser production, mobile phone batteries and uranium enrichment, to making the Prime Minister a cough suppressant and the potential need to ban helium party balloons.

The competition is made up of three stages, starting with the Round 1 paper and ending with four students representing the UK at the prestigious International Chemistry Olympiad.

The following Tonbridge boys gained gold awards: Andrew Ng (PS4), Harvey Dovell (PH5), Henry Weston (JH5), John Jung (SH5), Matthew Hayes (OH5), Joshua Sin (MH5) and Keith Wong (HS5).

For the first time, seven third year boys opted to take the test, all emerging with outstanding results. Kevin Lee (MH3), Olly Gedney (PS3), Ben Burgess (WW3), Max Lawrence (PS3) and Colin Chow (SC3) gained silver awards, and Alex Lawrence (PS3) and Oliver Poole (WH3) were awarded bronze.