RGS Chemists Aim for ‘Top of the Bench’
The Chemistry Department recently took part in the Chemistry ‘Top of the Bench’ competition providing budding chemists with the chance to see Chemistry in a new light and put practical and teamwork skills into action. Dr William Stephen explains how ‘Top of the Bench’ is designed to inspire excitement about Chemistry:
“The Chemistry Department took two teams of four keen Chemists to compete at the University of Birmingham on Saturday 18 November.
Each team comprised a pupil from Year Eleven and Year Ten as well as two pupils from Year Nine. The teams worked in pairs over a rigorous nine rounds to complete highly challenging written Chemical problems that tested knowledge and understanding up to A Level standard.
In a large preliminary round of 25 teams from schools throughout the West Midlands, our two teams came 4th and 22nd which represented excellent achievement. The top ten schools will be invited back to the University of Birmingham to compete in the Regional Final and the winner will go through to the national final.
Well done to our two teams. Our pupils came away from the competition keen to deepen their knowledge further, full of even more questions and enthused about the prospect of student life at University!”.