In February, a selection of pupils took part in the British Biology Olympiad.  This involves completing an online scientific paper.  Each school is assigned approximately 10 places in this nationwide competition.  In total, 2850 pupils from 337 schools took part.  Carthusians achieved the following results:

Gold (top 5% of entrants) - Andre Zylstra
Silver (top 15% of entrants) - Elizabeth Rigby and Eleanor Kerns
Bronze (top 30% of entrants) - Sahil Shah and Jonathan Pacey
Highly Commended (top 45% of entrants) - Sam Harris
Commended – Nidhin Laji

The finals took place on Monday 18th April to Wednesday 20th April at the University of Birmingham School of Biosciences.  Four contestants from different schools were put forward to take a series of practical tests and written papers.  Andre Zylstra made it through to the final 4 (from in excess of 2500 pupils) and will now represent the UK in the International Biology Olympiad in Taiwan.

The four finalists at University of Birmingham

This is an outstanding achievement for everyone involved and we wish Andre Zylstra every success as he progresses to the next round.  The International Biology Olympiad takes place on Sunday 10th July to Sunday 17th July, it is an exciting opportunity to represent the UK in Taiwan.