Royal Society of Chemistry’s Olympiad 2025
After weeks of practice, 31 Epsom Sixth Form students took part in the Royal Society of Chemistry’s ‘Olympiad’ competition this week. In this year’s paper, pupils were challenged on topics as varied as clay pigeon shooting, Charlie XCX’s Brat Summer 2024 and Raman spectroscopy – initially developed by Indian physicist CV Raman, the first scientist from Asia to win a scientific Nobel prize.
Results are announced in early March, and expectations are high after last year, when over 92% of Epsom students taking part won a medal.
Third Annual Inter-House Chemistry Challenge
Year 10 pupils took part in the third annual inter-house Chemistry Challenge recently. The competition, organised in collaboration with the Royal Society of Chemistry, saw teams compete in a challenging test of applied chemical knowledge in a ‘quick-fire’ quiz format, on topics as varied as enzyme activity, elements used in orthopaedic surgery, and even the chemical cause of the emotional instability of the Mad Hatter from Alice in Wonderland.
The College has seen great success in this competition in the past, with the teams from Holman and Carr both representing the College in the regional finals over the past two years. Results are eagerly awaited in March, to reveal the winning house and whether any teams will advance to the Southeast Regional Finals at Greenwich University or the Downland Local Section Finals at Kingston University in May.
