Nineteen Oundle pupils received medals and highly commended certificates in the recent Royal Society of Biology Olympiad with Emilia Broadbent (17), Laura Woodrow (18) and Isaac Uwins (17) receiving Gold medals, placing them in the top 6.6% of pupils entering the competition.
Open to Sixth formers around the world, the Olympiad consists of two 50 question papers.
Emila commented, “What feature is possessed by angiospermophytes but not by coniferophytes? This was one of the many formidable questions we faced in the Biology Olympiad. The questions are not the type that spring to mind when one thinks ‘Biology exam’. Instead of being asked to label a plant cell, we were challenged with questions that contained words we had never even heard of, on topics we had never studied; ones that require a holistic understanding of Biology.
Unlike so many exams of today, rote learning of the syllabus was not required; in fact, the Olympiad is not even confined to a syllabus. We were challenged and stimulated by questions from every corner of Biology, and that is what makes it such a rewarding experience.
Many thanks must go to our teachers for enabling us to take part and giving us the broad knowledge of Biology that allowed us to succeed and to secure invitations to the awards ceremony at the Royal Institution this summer.”