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Students Jayden Camm, Patrick Shakesby and Regan Thomas teamed up to triumph in a chemistry challenge open to our students.
The trio worked successfully as a team to claim first prize in the College’s Schools Analyst Competition, which links in with the UK-wide challenge run by the Royal Society of Chemistry and Northumbria University.
The competition enables students to expand on their existing chemistry knowledge, skills and aptitude for analytical science through practical experiments based on relevant societal or industrial problems.
Jayden, Patrick and Regan came out on top after tackling tasks relatively familiar to them, such as titrations, and others which were likely to be unfamiliar, such as chromatographic separations or atomic and molecular spectroscopy.
Jayden said: “The competition allowed us to use our knowledge of chemistry and apply it to an unfamiliar scenario, requiring both theory and practical skills. Before we started each stage of analysis, we discussed the options and outcomes before using the equipment provided to come up with a logical solution.
“Taking part underlined the fact that the chemistry we learn about in class comes from teams of chemists working together to analyse compounds in real-life contexts.”
Patrick added: “The competition was enjoyable and I was pleased and proud to win. We made sure we were well prepared for whatever we may have been asked to do in the competition and broke down the practical tasks, focusing on one at a time and following the steps. Winning the competition has given me the confidence to achieve the best I can in my chemistry studies.”
Find out more about our A Level Chemistry course