Trinity students win top awards at British Biology Olympiad

Some of Trinity’s top Sixth Form Biologists took part in the British Biology Olympiad 2022 during our recent Science Week.

Over 10,000 students from more than 700 schools worldwide took part in this year’s competition.

Since only five per cent of participants were awarded Gold, and the next ten per cent Silver, we are very proud of our results which included Gold awards for Joshua Todd and Patrick Minton, and Silver for Emily Howes, Rosemary Goodall and Yash Shetty.

Mr Moralee, Head of Biology, explains: “The British Biology Olympiad (BBO) challenges and stimulates students with an interest in Biology to expand and extend their talents. Students are presented with topics and ideas which they are not familiar with, so compete with their problem solving skills and understanding of core principles. In addition to encouraging and rewarding pupils in their studies, the BBO is the first stage in selecting a team to represent the UK at the International Biology Olympiad (IBO). The IBO seeks to challenge by both theory and practical tests some of the top pre-university biology students in the world, with over sixty countries taking part.”

Joshua says: “I got involved with the Olympiad after hearing about it in a Biology lesson. Unlike other competitions, the biology Olympiad is unusual in that there are almost no official past papers in existence, hence it really tests your general knowledge of Biology and your ability to apply content learnt in the A Level to a novel setting. It felt amazing to do so well and I was so pleased to see so many others taking part and winning awards. I would like to congratulate Patrick in particular for achieving Gold as well!

“The Olympiad has greatly boosted my general biological knowledge and I had a great time applying what I knew to new scenarios. I have now been introduced to a number of new areas in the subject that I can now read into in more detail. Although I did brush up on my A-level knowledge before the test, much of the questions focused on tackling unusual cases and being introduced to new concepts. I just had to give it a go!”

Patrick adds: “Despite having offers to study Music at university I thought it would be a good challenge to take part in the Olympiad as I have always been very interested in Biology both in and outside of school. The questions in the challenge aren’t based on a syllabus but instead rely on application of general biological knowledge. I was absolutely delighted, and I must admit somewhat surprised, to achieve a Gold award!”