Enjoying the Pressure at Cambridge Chemistry Race
Winchester College entered a team for the first time to the annual Cambridge Chemistry Race at the University of Cambridge's Chemistry Department.
National Competition
This year's competition saw 58 schools from all over England taking part. The format had teams attempting to answer 60 questions in 2 hours, only being allowed to attempt 6 questions at any one time and being given a new question whenever they arrived at a correct answer. A further challege was that each new question was harder than the last, and this, coupled with the presence of a large, almost-live, scoreboard dominating the auditorium, provided addtional excitement.
A Podium Finish
The Winchester team comprised of Sixth Form pupils Paul (College), Christopher (College), and Vinson (College). Although teachers were not allowed in the auditorium during the race, the team reported back that the race was "The most fun I've had in ages." When the final result was declared the team has scored 186 out of 240, and finished in second place.
The pupils will each continue their interest in Chemistry at university, as Paul has won an offer to read Chemistry at Oxford University, while Christopher and Vinson have offers to read Natural Sciences at Cambridge.
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