Brentwood School scientists among biology’s elite

Brentwood School Upper Sixth biologists have proved their scientific credentials with top honours in the recent British Biology Olympiad (BBO), open to students from around the world.

Their hard work paid off for 18-year-olds James Rowell and Alexander Rowley, who not only excelled to secure the Olympiad’s top Gold award, but also ensured their place among the top 7.2% of competing students.

Fellow Sixth Formers Thomas Haward and Tara Jones proved to be among the top 8.2% of young biologists to achieve Silver awards and Jaidaksh Anilkumar attained a Bronze. All five had to complete two 45-minute multiple-choice papers taken online under staff-supervised exam conditions.

The BBO, which is open to students in post-16 education studying at school or college, challenges and stimulates students with an interest in biology to expand and extend their talents. It enables students to demonstrate their knowledge and to be suitably rewarded with publicly recognised certificates and medals.

Mrs Rachael Bentley, Acting Head of Biology, congratulated the five top scoring students on their success. ‘These are challenging tests and it is unusual for two students from the same school to achieve Gold. The Olympiad tests the students’ all-round Biology knowledge which is why universities really value their participation,’ she said.

Headmaster Ian Davies also congratulated the five biologists on their achievements and presented each with a certificate and medal. It was a double success for Alexander who recently obtained a Gold award in the 51st annual Royal Society of Chemistry (RSC) Olympiad 2019.