Every year, the Royal Society of Chemistry organises this popular competition for schools in the UK. Schools send in a team (or two!) of three students to their local heat, which is usually held in March or April at a local university, then the winning team in each region goes on to compete in the National Final in June. Participants carry out a series of experiments linked to industrial or social needs followed by calculations. If you are interested in taking part, mention the competition to your Chemistry teacher.
For more information, visit their website.
I took part in the competition in my AS year, and although I narrowly missed out on qualifying for the finals it was a great experience which I was able to mention on my UCAS form. We were able to use equipment I would never have had access to at sixth form, such as a spectrophotometer, and apply our AS level Chemistry knowledge to real life situations. An example of an experiment we were required to do is calculating the concentration of alcohol in beer and wine using gas chromatography.
Katie Prescott (participant 2012)
