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Having swept other schools aside to win the regional round of the Royal Society of Chemistry’s Top of the Bench competition, QE went on to take third place at the national final.

The team of four were competing against 32 other finalists – mostly from across the UK, but with some teams even travelling from schools in Belgium – at the event held at the University of Birmingham.

Chemistry teacher Charani Dharmawardhane said: “I was extremely proud of the boys, and it was great to see their talents being recognised.”

QE has a strong record in Top of the Bench at both regional and national level. This year’s team, comprising Year 9’s Amogh Bhartia, Bikiran Behera, of Year 10, Hari Gajendran, of Year 11, and Heemy Kalam, of Year 9, led throughout the Chilterns and Middlesex regional heat at St Benedict’s School in Ealing in the autumn to claim their place in the national final.

At Birmingham, they faced a two-stage challenge in the competition, which assesses competitors’ knowledge, teamwork, and competency when faced with unknown situations. This year’s event theme was Materials.

After a welcome from Dr Mark Read from Birmingham University and Steve Nelmes from the Royal Society of Chemistry, the competitors first had to sit individual tests designed to assess their knowledge of Chemistry in areas well beyond what they would normally learn in the classroom.

Then they faced a practical challenge – an experiment based on biodegradable plastics, particularly those derived from polylactic acid (PLA).

Following the experiment, the boys attended an interactive lecture from Connor Stubbs, a Birmingham University expert on plastics and the environment, and had the opportunity to familiarise themselves with issues surrounding the use of plastics.

Commenting afterwards, Hari said: “I really enjoyed the day and the chance to explore Chemistry outside of the classroom.”

A QE team has reached the national final of the prestigious Top of the Bench chemistry competition after winning their regional round.

Amogh Bhartia and Heemy Kalam, of Year 9, Bikiran Behera, from Year 10, and Year 11’s Hari Gajendran won first prize in the Chilterns and Middlesex Region to secure their place at the final in the spring, where they will compete against the UK’s best-performing schools.

Chemistry teacher Charani Dharmawardhane said: “The boys led consistently throughout the competition; they had trained for weeks and their efforts certainly paid off.”

Top of the Bench is an annual event organised by The Royal Society of Chemistry. As well as providing pupils in Key Stages 3 and 4 with an opportunity to compete against each other, it also presents them with scientific challenges which take them beyond the confines of the curriculum. Its stated aim is to “encourage and reward high achievement in chemistry”.

The hour-long regional competition at St Benedict’s School in Ealing comprised nine rounds. The boys had to work together and apply their knowledge as creatively as possible. The questions ranged from naming compounds to knowing which former British Prime Minister read Chemistry at university (Margaret Thatcher).

The QE entrants in this year’s UK Chemistry Olympiad have acquitted themselves well in the first round, according to the published results.

All 11 of the Year 13 boys chosen to enter the competition were awarded either a gold, silver or bronze certificate. Nationally, of the 6,500-plus pupils who participated, only the top 8% received gold, with 25% achieving silver and 31% bronze – and nearly 40% received no award at all. By contrast, QE’s boys gained four golds, six silvers and one bronze between them.

Chemistry teacher Elizabeth Kuo said: “By any reckoning, our sixth-formers did very well in what is a deliberately challenging national competition. The questions set are very hard, but they provide the boys with an excellent opportunity to practise such difficult application-type questions.”

Round 1 consisted of a two-hour written paper set by the Royal Society of Chemistry.
Gold awards went to Aneesh Chopada, Milan Hirji, Showgo Kimura and Michael Takla.
Abhishek Balkrishna, Abbeykeith Kugasenanchettiar, Pranav Santhosh Kumar, Karthigan Sriranganathan, Mohit Vijayakumar and Abhinav Vudathu achieved silver, while Milun Nair was awarded a bronze.