King’s Ely duo on fine form in British Biology Olympiad

Two King’s Ely Sixth Form students are celebrating success in an international Science competition.

Barclay Greenway and Georgia Gordon, who are both in Year 13 and studying Biology at A-Level, have achieved Silver and Highly Commended, respectively, in this year’s British Biology Olympiad (BBO). More than 13,000 students from 800 schools worldwide participated in the contest. Barclay’s Silver award places him in the top 10 per cent of UK students who entered.

The BBO is designed to challenge and stimulate students who have an interest in Biology. Pupils are presented with topics and ideas which they are not familiar with, so they compete with their problem-solving skills and understanding of core principles. Co-curricular opportunities are high on the agenda at King’s Ely, and the BBO is a great example of how enrichment helps to place pupils’ studies in a wider intellectual landscape. Other enrichment opportunities at King’s Ely Sixth Form include talks by visiting speakers, either to the whole Sixth Form or to smaller subjectspecific academic societies, student-led discussion evenings, and visits and trips organised by academic departments.

In 2022, 42 per cent of GCSE results at King’s Ely were Grades 9-8. 50 per cent of all STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics) subjects were at Grade 9. 46 per cent of A-Level results were at A*-A, with students securing places at their first-choice institutions, the majority of which were Russell Group Universities.