A huge congratulations to our talented Year 10 scientists from SDCC who recently put their skills to the test in the prestigious UK Biology Challenge.

Hosted by the British Biology Competitions charity, this is a massive national event. This year, a staggering 42,000 students from across the country took part. The challenge is designed to test raw scientific curiosity, requiring students to complete two 25-minute online exams covering general biological knowledge—with absolutely no preparation or revision allowed beforehand!

The grade boundaries are incredibly high, with a Silver award requiring a score of 85.00% (placing students in the top 10% nationally), and a Bronze award requiring 80.39% (the top 15% nationally).

Orson took home an incredible Silver award, just missing out on Gold by a fraction. Reflecting on the surprise challenge, Orson said:

"It was definitely a shock not being able to revise for it, but it made it really rewarding to see how much biological knowledge we actually knew just from our everyday lessons and curiosity. Missing Gold by just a little bit gives me something to aim for next time!"

Alongside our main medalists, Lewis achieved a brilliant Bronze medal, and many more of our students across both campuses performed brilliantly to receive Highly Commended certificates, placing them in the top 15% of the entire country.

This is a spectacularly strong performance from our Year 10 scientists. To rank so highly in a pool of 42,000 students across the UK is a massive achievement. Well done to everyone who took part!