Thursday 8 July 2021
It was another successful year for Selby College’s A Level Biology students at the UK’s prestigious Intermediate Biology Olympiad (IBO) competition – with one student taking home a Gold medal.
As part of the competition, students were able to challenge and test their biology knowledge against students from around the world.
17 A Level Biology students from the College achieved an award, which ranged from gold, silver, bronze and commended. Student Tom Huetson came in the top 5% of all participants, making him the College’s first ever gold medallist in the competition.
Tom said: “I really enjoyed taking part in the Biology Olympiad and being able to test and enhance my knowledge of biology. I found out about the competition from my tutor Kirsty and wanted to take part so that I could add it to my UCAS application. I never imagined that I would be in the top 5% of all the participants or receive a gold medal. I’m over the moon to be the College’s first gold medallist.”
More than 25 A Level Biology students from the College took part in the competition, which included a one hour multiple choice paper online on topics which are covered at GCSE and A Level. The exam also included additional challenges requiring their problem-solving skills and understanding of core principles.
The students presented with an accolade included:
- Tom Huetson - Gold medal
- Lucy Ruddle – Silver medal
- Lauren Jones – Silver medal
- Georgia Vizard - Bronze medal
- Charlotte Murphy - Bronze medal
- Taite Langdon - Bronze medal
- Emma Battle – Highly commended
- Megan Hughes – Highly commended
- Holly Huntington – Highly commended
- Selina O'Brien – Highly commended
- Lily Smith - Highly commended
- Reanna Wheeler – Commended
- Katy Vause - Commended
- Katie Stephenson - Commended
- Julia Szubert - Commended
- Rob Arnold - Commended
- Mohammad Alboush – Commended
The competition, which is open to students in their first year of post-16 education, took place on 12th June, 2021 – with more than 8870 students taking part from 449 schools worldwide.
“I am immensely proud of their achievements in the competition, particularly as they have faced so much disruption to their education over the last 18 months. The competition is a fantastic way for them to test their practical and theoretical biology skills ahead of starting university or moving on to their next venture,” said Kirsty Butterworth, Biology Lecturer at Selby College
The Intermediate Biology Olympiad is organised by the UK Biology Competitions committee and administered by the Royal Society of Biology.
