Chemistry Students Put to the Test in Merseyside Young Analyst Competition

Three Chemistry students put their practical skills to the test and had to think on their feet as they competed in this year’s Royal Society of Chemistry Merseyside Young Analyst Competition.

Hosted by the University of Liverpool, first year Honours Programme students William Davies, Olivia McGowan and Emily Wagstaff were given the opportunity to work in the state-of-the-art facilities at the new Central Teaching Laboratories, using their knowledge and analytical skills in specially designed tests.

The Sixth Form College team had to take what they could from an initial competition briefing and add that to the learning foundation they already had in order to perform experiments specifically chosen as they are not of A Level specification.

First year, Emily Wagstaff, who was part of the trio, said: “After the briefing, we had two-and-a-half hours to perform different tasks in our team. Some of the experiments were things that were totally new to us, which was the purpose of the competition, but we had to complete them as accurately as we could. Even though we’d not done them before, we did understand what was needed and we got the experiments done, which we were all pleased with because we weren’t expecting to be able to do them all!”

Using a variety of analytical techniques, the team, who joined us from Wirral Grammar School for Girls and Woodchurch High School respectively, had to accurately identify and measure a range of additives in a Cola drink.

Honours student Emily, who studies Chemistry, Biology, Maths and Physics, continued: “It gave us some great experience in a situation that was outside of our comfort zone and really tested us. Even though the experiments weren’t A Level specified,  it can all be related and it gave us a better feel of how to perform other experiments that are similar. The broader background knowledge can really help.”

Although the team didn’t take home the competition trophy, Emily, with designs on a career in Medicine and set for the highest possible grades in the summer, added: “We didn’t find out the winners on the day but our teacher, Steve Houghton, was sent a breakdown of the correct answers and we got really close. Will (Davies) got very competitive when we were there! I’ve known him for a while but it was a chance for me to get to know Liv (McGowan) who I’ve not crossed paths with as much, so it was a great experience.”

Science teacher, Steve Houghton, who enters a team into the Young Analyst Competition each year, said: “We didn’t manage to get into the top three but the team did really well. It was great for the students to get to work in the new labs at the University of Liverpool and I’m sure the experience will be very beneficial to all three students.”