College team praised for excellent work in national chemistry competition

Budding chemists from Birkenhead Sixth Form College have taken part in the regional heat of Royal Society of Chemistry national scientific contest.

The Merseyside region’s Young Analyst Competition is held in the labs of the Chemistry Department of the University of Liverpool, and the College’s team of Mubarak Adedigba, Abbey Hassall and Matthew Davies came in just behind the eventual winners of the challenge amongst nearly 30 schools and colleges across the region.

The College enters a team each year and has boasted winners and runners-up in recent years. This time around, Mubarak, Abbey and Matthew had to use a variety of analytical techniques to accurately identify and measure a range of additives present in a cola drink.

Taking part in the competition gives students the chance to experience working in the state-of-the-art facilities in the new Central Teaching Laboratories at Liverpool University, and Mubarak, Abbey and Matthew were praised by the judging university staff for their excellent work in Sodium Hydroxide Standardisation.

Chemistry teacher, Steve Houghton, said: “The three students were able to carry out all the tasks with precision and flair but were unfortunately narrowly pipped to a winning position.”

Click here for more on studying Chemistry A Level at Birkenhead Sixth Form College.