Congratulations to Dan van der Spuy and Lucas Richardson, who earned Bronze Awards in the New Zealand Chemistry Olympiad for 2020.

"The annual Chemistry Olympiad is an international chemistry competition for teams of four young people from around the world. The New Zealand team is selected, trained and coordinated as a collaboration between the universities and high schools.

The 53rd Olympiad is to be held in Osaka, Japan from 24 July to 2 August 2021.

Selection of a training group is made around September/October of the previous year and is based upon performance in a selection test. It will next be held on Friday 18 September 2020. The selection test assumes knowledge of only Year 12 (NCEA Level 2) Chemistry and is great preparation for these exams.

During term one, the training group will undergo a programme which includes reading material, problem assignments and a test in early March. From the test, 30 students are chosen in mid-March for a training camp to be held in the April school break. The International Olympiad takes place in July.

The initial NZCHO test in September is an opportunity for students to be challenged and test skills that will extend them and prepare them for the external exams. Students will be awarded Gold, Silver and Bronze certificates based on their level of achievement. The results of this test will also be used to select the students in the NZCHO training group."