British Physics Olympiad
Earlier this year, a dozen of us took part in Round 1 of the British Physics Olympiad. It was definitely a step up from the physics questions that we were used to in lessons — a lot of 'thinking outside the box', problem-solving, and many moments of "what is even going on?". Although a lot of questions left us scratching our heads, it was a very fun challenge. The first section of the paper involved a wide variety of physics problems, on topics ranging from supercooling water to a.c. circuits, while the second section of the paper consisted of a selection of long questions. We picked up new ways of thinking, gained an insight into the physics behind many real-world phenomena, and even learnt to appreciate the usefulness of a good approximation when the maths got too difficult. I came out of the paper having had a good time, but not expecting anything to come out of my performance in the paper.
You can imagine our surprise, then, when Advait (Year 13) and I were told a month later that we had achieved Top Gold awards, placing in the top 4.3% of students and earning invites to Round 2 of the BPhO, as well as Round 2 of the British Astronomy and Astrophysics Olympiad. What followed was several evenings of the two of us going over problems from past papers, before sitting down to write the papers. The BPhO Round 2 was, surprisingly, easier than Round 1 (perhaps because we had prepared beforehand). The problems were tough, but in a strangely enjoyable way – it was very satisfying to be able to solve the challenging physics problems that we were presented with. I wish I could say the same for the BAAO Round 2 – we found it to be much more challenging, focusing on unfamiliar concepts such as the fate of our Solar System and gravitational microlensing.
A few weeks later, we found out that Advait had achieved Silver in the BPhO and Bronze in the BAAO, and I had Gold awards in both papers. On top of this, I was pleased to receive an invitation to a training camp in Easter, where 14 of the top-performing students in the BPhO took part in intensive lectures, practicals, and exams, all for the chance to be selected to represent the UK in the International Physics Olympiad. It was a fun experience (albeit a lot of hard work – we were studying from 9am to 9pm every day!), offering me the chance to learn about advanced physics concepts and practical skills that I otherwise would have only covered at university.
Overall, the BPhO was a great opportunity — challenging, but definitely something that made everyone involved better physicists.
Report written by Srihith (Year 13)
This has been a year of strong BPhO performances by Physics students lower down the school too.
66 Lower Sixth and nine Year 11 students sat the Senior Physics Challenge, earning 20 Golds, 31 Silvers and 20 Bronze awards between them. The top scores were for Philip, who achieved a remarkable 45/50; to put this in context, at the time the grade boundaries were set - when 5542 of the estimated 10,000 total entries had been marked - the highest score achieved by anyone in the country was 39. Other honourable mentions go to Shreyas (37), Amey and Olin (both 34), and Vivaan and Jamie (both 32). Jamie is still in Year 11, so to score so highly is very impressive indeed!
The Intermediate Physics Challenge was sat by an extraordinary 120 Year 11 students and 14 Year 10s, earning 26 Golds, 43 Silvers, 46 Bronze 1, and 18 Bronze 2 Awards. Top scorers were Baodi (40), Pranav (37), Alex, Ayan, Rohan and Shaan (all 33). The top Y10 was Thajan with an impressive 28 earning him a Gold.