Student achieves Global Gold Medal at the British Physics Olympiad

Congratulation to Danny in year 12 for his outstanding achievement and his Global Gold Medal at the British Physics Olympiad.

The Olympiad has been going on for many years, but it has now been developed with ten annual Physics and Astronomy & Astrophysics competitions for students from Year 11 to 13. It is entered by well over 20,000 students every year, with around 2000 taking the BPhO each year. This year BSN’s own Danny (Y12) entered the competition and achieved outstanding results, culminating with a Global Gold medal for his efforts.

Mr Kamitsuka who teaches physics at BSN said : “I am extremely proud of Danny and all of our students who took the BPhO for their hard work, their independence, and their willingness to accept difficult challenges. It is the great task of all our students to find their passions and challenge themselves to achieve excellence with them. Danny is very lucky to have found a such a passion and he has set the bar high for excellence in physics. I hope that many of our passionate younger physics students will choose to participate in these competitions as well and branch out to find opportunities of their own.”

Well done Danny!

These competitions are hard work, but the benefits are undeniable. Questions are designed to bring out analytical skills and to identify those with both deeper understanding and a resilience in the face of difficulty. With average marks often being less than 30%, those who win a medal of any colour are very capable problem-solvers. It’s no surprise that success in the BPhO has a strong correlation with successful Oxbridge applications in physics and related fields of study. As Danny reflects on his own experience, he has one final thought for our future physics students: “Was the pain worth it? …perhaps. But it does feel good to be recognised.”