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UK Chemistry Olympiad

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Reply 40
Anyone got a mock mark scheme? Hope I got at least 60% otherwise I'm probably not getting a certificate...
Reply 41
Its normally ~30% for bronze, ~45-50% for a silver, ~55-60% for Gold.. only the top 16 in the country make it to round 2 so dont get your hopes up..

Anyone know roughly how long until the RSC release the medal boundaries?
Reply 42
Original post by Fruippe
Its normally ~30% for bronze, ~45-50% for a silver, ~55-60% for Gold.. only the top 16 in the country make it to round 2 so dont get your hopes up..

Anyone know roughly how long until the RSC release the medal boundaries?


Wow, really?! Gold for me. :biggrin:
Reply 43
Well, it all depends on how hard the resto of the country found it.. what was your raw mark? Above 70% and you are almost definitely a gold medaller.. What year are you in by the way?
Reply 44
Original post by Fruippe
Well, it all depends on how hard the resto of the country found it.. what was your raw mark? Above 70% and you are almost definitely a gold medaller.. What year are you in by the way?


Year 12. I think I got at least 40 but not sure. Maybe a bit less. Maybe more.
Original post by __abd__
Wanting to study Chemistry, obviously! It makes sense I think, they'll want to know if they are losing the best students to other subjects.

Thought Q3 was a bit strange, really relied on you knowing specific things. Bit harsh if (like me!) you didn't have a clue! I quite liked Q5 actually, if only for that clever jump in the middle. :P

Is it marked by our teachers? If so I should know how I did by the end of the week! Our Chem teacher is a god at marking!


I'm studying Chemistry at uni next year. After that paper, I don't know why anymore.

Q5 was the only one I felt confident with. The others I guessed a lot of. Our teachers mark it... I have a feeling they'll be laughing at my expense.
hah lol I got 19%
Original post by BlueDuck
I'm studying Chemistry at uni next year. After that paper, I don't know why anymore.

Q5 was the only one I felt confident with. The others I guessed a lot of. Our teachers mark it... I have a feeling they'll be laughing at my expense.


I don't know why i want to do it at uni either now. If I know the stuff, I can do it - hence why i find the organic questions at A level okay. But trying to get the right answer when idk half the stuff, then it doesnt go well. sir has marked mine. I've not done very well apparently :/
Reply 48
Hey, its called an 'olympiad' - hence it requires A LOT of practise and prior knowledge: it is designed to be very hard and for only the very best to succeed. Hell, the point of the test is for the RSC to pick out the best 16 candidates in the country so they need to distinguish between them!

If you aren't applying to Oxbridge and your in year 13 and you didn't do great, you have nothing to worry about (even less if you're like me in year 12).

A lot of the people who take this test are the best few in their school and will have had a lot of preparation by their teachers/ at home prior to the competition, so please don't let a poor result in this rather extreme chemistry challenge get you down!
Reply 49
Original post by Zhy
Year 12. I think I got at least 40 but not sure. Maybe a bit less. Maybe more.


Wow, that's really impressive - is that a confirmed mark? You have certainly beaten me!
Reply 50
How much do you reckon you'll need for bronze?
Reply 51
Original post by Fruippe
Wow, that's really impressive - is that a confirmed mark? You have certainly beaten me!


My chemistry teacher is really lazy and if he is anything like how he usually is I will most probably get my result after round 2 has started. :rolleyes:
Original post by Fruippe
Hey, its called an 'olympiad' - hence it requires A LOT of practise and prior knowledge: it is designed to be very hard and for only the very best to succeed. Hell, the point of the test is for the RSC to pick out the best 16 candidates in the country so they need to distinguish between them!

If you aren't applying to Oxbridge and your in year 13 and you didn't do great, you have nothing to worry about (even less if you're like me in year 12).

A lot of the people who take this test are the best few in their school and will have had a lot of preparation by their teachers/ at home prior to the competition, so please don't let a poor result in this rather extreme chemistry challenge get you down!


I did admittedly only get told two days beforehand about when we were doing the olympiad, so thats my excuse for doing crap.
Reply 53
Original post by .snowflake.
I did admittedly only get told two days beforehand about when we were doing the olympiad, so thats my excuse for doing crap.


hehe, same for us, I thought the biology and chemistry Olympiads were both around March time so did next to no prep until the ominous e-mail came through 3 or 4 days before telling us the date. Not hugely helpful!


As far as I can tell, it was harder than 2011 (since 2011 was a really easy paper) albeit mainly because they decided to include a quirky general knowledge section and some other weird things, so I think the bronze boundary will be slightly lower than last year (when it was 20 out of 55) so if you think you have at least 20 marks i'd say you can get your hopes up (a little) for something nice to slap on your UCAS application!

-- PS: I think the reason 2011 was so easy and 2012 was slightly easy/quirkier than in previous years is that Peter Wothers, a Cambridge University Natural Sciences lecturer has stopped writing questions for them (for whatever reason).

If you want a challenge, try looking back at the much earlier past papers (think i saw a real stinker about the freezing point of ice and the effect of salt on it from 2007)
Original post by Fruippe
hehe, same for us, I thought the biology and chemistry Olympiads were both around March time so did next to no prep until the ominous e-mail came through 3 or 4 days before telling us the date. Not hugely helpful!


As far as I can tell, it was harder than 2011 (since 2011 was a really easy paper) albeit mainly because they decided to include a quirky general knowledge section and some other weird things, so I think the bronze boundary will be slightly lower than last year (when it was 20 out of 55) so if you think you have at least 20 marks i'd say you can get your hopes up (a little) for something nice to slap on your UCAS application!

-- PS: I think the reason 2011 was so easy and 2012 was slightly easy/quirkier than in previous years is that Peter Wothers, a Cambridge University Natural Sciences lecturer has stopped writing questions for them (for whatever reason).

If you want a challenge, try looking back at the much earlier past papers (think i saw a real stinker about the freezing point of ice and the effect of salt on it from 2007)

I'd be so happy with a bronze, as opposed to a 'Well done for sitting in one place for two hours'. Don't think I've got the former though.
Reply 55
Original post by .snowflake.
I'd be so happy with a bronze, as opposed to a 'Well done for sitting in one place for two hours'. Don't think I've got the former though.


Im seriously doubting if I have either, but worrying about it won't help, since you're year 13 you have no proper use for the medal apart from pride and a confidence boost, so just keep concentrating on improving your chemistry in topics you are interested in.. thats what im going to do anyway.

That said, I wish you best of luck with the results - maybe PM me how you do and we can compare :wink: (It will no doubt be a confidence boost for you anyhow)
Original post by Fruippe
Im seriously doubting if I have either, but worrying about it won't help, since you're year 13 you have no proper use for the medal apart from pride and a confidence boost, so just keep concentrating on improving your chemistry in topics you are interested in.. thats what im going to do anyway.

That said, I wish you best of luck with the results - maybe PM me how you do and we can compare :wink: (It will no doubt be a confidence boost for you anyhow)


i'm not worried about it, whats done is done and I've bigger things to worry about i.e university interviews, actually getting the grades to meet said offers.
did it yesterday, it was so hard! what is the whole paper out of?
What is the paper out of this year?
Original post by .snowflake.
I don't know why i want to do it at uni either now. If I know the stuff, I can do it - hence why i find the organic questions at A level okay. But trying to get the right answer when idk half the stuff, then it doesnt go well. sir has marked mine. I've not done very well apparently :/


Ooh what uni are you going to? I hate organic chemistry - everyone thinks I'm mental but I find physical so much more interesting. Tell us when you find out how you do!

Original post by Fruippe
Hey, its called an 'olympiad' - hence it requires A LOT of practise and prior knowledge: it is designed to be very hard and for only the very best to succeed. Hell, the point of the test is for the RSC to pick out the best 16 candidates in the country so they need to distinguish between them!

If you aren't applying to Oxbridge and your in year 13 and you didn't do great, you have nothing to worry about (even less if you're like me in year 12).

A lot of the people who take this test are the best few in their school and will have had a lot of preparation by their teachers/ at home prior to the competition, so please don't let a poor result in this rather extreme chemistry challenge get you down!


At our school, we had the option of attending extra sessions but nobody did. Everyone who took it was in year 13 so it won't help us achieve anything. I'd quite like the sense of pride that I can do it when I want to though! Whether I get it or not...

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