British Physics Olympiad – Junior Physics Challenge

The British Physics Olympiad is a competition created by the Physics Department at the University of Oxford. Its core aim is to foster curiosity, celebrate successes, while also encouraging the study of Physics. The competition is designed to test both students’ understanding and problem-solving skills.  

The competition consists of two twenty-five-minute online multiple-choice papers where questions are based on an assortment of topics from across the IGCSE specifications along with some wider off-curriculum physics concepts. The OECD highlighted the need for the future workforce to develop analytical and problem-solving skills. The Olympiad is a fantastic opportunity for students to evidence this along with resilience; this is what makes the Olympiad both challenging and fun.  

Adam from Year 10 E, writes “A really pleasant set of questions that not only test one's knowledge of physics, but also their knowledge on the world of physics and the study of preceding physicists; a topic that is now generally overlooked in schools.” 

Once again, we are delighted that not only did the students apply their knowledge and problem-solving skills to the competition, but also achieved suitably brilliant outcomes in the second year of our entry. As a cohort Year 10 achieved the following results: 

Globally, 4,494 students participated in the awards and while this is an individual competition, it's great to see all of the young physicists in Year 10 excelling and showing such positivity. Our gold students finished in the top 18% of entrants across the world, silver in the top 40%, bronze in the top 60%.

A special mention to our two gold award winners of 2022: Adam B. and Abdallah T. Overall, Year 10 student results are once again filled with many great personal success stories, and we are proud of all the students that competed this year!   

What will our students go on to achieve next year?