Stephen Perse Cambridge students selected from thousands to represent the UK on global stage

Year 11 student, Kseniia S., is the first ever female student to represent the UK at the International Olympiad in Informatics (IOI), while Year 13 student, George D., is part of the team representing the UK at the International Olympiad on Astronomy and Astrophysics. 

The academic Olympiads are national competitions in which students compete against their peers from across the country, to recognise academic excellence in specific subjects. Top performers are invited to national team selection camps and have the chance to be chosen to represent the United Kingdom on the international stage.

Remarkably, Kseniia, holder of one of our Conflict Bursary awards, was the top-performing UK female student in the British Informatics Olympiad and ranked fourth overall to become the first ever female student to represent the UK in the International Olympiad in Informatics, which will take place in Bolivia in July. She has also been selected to compete in the European Girls Olympiad in Informatics in Germany and the Western European Olympiad in Informatics in Italy, which will both take place in June.

Earlier this year, George ranked in the top one per cent of students nationally in the British Physics Olympiad (BPhO) overall. He also achieved a Gold award in the British Astronomy and Astrophysics Olympiad (BAAO), which placed him in the top 17 students across the country and secured him an invitation to the BAAO UK team selection camp in Oxford at Easter. Following the selection camp, George will now represent the UK at the International Olympiad on Astronomy and Astrophysics in August, in Mumbai. 

In addition to their classmates’ success, students from our school won three Gold Awards (placing them in the top five per cent nationally), three Bronze Awards (ranking in the top 35 per cent nationally) and three Certificates of Participation in the UK Linguistics Olympiad (UKLO) Round 1, a language analysis competition. The Advanced Level Linguistics Olympiad students solved challenges across 14 languages including Bassa, Bété, Ejagham, Karajá, Matsés, Apinaye, Tsafiki, Seri, Guambiano, Teribe, Tlapanec, Yakan, Amuzgo and Hebrew, as well as logic puzzles in proto-Basque, SENĆOŦEN, Cherokee and Egyptian.

Our students also scored highly in the British Biology and Chemistry Olympiads, with Charlie S., and Emma B., qualifying for the selection round for the British team, which will compete in the International Biology Olympiad 2025. In the UK Chemistry Olympiad, two students from our school secured places in the top 40 out of 16,200 entries and one was invited to the national team selection camp.

In total, students at our school won 10 Gold Awards across five academic Olympiads this year, showcasing their skills as mathematicians, linguists and scientists. Year 12 and 13 students also secured 12 Silver Awards and four Bronze Awards in the national competitions.

Commenting on the students’ successes, Richard Girvan, Principal, Stephen Perse Cambridge, said: “We are tremendously proud of the achievements of all of our students who took part in the Olympiads this year. These competitions aren’t just valuable for demonstrating our students’ academic abilities, but they strengthen important skills, including complex problem solving, critical thinking and communication, which will be crucial for them in their future academic endeavours.

“At Stephen Perse Cambridge, we have a rich legacy founded initially in women’s education, developing pioneers in academia and science, from code breakers at Bletchley Park during World War II to young women who are pushing the boundaries of informatics in our co-educational school today. The success of our bursary students, such as Kseniia, also highlights how important it is to ensure that all children and young people with determination and potential have access to outstanding academic and enrichment opportunities and we are proud to be able to offer these”.