A WINCHESTER student is preparing to put her skills under the microscope.

Stephanie Cornwell, 18, completed a 90 minute multiple choice biology questionnaire along with a team of sixteen upper sixth Peter Symonds College students in round one of the UK British Olympiad competition.

The competition encourages students to widen their knowledge beyond A Level standards, and continue to study the subject after college.

This year saw a record 5057 entries, and as one of the top achieving students in the country, scoring 65 out of 90, Stephanie has been invited to sit round two, a further 90 minute written paper.

If successful she would qualify for the finals and the chance to compete for one of four places to represent the UK in the 2014 International Biology Olympiad.

Each entry from the college gained recognition, including four gold medals, four silver, five bronze, two Highly Commended and one Commended, and all of the medal winners will be invited to an awards ceremony at the Royal Society in June.

Julian Foster, a biology teacher at Peter Symonds, said: “This has been our most successful year to date and we congratulate all the students on their success in round one of this increasingly popular national competition.

“We are especially pleased to Stephanie and her progress to the next round.”

Teams of young biologists from 60 countries across the globe will come together at this summer’s International Biology Olympiad held in Bali, Indonesia.