A WINCHESTER student has proven she is one of the top young biology pupils in the country.

Peter Symonds College student, Eleanor Craven, is one of the top 16 biology students to take part in the largest national biology competition for sixth formers, organised by the Royal Society of Biology The 17-year-old competed in the competition against 7,500 students from 657 schools to get into the final which took place at the University of Warwick.

The Olympiad, organised by the RSB’s UK Biology Competitions team of volunteers, sees thousands of pupils every year taking part to in order to demonstrate their outstanding biology knowledge and receive recognition for their efforts.

Covering a wide range of topics, from botany to biochemistry, the pupils sit multiple-choice online based tests looking to expand and extend their current understanding of biology, with those scoring the top marks invited to take part in the final.

Only the top 16 students compete in the final of the British Biology Olympiad, where they undertake laboratory based and written exams. These challenging tasks look not only to test pupils, but also encourage them to apply what they have learned in the classroom to new and interesting scenarios designed to expand their understanding of the subject.

Eleanor said:"I've been sent through some preliminary work already which I'm looking forward to getting stuck into. Julian, my biology teacher at Peter Symonds, has been really supportive and helped me through the process.”

Chair of UK Biology Competitions, Dr Andrew Treharne said: “To reach the final of this year’s British Biology Olympiad is something these pupils should be immensely proud of. With such a large cohort taking part this year, to come out on top out of over 7,500 students is an incredible feat."

“It is always delightful to see students so enthusiastic about biology, and we hope that through the Olympiad we are able to champion the subject by bringing together some of the brightest biology pupils in the UK.”