Year 13 Horsham student wins ‘top gold’ at Physics Olympiad

Christ’s Hospital student, Hillary Qiu, won ‘top gold’ at a competition which is designed to test the very best school physicists from around the world.

‘Top gold’ indicates that Hillary was within roughly the top 3% of entrants.

The competition had more than 4,500 entrants and aims to encourage the study of Physics as well as recognise excellence in young physicists.

In November last year, nine of the school’s year 13 physics pupils took part in the first round of the British Physics Olympiad.

Five pupils were awarded ‘bronze II’, three were awarded ‘bronze I’, and Hillary Qiu was awarded ‘top gold’, placing her in the top 3% of entrants.

It also qualified her to proceed to the second round of the Olympiad, and the British Astronomy and Astrophysics Olympiad, both of which are invite-only for ‘top gold’ award winners.

Hillary, who is studying for A levels in physics, maths, further maths and chemistry, said: “It was a difficult paper but also fun – I enjoyed it!”

Craig Donoghue, Head of Physics at Christ’s Hospital, said: “I’m incredibly pleased with the success of all of our British Physics Olympiad candidates this year. It is a testament to their hard work in preparation for the paper that all nine secured medal awards. They have all performed extremely well and we are very proud of their achievements. Hillary’s success is exceptional, and we wish her the very best in her rigorous preparations for the second round at the end of January.”

The top 14 students in both the first and second rounds will be invited to proceed to the third round, which includes a training camp in Oxford and potential selection for the UK team at the International Physics Olympiad.