Science Snippets Competition 2025
On Wednesday 7 May 2025, two Caterham competitors and a team of supporters ventured southeast to Tonbridge School, the venue for the annual Science Snippets competition.
With Caterham scientists having qualified for the final round of this prestigious event every year since the first Science Snippets in 2022, we were delighted to continue our track record this year. Mr Keyworth had the dubious honour of serving as one of the judges for the competition, alongside four other Science teachers and academics. As the GCSE-age round started, it became very clear why his honour could accurately be described as dubious: the finalists, representing schools from across Southeast England, were presenting an impressively broad range of science topics with great clarity and insight. Leonid’s (Fourth Year) entry saw him discussing how nuclear power works and what prospects it may have as an energy resource in the decades ahead.
The A Level round didn’t make the judges’ job any easier, as topics from radicals to the element caesium made enlightening appearances. Isabella’s (Lower Sixth) entry saw her discussing the nature of memory and how we can maximise our skills of storing and recalling information.
We enjoyed an address from a representative of the Young Scientists Journal (YSJ) while the judges deliberated about the results. The YSJ is open for all aspirational Science researchers and writers aged 12-20 and is administered by a team of volunteers who share our enthusiasm for making Science visible and accessible for all ages.
Although Caterham’s finalists did not finish in the medal places, they had achieved a superb accolade by qualifying for Wednesday’s show and sharing the stage with their fellow Science communicators (and, perhaps, future co-workers). In an era in which very well-established scientific principles and the scientific research method are being undermined by “armchair experts” and certain people with political soapboxes, Wednesday’s competitors are well placed to become great ambassadors for science and innovation. We wish them well for their ongoing studies and pursuits.
Mr R. Evans
Teacher of Chemistry, Moncrieff-Jones Society Chair, Head of Ridgefield
