UKChO

The UK Chemistry Olympiad (UKChO) is hosted by the Royal Society of Chemistry (RSC). Headquartered in London and Cambridge with over 50,000 members and an international publishing arm, the RSC is one of the world's most influential chemistry organisations. UKChO is the most prestigious chemistry competition for UK high school students, with problems that spark wide discussion and deepen students' understanding of the nature of chemistry.

UKChO is highly demanding: it requires A-Level (or equivalent) chemistry knowledge and the creativity to apply it to entirely new situations and problems. The paper typically consists of around 5-6 analysis problems, each with 3-10 sub-questions, to be completed in 120 minutes in English. Chinese students sit the same paper as British students at authorised test centres.

UKChO award boundaries are set by British students' performance — typically around 60-65% of UK entrants gain at least Bronze and the top 7-8% achieve Gold — and Chinese candidates are graded against the same boundaries for Gold, Silver and Bronze. All papers are returned to the UK and marked by RSC-appointed examiners. Gold and Silver winners may also be invited to the UKChO China Camp and the Cambridge Chemistry Camp.