On Tuesday 28 November, St Paul’s hosted 12 schools for a Downland section heat of the Royal Society of Chemistry’s Top of the Bench competition.
The SPS team of Kieran Mang (Fourth Form), Matthew Figueroa Duque (Fourth Form), Jake Hope (Fifth Form) and Dev Patel (Sixth Form) won the event, beating a strong field that included SPGS and Ashcroft Technology Academy – perennially tough competitors in this competition. Kieran was the only pupil from entire field of 52 who scored full marks on a component. Sadly, the SPS team were 1.5 marks away from claiming the lead over schools in the Downland section heats and so won’t get the chance to repeat their 2023 trip to the national finals.