THE appliance of science has helped college pupils win gold and silver at the National Chemistry Olympiad

St Ambrose College chemistry pupils had the perfect formula after winning a gold and four silver medals at the first time of asking.

Hitting the gold standard, was Edward England, aged 17, from Warrington, who wants to study engineering at university.

Edward said: “Chemistry is the study of the building blocks of life and if we want to manipulate the world around us to our benefit we need to have a fundamental understanding of all its properties.”

St Ambrose College head of chemistry Mark Elwell said: “This cohort has provided us with some of the best chemists St Ambrose has ever had and we wanted to give them an opportunity to demonstrate their capabilities.

“Chemistry, like all the sciences, is incredibly important because technology drives progress and the next generation of chemists, chemical engineers and engineers are those who will build on our dwindling resources and improve all our lives in the years to come.

“Good chemists are intuitive, imaginative and inquiring; it’s a subject that extends and challenges the young mind.”