Abingdon School sixth form student, Patrick McCubbin, has been selected to represent the UK in the four-person team to compete in the International Biology Olympiad (IBO) 2018 in Iran. The IBO takes place from 15th – 22nd July in Tehran.

The annual IBO brings together the most gifted young biology talents from around the world with more than 60 countries taking part. The pre-university students are all winners of their respective national Biology Olympiads. The IBO aims to challenge this next generation of aspiring scientists through a series of theory and practical biological problems testing inventiveness, creativity and perseverance as well as knowledge of biology.

Speaking about his success Patrick, who is 18 and from Oxford said, “I was really happy when I heard, and a bit shocked if I’m honest! It will be a unique opportunity to visit Iran and to experience the different culture there, and it’s very exciting to compete against other young biologists from around the world and to further develop my theoretical and practical skills”.

Patrick was selected following a rigorous process beginning with the British Biology Olympiad back in January which involved two, one-hour multiple choice papers and close to 8000 students from 630 schools taking part. The top scorers then went through to the preliminary round of the IBO selection, taking a 90-minute written paper. Following this, 16 students were invited to the University of Warwick in mid-April, where they took four practical assessments and a written paper over two days. From the final round, four students were chosen to represent the UK at the International Biology Olympiad.

To prepare for the international competition, the UK team will train in July at Kew Gardens, Imperial College London, the Natural History Museum and the University of Reading.