A student from Pembroke has been selected as one of only four UK pupils to represent the country at the International Chemistry Olympiad. Richard Simon's performances in Papers 1 and 2 of the British Physics Olympiad ranked him second in the country. With similarly outstanding results in chemistry, it was no surprise that he was invited to attend training camps as part of the team selection for both of the international Olympiad competitions. During the Easter holiday, Richard attended the chemistry training camp at Cambridge University, where he was successful in selection for the GB team which will compete in Hanoi, Vietnam, this summer. He then attended the physics training camp at Oxford University. Both camps included a demanding programme of talks, examinations and practical assessments. He won the practical section of the competition, thus placing him firmly as one of the best in the UK. However, as it became clear that there was an unfortunate clash of dates between the chemistry and physics International Olympiad finals in the summer, Richard had to make a tough decision and he withdrew from the physics selection process. Richard attended the British Physics Olympiad Award ceremony at the Royal Society in London, where he received awards as a Physics Olympiad finalist from Professor John Perkins CBE (chief scientific advisor at the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills) and for Outstanding Performance in the Physics practical paper (the NPL Experimental Prize), from Dr JT Janssen, of the National Physical Laboratory. All of the individuals selected for the GB Olympiad teams in chemistry and physics have displayed scientific and analytical skills significantly beyond those required at Sixth Form level. Richard attended Stackpole VC School, briefly Greenhill School in Tenby and was awarded an Academic Scholarship to Abberley Hall School, where his head of Science was Richard Toobey from Manorbier. He then went on to a Major Academic Scholarship to Marlborough College, and now has an offer to study Natural Sciences at Emmanuel College, Cambridge University this September.