A Level Chemistry students at Gower College Swansea have performed exceptionally well at this year’s Royal Society of Chemistry Olympiad.

The annual event is open to second year A Level students who are expected to achieve grades of A or A*in their exams, and is a challenging exercise that truly stretches the most committed young chemists.

Gower College Swansea has been awarded ‘Associate’ status by the Royal Society, the UK’s national science academy.

The Royal Society’s Associate Schools and Colleges scheme is a network of enthusiastic teachers who share their experience in order to help promote excellence in science and mathematics teaching.

Gower College Swansea Biology lecturer Amy Herbert was recently interviewed by the Royal Society for their September podcast during which she was asked about the college’s various STEM projects.

Two groups of A Level Science students from Gower College Swansea have received the highest level of award - the Gold CREST - from the British Science Association for their work with local companies.

One team of students worked with Swansea Bay Tidal Lagoon and were given the task of incorporating recycled materials into a bio-block design while ensuring they were successful at colonising marine life.

The other team worked with Welsh Water and were tasked with designing and constructing a model of a chemical dosing rig with complete automatic control.

A Level student Elan Daniels is set to spend a week at Swansea’s Pet Hospital after winning a national work experience competition.

Elan is studying maths, geography, chemistry and biology at Gower College Swansea and is also a part of the medical sciences and vet sciences tutorial group. She was selected as the Swansea area’s winner after entering the PDSA’s Veterinary Student Work Experience competition.

A talented group of Science students have scooped a second award for their work on an innovative EESW (STEM Cymru) project.

In 2014, Jamie Dougherty (as team leader), Anna Bevan, Jiaman Cheang, Alana Borthwick, Ruth Harvey, Joshua Cox and David Small worked with Tidal Lagoon Swansea Bay on a project brief entitled: “find additional methods of sustainable, renewable energy generation for the Tidal Lagoon.”

Gower College Swansea students are embarking on a range of exciting STEM research projects thanks to the Innovation Fund and EESW. The projects have allowed students to collaborate with Tidal Lagoon (Swansea Bay) plc and Dwr Cymru Welsh Water to find solutions to genuine problems faced by industry.

Gower College Swansea's Science Academy continued with a bang as Matthew Tosh, award-winning science pyro-technician, gave a dynamic and highly inspirational presentation on the science behind fireworks.