Science Under the Spotlight at Farnham College

Monday 30 March 2009

TV science presenter Quentin Cooper was the star of the show at a Science Day hosted by Farnham College for year 9 and 10 students from neighbouring schools. Quentin is a regular on shows including The New Scientist series on the Discovery Channel, Science Fix on BBC4, The Material World on Radio 4 and Radio 2's Michael Parkinson show. At the event he demonstrated that science isn't only for boffins by sharing his enthusiasm for the scientific aspects of everything from ancient history to football, the latest gadgets and outer space.  

Recent research by the Royal Society of Chemistry shows that the take-up post-GCSE of all sciences has dropped by an alarming 25 per cent. Against this backdrop the College felt the Science Day could play an important role in inspiring more students to continue studying science and consider making it their career.  

Fred Carter, Director of Farnham College, said:"It was delightful to see so many young people taking an interest in science, and I'm sure Quentin gave them plenty to think about on their road to becoming budding scientists. Science and Maths are a popular and successful part of the curriculum here at Farnham. In 2008, we achieved 100% success rates in A Level Physics, Biology, Chemistry, Maths and Further Maths with an excellent proportion of high grades."  

Commenting after the event, Quentin Cooper said: "You never know who may have been sitting in the room today and what potential they may have. Perhaps something like this can give them a nudge towards science and they could go on to invent or discover the next big thing."