Wycombe Abbey: Senior Physics Challenge

In the cool darkness of a blacked-out teaching room at the Cavendish Laboratory, Gareth and Olivia bend over a helium neon laser and watch as the bright red beam scatters chalk dust in the air.

They're doing a diffraction experiment showing that light, when it passes through a small opening or round an obstacle, will create predictable patterns of bright and dark fringes. This experiment is part of the second-year physics course for Natural Sciences at Cambridge University. Yet both Gareth and Olivia are only 17.

Sixty three sixth-formers from almost as many state and independent schools scattered around the UK took part in last week's Senior Physics Challenge (SPC) - a programme designed to stretch participants' understanding of physics and give them a taste of university physics with the aim of encouraging more applicants to Cambridge's Natural Sciences course.

Both Gareth and Olivia say they enjoy being challenged and working well beyond the school curriculum in maths and physics. They come from different educational backgrounds but they're united by their enthusiasm. Gareth goes to King Edward the Sixth Grammar School, a voluntary-aided school in Birmingham. Olivia goes to Wycombe Abbey School, an independent all-girls school in Buckinghamshire.

Now in its fourth year, SPC is the brainchild of two theoretical physicists - Professor Mark Warner, a Fellow of Corpus Christi College, and Dr Anson Cheung (centre), a Fellow of Trinity College. Both are passionate about reaching out to the brightest school-leavers regardless of background.

"As awareness of the SPC scheme has spread throughout the school system, the number of really strong applications has risen fast. This year we had four applicants for every one place which meant we were able to select students who have the mathematical fluency and passion for their subject we're looking for," says Dr Cheung.

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