🎉 Huge congratulations to Catherine B (Y12) for her incredible achievements in Physics!
Catherine has been awarded an Emerald Certificate in the prestigious British Physics Olympiad Senior Physics Challenge, run by the University of Oxford. She achieved this distinction as one of the top 200 students out of over 1,500 entrants. She also secured a Gold Award in this highly competitive challenge. On top of that, Catherine scored an impressive 31/40 in the global Physics Bowl competition, demonstrating her skills among the best students worldwide.
As a girls’ school, we’re passionate about empowering young women to excel in STEM fields and break down barriers. Catherine’s success perfectly highlights what our students can achieve with the right support and encouragement. #BenefitsOfAnAllGirlsEducation.
Our Physics A level results in 2024 demonstrated that 63.2% of our students received a grade A*-B compared to the national average of 54.0%. The same is true for Biology 69.4% A*-B vs a national average of 50.1% and Chemistry, 83.8% A*-B vs a national average of 55.2%.
Physics is about understanding the world around us and solving real-world problems. Studying physics opens up a vast array of exciting and impactful careers, and for girls, it’s a powerful subject that builds confidence, critical thinking, and future-shaping potential from tackling climate change to building sustainable tech, physics is at the heart of many global challenges. Importantly it builds transferable skills, valued in every job role; analytical thinking, problem-solving, resilience and creativity.
“The world needs more women in science. We need your curiosity, your creativity, and your voice to answer the big questions.”
— Dr Jess Wade, Physicist and Advocate for Women in STEM
Here’s some interesting facts about girls studying Physics where early stereotypes and unconscious bias still play a major role as girls often doubt whether physics is “for them”, despite comparable grades to boys. Here at Burgess Hill Girls we’re challenging the norm!
-
Only 23% of A‑level physics students in the UK are girls yet it remains the least gender-balanced STEM A‑level subject compared to biology and chemistry.
-
Girls and boys perform equally well in physics: in 2019, 8.5% of girls achieved an A* compared to 8.8% of boys; 28.7% of girls and 27.6% of boys achieved an A.
