The UK team of four school students have all secured medals in this year's International Chemistry Olympiad, held in Budapest in July.

John Morgan of Abingdon School, Oxfordshire, and Nilpesh Patel of St Paul's School, London, won silver medals while Peter Aisher of Tonbridge School, Kent, and Sasha Kasas, also from St Paul's School, took bronze.

The Olympiad has been running since 1968. Its aim is to promote friendship and co-operation among pupils and the exchange of teaching experience. 

The UK team was selected following three qualifying rounds of tests, open to all UK schools and colleges.

In the final, the contestants' theoretical and practical skills were tested in two tough five-hour exams against 65 other countries.

Next year's final will be held in the UK in Cambridge. Nominations for the first round of the competition are now open.

The RSC, in association with INEOS and the Royal Society, is offering state-maintained schools and colleges, that have not entered the competition before, the opportunity to nominate students to take part in a new online mentoring scheme. This will help pupils prepare for the first round of the Olympiad.