Year 12 science students recently attended the British Science Festival 2026. Held in Southampton from September 16–20, 2026, the five-day event marked the city's first time hosting since 1992. The festival was organised by the British Science Association alongside the University of Southampton, welcoming over 10,000 visitors to approximately 90 free events.

During the visit, our students engaged in a wide array of lectures, workshops, and hands-on experiments. Highlights included sessions such as Across time and tide (exploring the deep sea), electronic textiles, and uncovering hidden secrets of the genome. In addition, students toured specialised facilities across the university, including clean rooms, the wind tunnel, mechanical and chemical engineering labs, and the chemistry laboratories.

The undisputed highlight for both students and teachers was the Chemistry Hub. It offered a wealth of interactive activities and experiments, including bronzing coins, gold-plating fingerprints, utilising lasers in spectroscopy, making cups of tea, crafting slime, and detecting microplastics on coral.