A TALENTED student has been named as one of the top five physics students in the UK.

Finley Easton, 17, from Brotton, who attended Guisborough's Prior Pursglove College, has beaten off competition from more than 4,000 physics students across the globe to win a coveted spot in the UK International Physics Olympiad team. The college entered Finley into the first round of the competition, the British Physics Olympiad, following his success in the year 13 Physics Challenge. This was an hour-long exam paper based around A-level physics content designed to stretch and challenge students.

Finley came top of the year group at Prior Pursglove College, part of Tees Valley Collaborative Trust. His teachers, particularly physics teacher Lucy Parker, didn’t hesitate to enter him into the prestigious competition. The British Physics Olympiad is an annual competition in which more than 2,000 students from the UK and 2,000 overseas students take part.

Finley, a former Huntcliff School pupil, received the highest possible grade, a top gold, which only 170 students achieved. As a result of his high score, he was invited to sit two more, three-hour long papers, the British Astronomy and Astrophysics Olympiad, and round two of the British Physics Olympiad – all while juggling his A-levels and college exams. Finley achieved a silver grade in the astro paper, placing him in the top 22 out of 100, and he came in the top 12 students who sat round two of the Physics Olympiad.