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One of Britain’s most prestigious scientific bodies has launched a competition that it believes will expose the “disappearance of knowledge” from much of the school science curriculum.

In the contest organised by the Royal Society of Chemistry, pupils will sit a paper in which 1960s O-level questions will have been mixed with those from later decades, the most recent from a GCSE exam set in 2005.

Richard Pike, chief executive of the society, said he expected that only the very best pupils would be able to answer the earlier questions because of the reduction in the scientific knowledge that pupils are expected to have.

“It has moved from deep-thinking complex problem solving to discussion of topical subjects such as carbon dioxide emissions,” said Pike. “Current GCSEs are about spoon-feeding, you virtually have the answers put in front of you.”

Pike highlighted a question from a 2005 GCSE paper in which pupils were given the formula for calculating how much carbon dioxide is produced when octane, an ingredient in petrol, is burnt by an engine. They were then asked to calculate how much CO2 was produced by 114g of octane.

“A bright 16-year-old could do it in 10 seconds without having to think about chemistry,” said Pike. “Some years ago you would have to derive that equation for yourself. Now they just give it to you.”

The pupil winning next month’s competition will receive £1,000 while nine runners-up will each collect £500. So far about 1,000 pupils have entered.

A study published at the end of last year by the Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development showed that Britain had fallen from fourth to 14th in international rankings for school science since 2000.

Question changes

1971 O-level question
A substance is readily soluble in hot water but almost insoluble in cold water. The same substance sublimes when heated. What would you expect to see if this substance were heated:

a) in a long dry tube
b) in an open evaporating tube?

2005 GCSE question
Polymers like polythene can be disposed of in landfi ll sites or by incineration.
Give one problem associated with each method of disposal...

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