People in science teaching jobs in London appear to be helping their pupils get the most out of the subject as two female students from schools in the capital have been named the 2013 Royal Institution’s L'Oreal Young Scientists of the Year.

The duo were crowned after a national competition that aimed to explore the science of colour. The most talented key stage three pupils from around the country were whittled down to a group of 18 and Year 9 students Alicia Pope and Anna Stevenson won the annual title at new Spectacular Colour Chemistry workshop to mark the L'Oreal Young Scientist Centre's 4th anniversary at the Royal Institution.

Alicia from Grey Coat Hospital School in Westminster said: "I really enjoyed the day, especially the experience of working with different dyes.

"Students don't normally get to use the equipment we were introduced to today until university, so it was amazing for us to have the chance to use things like colour meters in our own experiments.

"I think chemistry is a fun and enjoyable subject and I'm definitely going to carry on studying it at school."

To reach the final workshop stage, pupils were asked to think creatively about colour and the world around them, then submit a piece which described their favourite colour in a scientific manner.

The entries were judged by an expert panel, including the director of Science and Education at The Royal Institution Dr Gail Cardew.

Recent figures associated with teaching jobs for the next academic year suggest that schools could be hit by a shortage of science teachers, although the government has since responded by stating that it has hit 95 per cent of its recruiting targets for September.

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