## **United Kingdom Biology Competitions** Registered charity `№1191037` 53 Alexandra Road, Norwich, Norfolk, NR2 3EA _Also known as UKBC_ ## Annual report 1[st] September 2022 - 31[st] August 2023 ## Trustees Dr Matthew Johnston Dr Andrew Treharne MBE Prof Kevin Moffat Dr Joshua Hodgson Neil Richards Katherine Lister Kim Ngan Luu Hoang Jiaqi Chen Dr Robert Starley ## Structure & governance ## **Governing document** - ➔ Constitution, 25[th] August 2020 ## **Trustee selection** ➔ Election by existing trustees ## **Constitution** - ➔ Charitable incorporated organisation (CIO) ## Objectives & activities ## **Objects** The objects of the CIO are to advance education for the public benefit of young people in the subject of Biology by: 1. Promoting the study of biology and encouraging and enhancing biology education, particularly in schools 2. Encouraging excellence in biology by organising annual biology competitions for school students **2** 3. Selecting, training and organising teams of biology students and leaders to represent the UK at the International Biology Olympiad and at such other international Biology competitions as may be considered appropriate 4. Maintaining membership of International Biology Olympiad e.V. and to contribute to and participate in the affairs of that organisation 5. Providing residential training for post-16 school students. ## **Activities** Trustees reviewed the Charity Commission guidance on public beneft upon appointment and also at their annual general meeting. All activities were planned in line with guidance, UKBC’s charitable objects and the business plan submitted to the Charity Commission upon incorporation. Academic olympiads are increasingly prominent as the most rigorous and reputable academic competitions. United Kingdom Biology Competitions (UKBC) runs the British Biology Olympiad (BBO), and takes responsibility for the UK’s presence at the International Biology Olympiad (IBO). The IBO is one of the big four Olympiads with >70 participating countries. For younger children, UKBC runs Biology Challenge (BC) and the Intermediate Biology Olympiad (iBO). The BBO, iBO and BC are three rigorous online competitions which schools arrange for their students to participate in. Students took part within their school (or at home due to coronavirus regulations) under examination conditions. Students were allocated medals based on their performance, and certificates were sent to schools. UKBC organised training and assessment of practical biology skills for the top performers of the BBO in collaboration with the University of Warwick. Practical training and assessment was carried out by several academic staff, plus support staff, from the School of Life Science. This was to select a team of four students to participate in the IBO. UKBC organised for the team to attend the IBO in Al Ain, United Arab Emirates. UKBC organised for a jury of three volunteers to accompany the team throughout IBO and act on behalf of the UK at the IBO. In addition, a third member was a member of the Emirati scientific committee and lead editor of the theory paper. They attended the IBO on behalf of the hosts to help finalise the papers and run the international jury / sub-jury. **3** UKBC comprises solely of volunteers. The most active are members of the UKBC committee, who are trustees. The competitions were written and assessed entirely by volunteers. There are approximately half-a-dozen volunteers who help write the competitions, or assist with team selection, training or at the IBO. The Royal Society of Biology administered the competitions via a services contract, including managing school registration, organising travel and accommodation, processing payments, advertising, and providing general administration support to UKBC (e.g. arranging annual general meetings). UKBC provided a mirror of its examination website to the British Physics Olympiad (BPhO, charity number 1146064) for a small fee (outstanding). UKBC has an agreement to provide the BBO, iBO and BC to ASDAN China (a British educational charity, charity number 1066927) which translates and runs the competitions in China. UKBC holds the UK’s membership of IBO e.V, the governing body of the IBO. National members, such as UKBC, have joint sovereignty over IBO e.V. ## Achievements & performance ## **Participation** The number of individual students and schools participating in each competition are shown in the tables below. These tables do not include students or schools participating via ASDAN China. Underlined fgures indicate competitions which were disrupted by the pandemic. Year ( **number of students participating** ) |2017
2018
2019
BC
NA
48449
47336
iBO
5667
6580
8282
BBO
7500
7818
9465
Total
NA
62847
65083|2020
23695
8757
9520
41972|2021
26793
8873
8462
44128|2022
2023
41360
43641
12701
14961
10897
13659
64958
72261| |---|---|---|---| **4** |Year (**number of schools**)
2017
2018
2019
2020
BC
561
583
576
367
iBO
380
408
465
559
BBO
675
636
726
669
Total
unique
NA
NA
NA
NA|2021
2022
2023
346
547
621
449
614
709
619
707
883
880
1102
1353| |---|---| Most schools took part in two competitions, suggesting scope to recruit the same schools to take part in all three. Participation grew strongly to record levels. The fee structure was maintained from 2022; the BBO was completely free to all UK schools. A £30 flat-fee for unlimited places was charged for BC, the iBO and international schools participating in the BBO. Trustees agreed to make all competitions free to all UK schools in 2024. Schools were predominantly based in the UK, although schools from across the world took part in all competitions, as shown in the maps below. **5** Overall, ~20% of participating schools (~10% of students) were overseas. Grade boundaries were set based on UK schools alone, to protect the competitions from distortions created by growing numbers of overseas schools. Trustees will examine ways to grow overseas participation and examine fair participation fees for them. UKBC collects information on the fee-paying status and gender of participating students for monitoring and outreach purposes. Overall, ~60% of students participated from non-fee-paying UK schools. This is lower than the proportion of all students at non-fee-paying schools, suggesting outreach and advertising could be focused on this sector. The gender breakdown of participants mirrors the gender breakdown of students studying biology in each age group in the UK: older years are increasingly dominated by females. _Biology Challenge_ _Intermediate Biology Olympiad_ _British Biology Olympiad_ **6** ## **Academic rigour** Grade distributions for each competition had desirable characteristics, with successive papers from the BC to BBO increasing in difficulty, as shown in the figures below. Trustees will continue to work to include questions of a variety of difficulties to stretch the distributions further, while maintaining to engage students at all levels. _Biology Challenge (papers 1 & 2)_ _Intermediate Biology Olympiad_ **7** _British Biology Olympiad (papers 1 & 2)_ The UK team won one gold, two silver and a bronze medal at the Al Ain IBO 2023. UKBC will look to improve and expand training for the team selected to attend the next IBO. The assessments run by the University of Warwick for the winners of the BBO were outstanding. The attending students underwent a day of intensive training before being examined on the material the following day. The winners of the iBO will attend a residential trip run by the Field Studies Council. ## **New website** UKBC made a significant investment in a new online examination system in 2021. This year, more minor upgrades were carried out to add new functionalities. There is some evidence of improved participation by allowing better leverage of school data (see next section). In 2022, UKBC stopped distributing paper certificates as they came with high financial costs, were environmentally wasteful, and there was often a long lead time for schools to receive them. Instead, the UKBC website is now able to automatically generate e-certificates instantaneously for teachers to download and distribute. In 2023, due to popular demand, UKBC purchased and distributed medals as mementos. **8** ## **ASDAN China** UKBC provided the BC, iBO and BBO competitions to ASDAN China. Participation rates in all three competitions grew strongly. ASDAN began translating the competitions into Chinese to aid Chinese competitors. ## **Volunteers** UKBC appointed new trustees. Volunteers new to 2022 attended team selection and the IBO in Al Ain. These were past participants in the IBO, and have relevant expertise for running the senior programs. UKBC will attempt to recruit more current or retired school teachers. ## Policies ## **Data protection and safeguarding** Trustees reviewed and updated UKBC’s data protection and safeguarding policies. ## **Sustainability** UKBC undertook a review of its environmental footprint and attempted to quantify its carbon emissions. At the AGM, trustees discussed these findings and undertook to reduce its emissions where possible without reducing the beneficial impact of its activities, and to offset some of its carbon emissions. A copy of this review and undertakings are available on the UKBC website. ## Financial review Summary accounts are provided in a separate document. ## **Reserves policy** The trustees set a target reserve level of 1.5 years expenditure (approximately £100,000). The reserves grew to £213,475, from £183,004 at the start of the year. This was due to unexpectedly strong income due to greater than trend participation growth, despite increased expenditure on hosting an awards dinner, team training and attending the IBO. At the end of the accounting period, trustees carefully reviewed the reserves policy and strategies to reduce them to the target level. Trustees decided to expand the number of free entries to the competitions to constrain income and prepare outreach and training programmes **9** to increase expenditure. An accountant will also be hired to instigate VAT filings when the appropriate income threshold is crossed. ## **Major expenditure** The major part of UKBC expenditure (£42,000 inc. VAT) is the cost of a services agreement with RSB to provide an administrator for the competitions. Trustees have streamlined UKBC operations to reduce administrative workload, and trustees decided to terminate this agreement to be replaced with a cheaper alternative early in the next financial year. ## **Expenses paid to trustees** The table below details all money transferred from UKBC to its trustees. |Trustee|Sub total|Total|Description| |---|---|---|---| |Joshua
Hodgson|£477.28|£702.28|_IBO travel & jury refreshments_| ||£225.00||_Awards dinner_| |Matthew
Johnston|£1,616.59|£9,297.71|_Website hosting (1)_| ||£618.90||_Food at team selection_| ||£359.97||_Hotel for AGM_| ||£6,702.25||_IBO fights for team & jury_| |Robert
Starley|£101.55||_IBO travel & team / jury refreshments_| |Kim Ngan
Luu Hoang|£14.48|£479.35|_Spring meeting refreshments_| ||£37.05||_Travel to team selection_| ||£427.82||_IBO travel & team / jury refreshments_| |Andrew
Treharne|£146.90|£917.59|_Travel to team selection_| ||£269.13||_IBO e.V. membership fee_| ||£316.61||_IBO travel & team / jury refreshments_| ||£184.95||_Email server hosting (includes previous years costs)_| ||**Grand total**|**£11,394**|| _Foot notes_ (1) Includes third party costs for servers etc and a £50 per quarter retainer for continued support, upgrading, bug-fixing. **10** ## Declaration The trustees declare that they have approved the trustees’ report above at a vote held on the 30[th] May 2024. Digitally signed by Dr Andrew Treharne Dr DN: cn=Dr Andrew Treharne, o=UK Andrew Biology Competitions, ou=Trustee, email=drajtreharne@ Treharne gmail.com, c=GB Date: 2024.06.11 20:03:35 +01'00' Dr Matthew Johnston Dr Andrew Treharne, MBE _Chair Secretary_ 12[th] June 2024 12[th] June 2024 **----- Start of picture text -----**
SIGN
Dr Joshua Hodgson
Treasurer
12 [th] June 2024
**----- End of picture text -----**
|**United Kingdom Biology Competitions**
Registered charity № 1191037
Annual accounts
1st September 2022 - 31st August 2023
Reciepts
2022/23|**United Kingdom Biology Competitions**
Registered charity № 1191037
Annual accounts
1st September 2022 - 31st August 2023
Reciepts
2022/23|**United Kingdom Biology Competitions**
Registered charity № 1191037
Annual accounts
1st September 2022 - 31st August 2023
Reciepts
2022/23| |---|---|---| |Biology Chal
Intermediate Biology Oly
British Biology Oly
Selling p
Selling examination s
Misc. inc. collection of arrear
Payments
Univ
A
Commit
P
Retur
Asset pur
Net|Item
Unrestricted
funds
Notes
2021/22
2020/21
lenge participation fees
£18,012
£16,335
£9,720
mpiad participation fees
£20,300
£17,979
£11,760
mpiad participation fees
£6,690
_Made free in 2021 due to pandemic_
£4,679
£0
apers to other charities
£53,432
_To ASDAN China_
£40,136
£26,460
ystem to other charities
£0
_To British Physics Olympiad_
£1,000
£0
s & mistaken payments
£4,443
£0
£656
**Total receipts**
**£102,878**
**£80,129**
**£237,596**
(Including 189000 grant)

Administration
£42,000
_To Royal Society of Biology_
£42,000
£42,000
Participation in the IBO
£12,379
_All inclusive_
_Virtual in 2021_
£8,558
£1,025
ersity residential course
£6,931
_At University of Warwick_
£6,674
£0
Certificates / medals
£3,065
_Surplus for subsequent years_
£0
£4,489
Advertising
£720
£720
wards ceremony /dinner
£225
£0
£1,434
tee/volunteer expenses
£1,038
_Including insurance, DBS checks_
£790
£1,097
Professional fees
£400
£400
£1,800
Website maintence
£1,802
£1,399
£1,293
ayment processing fees
£723
_To Stripe_
£421
£218
Account fees
£84
_To CAF bank_
£159
£105
n of mistaken payments
£3,041
_To sender / correct recipient, incl. some rec. in prev. year_
£137
**Sub total**
**£72,407**
£61,260
£53,461
chases
£0
_New website built in 2021_
£0
£20,000
**Total payments**
**£72,407**
**£61,260**
**£73,461**|| |||| ||lenge participation fees
£18,012
£16,335
£9,720|| ||mpiad participation fees
£20,300
£17,979
£11,760|| ||mpiad participation fees
£6,690
_Made free in 2021 due to pandemic_
£4,679
£0|| |||| ||apers to other charities
£53,432
_To ASDAN China_
£40,136
£26,460|| |||| ||ystem to other charities
£0
_To British Physics Olympiad_
£1,000
£0|| |||| ||s & mistaken payments
£4,443
£0
£656|| |||| ||**Total receipts**
**£102,878**
**£80,129**
**£237,596**
(Including 189000 gr
|| ||Administration
£42,000
_To Royal Society of Biology_
£42,000
£42,000|| |||| ||Participation in the IBO
£12,379
_All inclusive_
_Virtual in 2021_
£8,558
£1,025|| ||ersity residential course
£6,931
_At University of Warwick_
£6,674
£0|| |||| ||Certificates / medals
£3,065
_Surplus for subsequent years_
£0
£4,489|| ||Advertising
£720
£720|| ||wards ceremony /dinner
£225
£0
£1,434|| |||| ||tee/volunteer expenses
£1,038
_Including insurance, DBS checks_
£790
£1,097|| |||| ||Professional fees
£400
£400
£1,800|| |||| ||Website maintence
£1,802
£1,399
£1,293|| |||| ||ayment processing fees
£723
_To Stripe_
£421
£218|| ||Account fees
£84
_To CAF bank_
£159
£105|| ||n of mistaken payments
£3,041
_To sender / correct recipient, incl. some rec. in prev. year_
£137|| |||| ||**Sub total**
**£72,407**
£61,260
£53,461
chases|| ||£0
_New website built in 2021_
£0
£20,000|| ||**Total payments**
**£72,407**
**£61,260**
**£73,461**|| ||**Receipts less payments**
**£30,471**
**£18,869**
**£164,135**|| |||| |||| |Assets at
Liabilities
Def
Def
Def|year end
2021/22
Item
Unrestricted
funds
Notes
2021/22
2020/21|| |||| ||Cash at end last year
£183,004|| ||**Cash at end this year**
**£213,475**
**£183,004**
**£164,135**
Outstanding invoices
£8,730
_From the latest year only_
£7,440
£0|| |||| ||**Total assets**
**£222,205**
at year end
erred income (2020-21)
£270
£330
£420
erred income (2021-22)
£2,118
£2,388
£0
erred income (2022-23)
£3,120
£0
£0
Outstanding invoices
£0
£0
£0|| |||| |||| ||**Total liabilities**
**£5,508**|| ## Declaration The trustees declare that they have approved the accounts above. Dr Andrew Treharne Digitally signed by Dr Andrew Treharne DN: cn=Dr Andrew Treharne, o=UK Biology Competitions, ou=Trustee, email=drajtreharne@gmail.com, c=GB Date: 2024.06.11 20:04:55 +01'00' SIGN Dr Matthew Johnston Dr Andrew Treharne MBE Dr Joshua Hodgson _Chair Secretary Treasurer_ 12th June 2024 12th June 2024 12th June 2024 ## ##