The winners of each region qualify for the national final which is held at a different university in the UK each year. The 2010 final will be held on 21-22 June at the University of Huddersfield.

Ruthin School Wins 2009 National Final
Schools from across the UK competed in last year's national final of the Schools Analyst Competition which was held at the University of Plymouth. We are pleased to report that Ruthin School, winners of the 2009 Bangor regional heat, also won the national final. Mark Hannant, Head of Chemistry at Ruthin School, said "Thank you very much for providing students with the opportunity to enter this competition. The university laboratory experience far exceeds anything we can offer in a small school. I am sure that this victory will have a great influence upon the future academic choices made by our team members". As winners of the national final Ruthin School also won the Gerry Davison Memorial Prize of £500 (see below).

The Region Involvement
Our Region first became involved in 1987, when we sponsored a competition at Manchester University. From this beginning, interest in the event throughout the North West Region increased dramatically with a second competition being launched at Liverpool University in 1988 and a third at Lancaster University added in 1990.

The competitions have grown in strength to a point where both the Manchester (now held at the Metropolitan University) and Liverpool (now involving John Moores University) events each attract 25 to 35 teams and the North Lancashire/Cumbria competition, which is now held at the University of Central Lancashire in Preston, has attracted up to 43 teams. The competition continues to flourish in the Region and we have now established a fourth centre at the University of Wales, Bangor, to bring in schools from Mid and North Wales

Gerry Davison Memorial Prize
As a tribute to Gerry Davison, a former secretary and stalwart of the North West Region for many years, the committee decided to instigate the Gerry Davison Memorial Prize following his sudden death in 2003. This prize is awarded to the school from the Region which finishes highest in the national final providing that the school finishes in one of the top three positions. The prize is sponsored jointly by the North West Region Analytical Division and the Industrial Division, both of whom are indebted to Gerry for his many years of outstanding service.