TWO Bradford pupils reached the final 15 in the Rutherton Appleton Laboratory School Science Prize.

Sophia Maropoulos, 13, and Tristyn Lee, 13, who are in Year 9 at St Laurence School, Bradford on Avon, entered the competition last month by writing a 500-word essay on why they love science.

The pupils, their families and teachers, attended the final on Tuesday at Rutherford Appleton in Oxford and had a behind-the-scenes tour of one of the high- powered laser facilities, before presenting their essays.

Despite not winning both students were praised for their hard work by the school.

Tristyn narrowly missed second place, earning special praise from the judges for his essay on how: “science is about learning more about the world and expanding our knowledge”.

St Laurence science teacher Emma Cooper said: “We are absolutely over the moon with them. They could have written anything about science – space, medicine or chemistry.”

Sophia wrote about her future aspirations, explaining: “I wrote about my interests in medicine and how viruses are continuing to spread across the world fast.”