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The Walgett Community College Primary School teacher loves to stretch his remote North-Western NSW students and Ankith Aby was certainly up for it.

Inspired by Ankith’s passion for all things scientific, Mr Jenkinson practised some physics of his own, jumping through hoops to enter the youngster in an international competition for much older students.

The International Chemistry Quiz is a prestigious, annual chemistry competition organised by the Royal Australian Chemical Institute, Mr Jenkinson said.

He was already offering Ankith, then aged 10 years, extension modules in biology, maths, and physics, and knew the chemistry exam was a perfect opportunity to test his progress. “I knew Ankith could give it a great shot but was not sure he would be allowed to enter,” Mr Jeninson said.

He fired off some emails, outlining his eager student’s aptitude and passion for chemistry, and was delighted to learn Ankith could enter the high school competition, with 100,000 students from 21 nations.

In Term 3, Ankith became the only primary school student in Australia to sit the particularly challenging 2025 Year 7 and 8 exam.

The ICQ is not a standard syllabus test, even for high school students, Mr Jenkinson said. “While it may rely partly on chemistry concepts from the Australian Curriculum, it’s primarily designed to foster chemistry thinking, critical reasoning, and real-world application of knowledge.

Questions often include stimulus material that encourages students to apply what they know rather than simply recall facts. It consists of 30 multiple-choice questions, to be answered in 60 minutes.

Ankith proved Mr Jenkinson’s assessment of his abilities was on track, scoring higher than the NSW and Australian averages in his division, and was awarded a Credit.

Ankith correctly answered 18 out of 30 questions; the NSW average score was 17.1 and the Australian average was 16.

Mr Jenkinson said. Ankith grew up in India and came from the UK to Walgett, where his parents are employed. His other hobbies/interests include biology, physics, astronomy, reading and history, a subject Mr Jenkinson is also seeking to extend him in, encouraging him to submit a research project to the 2025 National History Challenge.

Executive Principal Alison Finlayson said Mr Jenkinson’s efforts showed how the school worked to support every child “to be their authentic best self.