A SIXTH form student from Oxford has been selected from thousands to represent the UK at an olympics-style biology competition in Iran.

Patrick McCubbin, who attends Abingdon School, will compete as part of a four-person team at the International Biology Olympiad (IBO) 2018.

The annual event, which is almost 30 years old, brings together the most gifted young biology talents from around the world, with more than 60 countries taking part.

The pre-university students are all winners of their respective national Biology Olympiads.

Its aim is to challenge the next generation of aspiring scientists through a series of theory and practical biological problems testing inventiveness, creativity and perseverance, as well as knowledge of biology.

The IBO website adds: "A very important point is gathering young people from over the world in an open, friendly and peaceful mind."

Speaking about being selected for the prestigious competition, Patrick said: “I was really happy when I heard, and a bit shocked if I’m honest.

"It will be a unique opportunity to visit Iran and to experience the different culture there, and it’s very exciting to compete against other young biologists from around the world and to further develop my theoretical and practical skills."

The 18-year-old was chosen following a rigorous process beginning with the British Biology Olympiad back in January which involved two, one-hour multiple choice papers and close to 8,000 students from 630 schools taking part.

The top scorers then went through to the preliminary round of the IBO selection, taking a 90-minute written paper.

Following this, 16 students were invited to the University of Warwick in mid-April, where they took four practical assessments and a written paper over two days.

From the final round, four students were chosen to represent the UK at the International Biology Olympiad.

To prepare for the international competition, the UK team will train in July at Kew Gardens, Imperial College London, the Natural History Museum and the University of Reading.

The IBO takes place from July 15 to 22 in Iran's capital Tehran.

It is the first time the competition, created in 1990, has been held in the country.

Previous hosts include the UK, which held the event last year, as well as Australia, Vietnam and Germany.

From just six countries when it was originally founded, the competition now has 68 countries taking part from five continents.