Thirteen Year 9 students embarked on an exciting forensics trip to Alton Towers on Tuesday 23rd October. With the help of PhD students from Staffordshire University, our students took part in a forensic investigation. At the start of the challenge, the students saw a video blog of a scientist who had gone missing and their task was to unravel the clues to solve the mystery … what had happened to the missing scientist? The students were split into four teams and raced against the clock to investigate the crime scene, analyzing a whole host of evidence such as fingerprints, footprints, samples of liquids, written notes and, using UV lighting, scouring the scene for extra clues. The Yellow Team blitzed through the clues to finish the challenge in half the time usually taken by teams.  The university staff were extremely impressed and commented how well they worked as a team to be methodical scientists. As winners of the challenge, the Yellow Team were awarded fast-passes for the rides for the rest of the day! It was a fantastic day and the students were a credit to the academy.