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One of the great highlights of QE’s sporting calendar – the Rugby Sevens tournament – brought a day of spirited, exciting play.

With the weather good, the 49th Annual QE Barnet Rugby Sevens Tournament drew some 56 teams to battle it out for the cup and plate trophies, including many from the country’s leading rugby schools.

The U14 event was held, as usual, on the School’s four pitches at Queen’s Road. However, with Barnet Elizabethans RFC’s pitches unavailable this year, Haberdashers’ Boys’ stepped in to host the U16s.

Ipswich School won the cup and Tonbridge School took the plate at U14 level, while for the older boys, Berkhamsted School secured the cup and Merchant Taylors’ the plate.

Headmaster Neil Enright said: “Our Sevens tournament is always a happy occasion at which visitors, alumni, staff and our own parents come together with the boys to enjoy the games and meet up with friends. With the sun shining brightly, there was a real air of celebration this year, while the players delivered some truly thrilling play.”

“My congratulations go to our winners, and I am, of course, grateful to Habs for hosting the U16 event.”

Staging the tournament at QE was a huge logistical effort involving the hard work and co-operation of the entire PE & Games department, the London Society of Referees, many pupil helpers and volunteers from The Friends of Queen Elizabeth’s. The event was sponsored once again by school and club sports tour specialists, inspiresport.

QE’s own teams faced tough opponents in their group stages.

Head of Rugby Ollie Di-Lieto said: “Although, sadly, both the U14s and U16s lost their matches in the group stage, they gave us some exciting attacking rugby and provided plenty of highlights to remember the day by.”

Although Junu Park, of Year 9, gained much ground with some outstanding running and his teammates at times moved the ball into space well, the squad found it harder to maintain constant pressure, with the breakdown fiercely contested even with the reduced numbers on the field, Mr Di-Lieto said.

The final U14 game against Robert Clack School, from Dagenham, saw QE come agonisingly close, losing in the end 24–26.

“All our games were played in a good spirit and with great commitment against some of the best rugby schools around,” said Mr Di-Lieto, who thanked all involved.

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Queen Elizabeth’s School welcomed Professor Irene Tracey, Vice-Chancellor of the University of Oxford, as Guest of Honour at this year’s Senior Awards Ceremony.

Professor Tracey handed out prizes in the School Hall to around 80 award-winners drawn from Years 10, 11 & 12. The prizes covered not only the full gamut of academic subjects, but also extra-curricular activities that ranged from music to debating & public speaking, and from drama to involvement in the Combined Cadet Force.

Later, Professor Tracey delivered an address in which she urged the boys: “Put more into the world than you take out,” adding: “That is the path to happiness in its truest sense.”

Many staff and guests later commented on how engaging her speech was, highlighting especially the importance she had placed on kindness and the strength that true kindness can require.

Senior Awards 2025 began with an introduction from Headmaster Neil Enright, who, in welcoming Professor Tracey, pointed out that this year, a record number of QE pupils applied to Oxford, with 15 receiving offers – just one below last year’s all-time record high figure.

In his address, he commended the example of Sir Magdi Yacoub, a retired professor of cardiothoracic surgery at Imperial College London and pioneer of surgery to repair heart valves. “Sir Magdi successfully operated on my grandfather in the 1970s, when coronary bypass surgery was in its relative infancy and when many procedures were at an experimental phase.

“He took academic and professional risks, working at the frontier of science. When asked for his advice to young and aspiring cardiothoracic surgeons, he simply replied: ‘PPH. Passion, persistence and humility.’

“Even in an increasingly technological age – in which algorithms and AI possess so much potential – human creativity, ingenuity and imagination will continue to be important,” Mr Enright said, also thanking The Friends of Queen Elizabeth’s for providing hospitality at the event and to the Foundation Trustees for their sponsorship of the awards.

For her part, Professor Tracey encouraged the boys to use their gifts and educational privileges responsibly, and to be confident without being arrogant.

Reflecting on the wide range of activities beyond the classroom being celebrated through the awards, alongside the academic subjects, she noted the importance of keeping hold of the human in an increasingly technological and artificial world. The world had changed greatly over the past 40 years from her own school days, when there were no mobile phones, and no World Wide Web. Like Mr Enright, she mentioned AI, recognising that although it is another technological tool, it is also qualitatively different from much of what has been seen before.

Just as it had not been possible for her to predict what would happen either in the world at large or in her own career, today’s students would not be able to either. But that is exciting, she said. “After you leave school, life becomes less linear, more complex and nuanced.” The boys might have two or three quite distinct different careers.

She would return to Oxford with hope, she said, having seen the evidence of the ability of the next generation at QE. In an uncertain world, she argued that pupils could take confidence from their place in the School’s long history, urging them to be proud of it, as she, the 273rd Vice-Chancellor, was proud of her university, with its near-1,000-year history.

The evening was punctuated by musical interludes delivered by violinist Parth Jain, vocalist Rishi Watsalya and saxophonist Leo Sellis, Music award-winners in Years 10, 11 & 12 respectively.

The VIP party included the Mayor of the Borough of Barnet, Councillor Tony Vourou and the Mayoress, Mrs Caroline Vourou.

The 2025 School Captain, Simardeep Sahota, concluded the proceedings with a vote of thanks in which he not only lauded Professor Tracey’s work as a neuroscientist, but also her passion for education, and commitment to making knowledge accessible to all.

Simardeep, of Year 12, expressed gratitude to all the parents present for their support. “Thanks are also due to all the School staff for setting us so firmly on the path to success,” he added.

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Sixth-former Soham Kale has won a national medical essay competition for a piece of writing that combined humour with a serious look at preventing disease.

Soham took joint first place in the Medic Mentor Magazine National Essay Competition with an essay investigating how mapping human cells could help doctors with both the early detection and the prevention of disease.

Headmaster Neil Enright is among many to have congratulated him on his success. “Soham has shown great originality and skill in putting together an essay that greatly impressed the judges. He aspires to be a doctor: I am sure that he will succeed in this ambition, and that a bright future awaits him in Medicine.”

Soham’s scrupulously referenced essay will be published in the spring edition of Mentor: the magazine produced by Medic Mentor, which is a national medical organisation dedicated to nurturing those who wish to become doctors. The edition will be themed under the heading Under the Microscope.

His writing answered the question How could the detailed mapping of human cells contribute to early disease detection and prevention efforts?

Thanking the judges, Year 12’s Soham said: “This has been such an incredible opportunity to explore the exciting prospects of cell-mapping to both current, and future healthcare. This couldn’t have been possible without all of the support that my inspirational teachers, friends and family have provided me with along the way. Progressing into the future, I will forever cherish this milestone.”

Human cell-mapping was, he said, a topic “completely alien” to him, but he soon got to grips with it, deriving “great satisfaction” as he learned the subject matter by initially “mind-mapping almost random information” and then quickly forming links to join up this information.

In the introduction to his essay, he gave the following example drawn from his daily life to illustrate the importance of such cell-mapping.

“My parents simply refused to use Google Maps when travelling, and then always ended up in the completely wrong place after taking the wrong exit on the motorway roundabout. Taunting them, saying ‘Using Google Maps wouldn’t have hurt’ felt good.

“Notice how my family and I could’ve ended up at two completely different places from the same roundabout? In the same way, the same biological pathway could lead to diseases ranging from schizophrenia to autism.

“All diseases are fundamentally mechanical problems at a genetic and molecular level, interacting with cells via an interconnected biological pathway.

“Cell-mapping (Google Maps) allows us to unravel these biological pathways (roads), creating opportunities for efficient, directed treatment so that my family doesn’t get lost again.”

The whole essay then adopted the language of satnav as Soham set out his argument, from “Proceed to the route” to the final line, “You have arrived at your destination!”

In announcing his victory, Medic Mentor quoted his conclusion, which highlighted the role of human cell-mapping. This has led to “significantly enhanced early disease detection” and to “improved patient outcomes both in the short term through potential earlier diagnosis, and in the long run through the provision of a wider variety of treatment options”, Soham wrote.

• Read Soham’s essay here.

QE was named as one of the top-performing schools at the Dubai International Academy Model United Nations conference, with three of QE’s delegates picking up awards.

The seven sixth-formers joined around 800 other delegates from across seven countries for the three-day debating event.

Headmaster Neil Enright said: “I congratulate our students for taking the initiative and organising this visit, for the preparation they did ahead of taking part in the debates, and for the level of their performance in the debates: they did the School proud!”

The long-established DIAMUN annual conference is affiliated to The Hague International Model United Nations, which specifies standards and procedures. It was held at the Dubai International Academy’s Emirates Hills campus, with a social event on the evening of the second day organised at the Jabal Ali resort.

Delegates came from more than 50 schools in Mauritius, Philippines, Qatar, Rwanda, UAE, Uganda, and the UK for the conference, which, like all Model United Nations (MUN) events, is closely modelled on the work of the real United Nations.

QE’s experienced MUN group, all from Year 13, were: Saim Khan, Koustuv Bhowmick, Chanakya Seetharam, Hari Kumarappan, Kanusan Naveendran, Uday Dash, and Kyshaan Ravikumar.

The delegation as a whole won a certificate recording QE’s honourable mention as a top-performing school.

Koustuv won a Best Delegate award for his work with the Arab League – one of the conference’s special committees.

Two other QE delegates, Chanakya and Uday, won Best Position Paper awards. Position papers are single-A4 page documents written to outline the views of the country or group the delegates are representing. Chanakya’s was for his paper for the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCC) and Uday’s award was for his work for the Economic and Financial Committee (ECOFIN). Uday also received an honourable mention when it came to selecting the best delegate across all the committees.

And Saim Khan, who afterwards penned a report on the event, was runner-up for Best Delegate for SPECPOL (Special Political & Decolonization Committee). “I lost out by one mark! – 29 to 30 – to the delegate who also ended up winning the Nirav Passi award – best delegate across all committees.

“We chose to arrange this for ourselves as a ‘last hurrah’ MUN – everything from reaching out and emailing the school, to organising flights and accommodation, to getting the absences authorised, was managed entirely independently,” Saim continued.

The group found time for sightseeing, including a desert safari and a visit to Old Dubai. One or more of the group also visited: Museum of the Future; Museum of Illusions; the Burj Khalifa skyscraper;  Aquaventure Water Park; and Kite Beach.

Saim, who managed to procure a full Saudi robe and headgear for the second-day social, particularly relished the multi-cultural nature of the event. “Despite London itself being a rather multicultural city, it was taken to the next level in Dubai – in my committee there were people from four different continents (including a Palestinian-Russian and a French-Indian).”

This experience was not without its lighter moments – Saim tried to learn local styles of wearing the shemagh (traditional headscarf). “According to one Lebanese person, I had at one point worn it in the style of someone about to get married!” said Saim.

“The conference gave an invaluable insight into how the lives of people of similar ages and educational background from around the globe can vary. Whether it was practising my (somewhat rusty) GCSE French with native speakers, picking up Arab phrases from a local Emirati, it was an amazing trip all around.”

In a QE first, an entire year group headed off to a West End theatre to watch a Shakespeare production.

The 190 Year 9 boys saw Hollywood A-lister Sigourney Weaver starring in The Tempest at the Theatre Royal, Old Drury Lane.

Their visit came shortly after QE’s Year 12 English Literature students took part in a two-day joint event with The Henrietta Barnett School that included a visit to a performance of Richard II at the Bridge Theatre in Bermondsey. QE has a long-standing partnership with the girls’ school, and this event was designed to stretch pupils of the two schools, giving them a taste of what studying Shakespeare at university might be like.

Head of English Robert Hyland said: “Giving students opportunities to experience live theatre remains a central part of our philosophy as an English department. In particular, given the density of language in Shakespeare’s plays, seeing them performed brings them to life in a way which the classroom simply cannot achieve.

“We were very lucky, therefore, to secure tickets to see two sell-out shows in The Tempest and Richard II. Taking just under 200 Year 9 students to see The Tempest will remain a highlight of the academic year. For many, it will have been their first experience of professional theatre, and one which I hope will last for many years after they leave the School. Even afterwards, I could still hear students around the School and in class discussing features of the performance, which hopefully balanced enjoyment with a richer and deeper understanding of the text.

“Working with our colleagues at Henrietta Barnett allowed us to put on a brilliant day and a half of activities. From a standing start, students became fully acquainted with the characters and themes of the under-appreciated Richard II. It was a treat to see students fully engaging in the dramatic activities, and speaking so knowledgeably about the Bridge Theatre performance.”

The Year 9 boys students studied The Tempest in the Autumn Term, with the trip therefore forming a conclusion to their studies. Sigourney Weaver, the star of films including Alien and Avatar, played Prospero in a Jamie Lloyd Theatre company production. It was, said Mr Hyland, “a rare opportunity for students to see a world-class actor and production company in real life”. Fourteen staff, drawn from all departments, accompanied the pupils.

Asked to write their own reviews, the Year 9 boys were enthusiastic about their visit. Ridit Bhor praised the “wonderful chemistry” shared by the characters, Miranda and Ferdinand, while others praised the set design, described by Pothan Bobba as “nothing short of spectacular” and by Avi Aggarwal as “hauntingly beautiful”.

The two-day Sixth Form event centred around the production of Richard II at the Bridge Theatre production, which starred Jonathan Bailey, of Bridgerton and Wicked fame. In addition to seeing the production, the event involved:

• An introductory lecture on the play from Dr Diana Hallam, A-level specialist and founder of Literary Lectures, which explored the contextual significance of the play;
• A drama workshop from Mandy Dassa (from QE’s drama partners, RM Drama), exploring the play from a practical perspective;
• Seminars exploring key scenes and speeches from the text, led by Mr Hyland and teachers from the girls’ school;
• A tour of the Globe Theatre combined with a drama workshop on Richard II, led by Royal Shakespeare Company and Globe Theatre actor Chu Omambala.

“We wanted to take students away from their exam specification, and help them understand what it might be like to study Shakespeare at a higher level and through different methods than the A-level allows,” said Mr Hyland. “By picking a text they were unfamiliar with, and allowing them to explore it beyond the normal classroom setting, students were able to develop their skills of interpretation and analysis. And by pairing up with our colleagues at HBS, they could also work with new faces, gaining new ideas and original perspectives.

“With the range of activities on offer, from university-style lectures, seminars, drama, and fieldwork, this partnership event really did give a sense of how exciting and varied studying English at a higher level can be.”