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QE’s young chemists scored a double victory in a prestigious competition, with two teams taking joint first place.

The eight boys – four in each team – beat off the challenge from some 50 other school teams to take the trophy in the Chilterns and Middlesex final in the Royal Society of Chemistry’s Top of the Bench contest.

Five of the eight QE teams who entered finished in the top ten places, further setting the seal on the School’s enviable record of Top of the Bench success in recent years.

Headmaster Neil Enright said: “I congratulate both the winning teams on this spectacular success. Providing our pupils with ‘stretch and support’ beyond the curriculum through competitions such as this is a great way to explore their Boundless potential and encourage a genuine love of learning.”

Speaking on International Day of Women and Girls in Science, Mr Enright added: “It seems especially apt today to be able to pass on my thanks to our Head of Chemistry, Amy Irvine, for all that she and her colleagues did to make such an outcome possible.”

The two winning teams comprised boys from Years 9–11. They scored 41 points out of a possible 47, a clear two points ahead of the two teams in joint second place.

Dr Irvine said: “The Top of the Bench competition is a fantastic way for students to apply their knowledge to fun and challenging problems.

“It is great to see students from different year groups working together and supporting each other to think through the difficult questions which often go beyond the school curriculum.”

The winners’ prize included an exclusive, behind-the-scenes tour of Imperial College White City’s chemistry labs – a privilege many undergraduates do not receive until their fourth year at university. The tour was led by Dr Lisa Haigh, Head of Technical Operations, who is also a qualified assessor for the Royal Society of Chemistry.

QE pupils saw how chemists use high-precision mass spectrometers to analyse samples from human lungs. Their tour included an investigation of why cheddar from different areas of the country tastes different, assisted by mass spectrometry of volatile compounds.

Pupils also saw inside an inorganic research lab, where chemists have to work in glove boxes filled with nitrogen to stop their samples exploding.

And they observed a ‘clean lab’, where chemists have to wear full body suits to work on solar panels.

Their tour finished in the Nuclear Magnetic Resonance (NMR) facility, where they learned about superconducting electromagnets that are cooled using liquid nitrogen and helium.

One of the winning team members, Vihaan Pal, of Year 10, said: “The competition was really fun, as we had to answer difficult chemistry questions together and solve problems such as how you could find out what a mystery black powder is.

“It was really intriguing to tour the campus and look at students doing projects in the chemistry labs. There was also lots of new equipment and compounds that I have not come across before. My favourite part of the trip was seeing the NMR machines, which have a very strong magnetic field!”

In addition to the tour and the trophy, the boys’ prize included £30 Amazon vouchers.

The two winning teams were:

• Team 9: Noble Laturia and Sachin Saddi, of Year 9; Niketh Putta, of Year 10; and Kelvin Chen, of Year 11;
• Team 13: Aydin Mazumdar and Ash Raghav, of Year 9; Vihaan Pal, of Year 10; and Avi Goel, of Year 11.

Year 8 learned creative secrets behind the Harry Potter films on a magical visit to the Warner Bros studios.

During the Art department trip, boys were encouraged to draw parallels between their classwork and the professional practices they saw at the studios in Watford.

Craig Wheatley, Head of Art and Design, who organised the trip said: “The visit was a remarkable experience for Year 8, blending education with inspiration and offering a behind-the-scenes look at the artistry and innovation that goes into film production. It truly fostered a deeper appreciation for the craft and ignited the creative passions of young aspiring artists.

“Our students explored the many creative industries that bring these iconic films to life, enriching understanding of film production and inspiring their own artistic journeys.

“Through our QE Flourish co-curricular programme – and thanks to QE’s advantageous location – we can offer educational experiences like this to bring classroom subjects to life, broaden horizons and develop future-ready skills.”

The day began with a lesson specially tailored for the pupils that was led by the studios’ education art department team. They delved into topics such as set design, architectural model-making, costume creation, and character design.

After that came a tour in which pupils immersed themselves in the world of Harry Potter and saw the stage sets, enjoying the chance to examine some of the special effects deployed there.

“Many pupils recognised similarities in their own projects, such as creating concept art for dystopian landscapes and developing storyboards, underscoring the relevance of their studies in the context of the creative industry,” said Mr Wheatley.

There were rave reviews afterwards from the boys. It was, said Akhil Kotha, “a truly beneficial trip, pulling out the secrets of designing a movie, with all the complex roles and activities clearly explained, aided by the hospitable staff”.

Akhil’s Pearce House classmate, Neil Mann, said: “I learned a lot about the process of making the film sets in Harry Potter, particularly the various stages used to produce the final outcome – from carefully calculated blueprints to scaled paper structures of the set – to ensure it is absolutely perfect.”

American libertarian academic Dr Tom Palmer took time out from a mini lecture tour to Kings College London and the LSE and gave a popular lunchtime talk at QE.

Active since the 1970s in promoting classical liberal ideas, he decried what he saw as the recent decline in American democracy, but expressed his beliefs that, with the application of optimism it can be successfully renewed, and that all democracies must constantly look to renewal to avoid decline and collapse.

In answer to questions from the boys, he also spoke of the importance of trying to undo damage done by Brexit and of cutting UK Government expenditure.

Politics teacher John Haswell said: “Dr Palmer delivered a compelling talk about the meaning of freedom and democracy, and the rise of authoritarianism. At the heart of his talk was the centrality of open discussion, the exchange of ideas and the importance of persuasion.”

The invitation to QE came about after Senior Vice-Captain Vu-Lam Le-Nguyen met Dr Palmer at an event organised by the John Locke Institute. QE’s well-attended talk in The Robert Dudley Studio was organised by Vu-Lam and his fellow Year 12 student, Keshav Aggarwal.

Dr Palmer travelled across Eastern Europe during the collapse of the USSR, facilitating seminars and distributing writings and resources. A Senior Fellow at the Cato Institute and Executive Vice President for International Programs at the Atlas Network, where he holds the George M Yeager Chair for Advancing Liberty, he has collaborated with NGOs and thinktanks worldwide on topics such as free trade, civil society, and individual rights. He drew upon these experiences in a talk which, with explanations and arguments grounded in academic theory, had the feel of a university lecture.

He spoke about the nature of democracy and its importance. The majority of the world’s population do not live in democracies, he pointed out. It is not enough to call yourself a democracy, or even to hold elections if the outcome is essentially already known.

Democracies are not the natural state of mankind, he added, highlighting the “error” made by George Bush and Tony Blair when they supposed in 2003 that simply deposing Saddam Hussein would see Iraq “transform itself into Oregon or Belgium or Britain or Japan. That did not happen.”

He outlined some of the characteristics of democracy, including: a loyal opposition; no fear that if you lose an election you will be arrested or killed; limited power; freedom of speech, or equal speech. He stressed that democracy is ‘government by discussion’.

As an individual, you have to listen to the other side and understand their arguments in order to truly know an issue. He also explored the nature of the law, drawing a distinction between ‘rule by law’ and the ‘rule of law’.

A development economist by training, he explained how important it is to understand local culture and context to create appropriate policies. Local knowledge and processes might not make immediate sense to an outsider, but there are often good reasons for those processes, perhaps based on local geography. You cannot just impose western methods and expect them to work, he said.

He has a PhD in politics from Oxford University, where he was an H B Earhart Fellow and President of the Oxford Hayek Society.

Dr Palmer is the author of books including Realizing Freedom: Libertarian Theory, History, and Practice and the editor of volumes such as The Morality of Capitalism, Why Liberty, and Peace, Love & Liberty. His writing spans major newspapers and academic journals, including The New York Times, Wall Street Journal, Washington Post, Los Angeles Times, Foreign Policy, Ethics, and the Harvard Journal of Law & Public Policy.

In the short Q&A at the end, he was asked what advice he would give the UK Government regarding the economy. He suggested:

• Trying to undo some of the damage caused by Brexit by reducing trade friction with the European continent. He noted that there were reasonable people and arguments on both sides of the Brexit debate, but that things had not worked out as some of the more optimistic Brexiteers had imagined.
• Cutting government expenditure. The UK government is spending too much, leading to higher taxes, which then impact growth, he said. He acknowledged it is difficult and that tough choices are needed, but it is necessary and the job of government to build the narrative.

Year 13 students Ishaan Bhandari and Laksh Aggarwal enter their final few months at QE bolstered by a win in a Cambridge competition.

The pair triumphed in the Most impactful category in the Homerton College Design Programme 2025, which challenged entrants to “design a sustainable solution to any environmental or health problem that we are facing”.

Ishaan and Laksh’s entry looked at the provision of water in informal settlements such as Mumbai’s Dharavi, sometimes known as the biggest slum in Asia.

Deputy Head (Academic) Anne Macdonald said both Ishaan and Laksh are “excellent and keen geographers”, adding “Ishaan is an aspiring engineer and Laksh an economist – both brought their expertise from those areas to the design.

“Their design was judged to be ‘most impactful’ because – as excellent geographers and holistic thinkers – they considered carefully the design context.  The water solution needed to work for people living in crowded, informal settlements, where government provision of basic infrastructure including water and electricity is often lacking.

“In designing a low-tech solution that: could be used and maintained by individuals; was distributed by NGOs [non-governmental organisations]; and was low-cost and sustainable in its material and energy use, they successfully (and impressively) hit the ‘impactful’ brief.”

The pair intended their solution to be provided to individuals via NGOs, rather than to governments.

The competition rules stipulated that each entry should:

• Have a hypothetical budget of no more than £20,000
• Take up no more than 10m x 10m of space
• Follow a four-stage structure – identifying the problem; looking at possible solutions; choosing the best solution; and explaining how it could be implemented.

To assist entrants, a series of webinars led by Homerton College staff and fellows was held.

After creating a presentation and video, Ishaan and Laksh were shortlisted and invited to a celebration event along with about 100 other shortlisted entrants.

At the event, students were invited to a panel discussion of experts titled Building a Sustainable World whilst maintaining the Health and Wellbeing of global citizens, chaired by Homerton Principal Lord Simon Woolley (pictured top taking a group selfie at the event), who was the guest speaker at QE’s 2024 Valediction ceremony.

Ishaan and Laksh individually received certificates and, together, a wooden plaque.

An after-school lecture by a national space journalist attracted huge interest from the boys.

Some 200 pupils packed into the Main Hall for the voluntary assembly by Peggy Hollinger, Space Industry Editor for the Financial Times.

She made a powerful case for the benefits of space travel and exploration, answering one boy’s question about what is gained from it with a single word – “Knowledge!” – before adding: “We don’t know what knowledge we will get. We don’t know what benefits we will get. But if we don’t try, we won’t get it.”

Assistant Head (Pupil Involvement) Crispin Bonham-Carter said: “Peggy Hollinger is wonderful, and it was fantastic to see how she captivated the audience.”

In a career at the FT spanning 38 years, she has previously held roles including International Business Editor and Paris Bureau Chief.

Her wide-ranging talk covered topics including journalism and the importance of space, both economically and militarily.

The event was organised by Year 12’s Vu-Lam Le-Nguyen and Keshav Aggarwal.

“She championed the important role played by journalism – and by the Financial Times in particular – stating that the FT’s job was to follow where the money goes and look at those who were moving it,” said Vu-Lam.

Her degree was in Mediaeval History, but that had not hampered her career: it was her drive to follow current affairs that led to her going into journalism.

In answer to one question from the floor about why the media feels more polarised than in the past, she blamed the pressure on organisations to seek audience engagement, before adding this warning: “If you only follow the clicks…and you only listen to people who tell you what you want to hear, then things will never change. You will go further and further into polarisation.”

Space is now a domain for warfare, she said, citing the USA, China and Russia as the main actors, and stated that Europe could be at risk of falling behind if it cannot reconcile continental with individual national goals. European countries should look for areas of expertise, just as Elon Musk’s SpaceX has found its expertise in low-Earth orbits, she suggested.

Asked to enlarge on the military uses of space, she spoke about the war in Ukraine, where space has been used not only for surveillance, but also to carry out cyber-attacks.

Another question asked: “Who gains from going to space?” In reply, she pointed to the huge return on investment available, with an £8 return recorded for every £2–3 invested in the UK space industry.

A senior teacher, a sixth-former, and QE as a whole all won awards in the International Computer Science Competition (ICSC).

Queen Elizabeth’s is one of only three schools worldwide to receive an Award for Excellence in the global competition, which this year drew more than 3,800 entrants from middle schools, high schools and universities.

The award is given to schools which had many outstanding pupils achieving high results, or which showed particular support for their pupils.

The School’s individual winners were Head of Digital Teaching & Learning Michael Noonan and Year 12’s Snehal Das.

Headmaster Neil Enright said: “My congratulations go to both the winners of personal prizes and, of course, to all the boys who participated and put in such a superb collective effort. Such co-curricular events are a tremendous way for our boys to hone their computing skills and become future-ready Elizabethans, confident of their place in our fast-changing digital world.”

Mr Noonan was one of just eight educators worldwide, and the only one in Europe, to win a Teacher Impact Award.

Snehal, an avowed computer science enthusiast, won an Ambassador Award – the UK’s only such award – for the “excellent encouragement” he provided as an ambassador helping to organise the competition rounds.

“The ICSC competition was an exciting way to explore…computer science,” said Snehal. “It allowed me to put my computational thinking skills to the test, whilst also allowing me to broaden my knowledge by exploring various research articles.

“As an ambassador of the competition, I also had the pleasure of spreading awareness about the field of computer science to younger years.”

ICSC aims to stimulate logical thinking and deepen computer science knowledge. There are three age categories: junior, which is up to 16; youth, up to 19; and senior, which is for first-year university students and above.

All participants receive the same set of problems, but the passing criteria varied by age group.

QE’s individual success stories included bronze honours for Snehal and silver for Kavish Jayasekera, of Year 12, who said: “I feel proud of my silver: it meant I was in the top 2% of participants. The progression of the competition was very good, with a relatively easy qualification round, and subsequent rounds building on the concepts and ideas learnt in the last rounds. There was not a lot of preparation required for the first two rounds, as they were less time-pressured and I could look up specific concepts as needed, but I did go through some helpful functions in Python before the final round, as it helped when answering the timed programming questions.”

Rishabh Datta, of Year 10, said: “The problems in the pre-final round were difficult but not impossible, and I found it fun optimising code in unexpected ways. I was certainly happy with my 12 score – which was in the top 60% of the final-round participants – since I hadn’t ever officially studied computer science.”

Aaryan Prabhaker, also of Year 10, welcomed the competition as “a great opportunity outside of the curriculum…The three rounds became progressively difficult, and I loved how challenging it was through the variety of questions (coding, logic, research papers).”

It was, Year 11’s Kostiantyn Halushka agreed, a “splendid” competition: “Completing the final round questions in mere minutes was quite intense, but the adrenaline rush pushing me to keep working on the problems was fantastic.”

Vivaan Gupta relished the opportunity the competition gave him to learn more about computer science and would fully recommend it to others. “I took part since I enjoy coding,” he said.

Year 12 pupil Parv Gandhi, who, like Vivaan, was a final-round participant, added: “The ICSC was a great place where I could learn and really challenge myself!”

• Pictured above are Parv, Snehal, Kavish and Vivaan.