Large numbers of last year’s leavers returned to QE to support current pupils at the School’s University Convention.

Organised as part of the QE’s extensive programme to support boys preparing for the next stage in their education, the morning event aims to provide detailed and specific guidance to the current Year 12.

It provides an opportunity for boys to hear an unembellished, honest account of particular universities and degree courses from those with the most recent experience possible, namely QE undergraduates who completed their A-levels only last summer.

Headmaster Neil Enright said: “It was great to see many of our 2022 leavers back here to provide their guidance to the current Year 12 and to catch up with them two terms into their time as Old Elizabethans.”

This year’s University Convention, which was held in the Shearly Hall, covered a wide range of universities and courses. There was also the opportunity to hear from those on gap years.

“It is so valuable for our current students to get first-hand information – the inside track – from those studying on courses and at destinations they are considering, helping them very much with the choices that they will be making later in the year,” said Mr Enright.

“I think that the visiting alumni enjoyed it, too: as well as supporting their School, it was a good opportunity to for them to meet up with others from their year group.”

The event, which included a buffet lunch in the Main School Hall for alumni and staff after the morning’s activities, is just one of the ways in which alumni support current pupils in planning their futures.

Old boys of all ages come along to the annual Careers Convention for Year 11, while the School welcomes a succession of Old Elizabethans in person and remotely during the year to deliver expert talks on a variety of career-related and academic topics, to conduct mock interviews, or to contribute to other School events. Alumni can even sign up to make themselves available through the dedicated QE Connect alumni network.

A QE team fought off a challenge from three other schools to win a legal competition, attracting praise for their performances both as defence and as prosecution.

The 14-strong Year 9 team took part in two mock trials in the local heat of the Young Citizens Magistrates’ Court Mock Trial competition.

They won the heat, even though the verdict for the trial in which they were the defence was ‘guilty’.

Congratulating them, Enrichment tutor Kanak Shah said: “The boys’ preparation in the run-up to the heat and their performance on the day were both important factors in their success.”

Ms Shah accompanied the boys to the competition heat, along with fellow Enrichment tutor Eleanor Pickering.

The mock trials were of a defendant charged with possession of an offensive weapon – a lump hammer – in a public place. The case turned on whether the hammer was used offensively.

The boys auditioned to be part of the team some months ago. The successful candidates then prepared their case over the ensuing period, guided by Ms Shah. The team comprised not only prosecution and defence lawyers but also magistrates, witnesses, legal advisors and an usher.

The competition judges were, in fact, real-life magistrates. “We had even had a visit from Magistrate Catherina Daly previously to help us prepare our case,” said Ms Shah. And, adding further to the competition’s verisimilitude, the heat was held at Highbury Corner Magistrates’ Court.

In the first trial, the lawyers for the defence were QE’s Keshav Aggarwal and Soham Sapra. The ‘guilty’ verdict here had had no bearing on the judges’ scores. QE won the round, with the judges highlighting their “strong team performance”.

Roles were reversed in round 2, where the QE pairing of Aahan Shah and Shashank Devaguptapu spoke as prosecutors. The verdict was again ‘guilty’, and QE once more won the round. In their notes, the judges stated: “It was a strong performance and showed good preparation, knowing facts. Confident in delivery.”

The rest of the QE team were:

• Magistrates – Hardik Ingale, Ishan Nakadi & Avan Khan
• Witnesses – Shubhay Chawla, Nimesh Nirojan, Jitin Sanapala & Eesa Bhaijee
• Legal advisors – Daniel Kollo & Orko Ghosh
• Usher – Nafis Meah.

The Young Citizens Magistrates’ Court Mock Trial competition is for 12–14 year-olds from state schools in England, Wales and Northern Ireland.

Dozens of Old Elizabethans and other guests turned out to advise Year 11 boys on their future paths in a new-style QE Careers Convention.

The event featured sessions focusing on specific professions, seminars offering guidance on a range of career-related topics, and an afternoon careers fair where the boys could gain one-to-one advice from alumni and other external guests.

In a break with previous years, this year’s event, spearheaded by Assistant Head (Pupil Destinations) James Kane, was held during the day and was run with a new format.

Headmaster Neil Enright said: “My thanks go to the many OEs and other friends of the School who visited to support the Careers Convention. It was wonderful to see some new faces alongside veterans from the pre-pandemic years.

“We wanted to give students the opportunity to hear from and talk to people working in a wide range of industries and professions, whether to open up new possibilities for them or to provide insight into areas they were already considering. This kind of support is invaluable as they begin to make decisions about their futures.”

Following a welcome from Mr Kane, motivational speaker and executive coach Kam Taj (OE 2004–2011) delivered a keynote speech to the whole year group on Keeping an Open Mind.

Kam shared with the 180 boys the ups and downs of his own story, including his thwarted ambition to play professional basketball, his success in gaining a place at Cambridge and the personal crisis he went through at the age of 21. “Now, six years later, I have two business – my leadership & coaching services for professionals, and my Exam Success Academy courses for students. I’m doing what I love and what fulfils me most.”

After his talk, and a session on Appropriate Alternatives to University, all Year 11 had a half-hour talk on careers in medicine. They could choose also between sessions looking at careers in law, finance and STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering, Mathematics).

After lunch, the options were for the following talks:

• ‘Swiggly careers’ – ditch the ladder and discover opportunity
• Essential employability skills
• How your career can help to solve the world’s pressing problems.

The careers fair, which took place in the spacious setting of the Shearly Hall, featured more than 50 guests, most of them Old Elizabethans, covering the following areas: accounting, banking & finance; built environment; charities & voluntary sector; creative industries & media; engineering; law; medicine, dentistry & veterinary medicine; professional & business services; public sector, and science & technology.

Mr Kane, who leads on careers provision at QE, said: “There are many different pathways to success, and the day made clear to the boys that career progression may take unexpected turns along the way. We raised awareness about alternative paths to university, including apprenticeships, which is a route a small number of leavers have successfully followed in recent years.

“Part of the day was to encourage our Year 11 boys to think about careers that hadn’t necessarily occurred to them or been top of their agenda. I was pleased with how they responded.”

Until recently, Ali Woods was, as one reviewer put it, PR man by day, comedian by night.

Better known to his QE contemporaries as Alister Heywood (OE 2005–2012), he first made a name on TikTok and then gained a big boost when his debut solo show at this year’s Edinburgh Fringe sold out amid five-star reviews.

Now, underpinned by his huge online following, he has given up the day job and become a professional comedian.

The very first time he was involved in performing comedy was at York, where he was reading English & Related Literature. He was part of a university ‘improv’ group called The Shambles. He then first did stand-up in London in 2015 at open mic nights. In 2017, he was runner-up in the Leicester Square New Comedian of the Year competition and was short-listed for a BBC New Comedy Award in both 2017 and 2018.

Alister won Hackney Empire New Act of the Year 2020 – Evening Standard writer Bruce Dessau’s quotation in the headline is from that time. He has appeared on BBC Radio 4, TalkRadio and TalkSport, alongside hosting his own podcast, All I Do Is Fail.

All of this was achieved while he was simultaneously working in PR: he is working his notice as a New Business and Marketing Executive for the Propeller Group (a global PR, content and events agency) and finishes on 21st December.

Alister was planning to do his debut full stand-up show in 2020, but was thwarted by the pandemic. Instead, during lockdown he started making videos, which soon went viral. Today, he has 153,000 followers on Instagram and 113,000 on TikTok. His online comedy sketches under the tag @aliwoodsgigs have gained millions of views and likes, and featured on LadBible and Buzzfeed UK. It is by using this audience that he has now managed to turn professional.

In his comedy, he presents a mix of the ‘everyman’ and the ‘modern man’, displaying sensitivity and a genuine interest in men’s mental health, which gives him a great perspective on the modern ‘lad’ culture. He speaks on topics such as football, the environment, and many social causes close to his heart.

Typically outspoken, he is keen to encourage those interested in creative work to pursue it and get the career they really want: “You can do it, believe that you can. I’ve done it and I’m not even funny!” It was not, he said, an aspiration that was really valued in the QE of his time. “I was never encouraged to take creative work seriously, it was seen as a facilitator for cover letters and CVs.”

Alister, who was among the guests at this term’s OE Association Dinner, therefore feels a special impetus to encourage today’s pupils if they hold similar interests.

“You can work really hard to end up in a job you hate because you thought it was the safe option,” he says. “I would like to communicate to current QE boys that creative arts are a legitimate pursuit which requires the same work as any difficult degree or discipline or career, and will truly be worth it. If you are passionate about it, and you’re willing to be consistent, put yourself out there, learn from your setbacks and not to give up: it will be the most fulfilling journey you’ll ever make.

“Don’t be afraid to take the risk. Believe that you are able to succeed in a competitive, creative field.”

• You can view Alister’s videos at his website.

Year 11 pupil Pavan Kovuri came first on both days of a two-day simulated financial trading event open to Year 11–13 students from across the country.

Pavan, who already has his sights set on a career in trading, was among 20 senior QE boys to be commended for their performance in the Global Markets in Action programme.

The programme was run by financial recruitment consultancy Dartmouth Partners and Amplify Trading, who train people working in hedge funds and investment banks and use cutting-edge technology to simulate market conditions.

Assistant Head (Pupil Destinations) and Economics teacher James Kane said: “To have come first in both simulations was a remarkable performance by any standards and I heartily congratulate Pavan on his achievement.

“Congratulations also go to the other 19 boys who were commended by the judges with comments such as ‘superb trading on the sell side’ and ‘clearly understands the dynamics between [the] buy and sell side’.

“It is interesting to note that Dartmouth Partners are now keen to follow up with a number of our boys to arrange work experience in the finance sector.”

Overall, 50 QE pupils took part in the half-term event, the results of which have now been announced.

The workshop simulated the trading floor of an investment bank or hedge fund and aimed to teach participants how traders use their skills and knowledge to buy and sell stock to generate a profit. The boys had the opportunity to meet professionals from Amplify Trading and to gain practical career tips and insights, such as optimising LinkedIn and creating a CV that stands out.

Pavan came first on day one with a score of 96% for the ESG (Environmental, Social, and Governance) simulation. On day two – the Finance Accelerator simulation – he was ranked first in the asset management side of the simulator, scoring 86%.

Pavan said: “Before participating in the workshop, I was always fascinated with the world of trading in markets, but lacked practical experience; this two-day programme provided me with an immersive hands-on experience to solidify that passion, and drive me towards a future career in trading.

“The thrill of seeing your money fluctuate with every miniscule decision was stimulating, and it was amazing how Amplify managed to capture the buzz of real-life trading.”

Other stand-out performances from the QE group included that of James Stack (Year 12) and Abhinav Karla (Year 10), who jointly took first place in the sales trading aspect of day two.

Old Elizabethan Max Curtis had some reassuring advice for any sixth-formers stressing about making the right career decisions.

Max (OE 1991–1998), a corporate communications expert, visited the School to speak to a select group of sixth-formers.

Reflecting afterwards on his visit, he recognised that the Sixth Form years were often a difficult time in young people’s academic lives during which they are being asked to “make make seemingly career-defining decisions about their future. Hopefully, I was able to provide some reassurance that you don’t need to have it all ‘sussed out’. In fact, there are advantages to retaining flexibility and taking opportunities as they arise.”

After leaving QE in 1998, Max read Social and Political Sciences at Cambridge and then took his Diploma in Law at City, University of London.

He has forged a 20-year career in internal and external communications and public affairs, with a background that spans UK Government, FTSE 100 companies, consultancy and the not-for-profit sector. He has spent the last five years as Corporate Affairs Director for MTVH, a housing association with 57,000 homes across the country. Previously, he worked in communications for the Department for Transport, and before that, for Tesco. His focus is on getting teams and organisations to work together to achieve their potential.

Max thanked the School for the warm welcome he received: “It was great to be back,” he said. During his visit, he found time to take a look through the 1998 QE Year Book.

Headmaster Neil Enright said: “We were delighted to see Max, and my thanks go to him for speaking to our students about his career.”

For his part, Max encouraged other OEs to follow his lead and get in touch with the Headmaster to arrange similar visits.