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Europe expert Sam Evans led some lively debate about Brexit and cleared up a few misconceptions, too, when he visited the School to address QE’s young economists.

His talk, which centred on the modern history of Europe and on how the European Union functions, was delivered to an audience of some 130 Year 11 boys studying Economics.

A teacher and historian by background, Sam is the School Visits Officer at Europe House – the European Parliament’s London Information Office in Smith Square – and works with Involver, a social enterprise that helps organisations engage with young people. He is an Ambassador for Teach First, the Government-funded organisation that introduces top graduates into struggling schools, and has worked with NGOs on literacy in Uganda and Bangladesh.

Head of Economics Shamendra Uduwawala said: “Sam’s talk and the discussions which followed were very helpful in helping the boys learn about the world around them, especially in terms of how what they study in Economics lessons intersects with current affairs.”

Sam dissected the functions of the EU so that the boys could gain an understanding of how the various parts work and how laws are made within Europe. He also explained how Brexit will actually affect Britain.

The boys were actively involved in the lecture: there was plenty of time for discussions and a question-and-answer session.

The topics debated included:

• • How democratic the EU actually is

• • EU referendums, and whether it was fair that the boys were not able to vote

• • The timeline of Brexit – how things have unfolded and what is to come in the future

• • Whether Brexit will affect UK human rights laws.

A leading economic journalist kept his audience of GCSE and A-level pupils enthralled with a talk that covered topics ranging from pension thefts more than a decade ago to the global stock market falls of recent weeks.

Liam Halligan is Economics Commentator with The Telegraph Group. He is also a Permanent Panellist for CNN Talk, a commentator for UnHerd – a weekly internet publication edited by Tim Montgomerie, formerly of The Times – and Editor-at-Large at bne IntelliNews, a source of English-language news and analysis about 34 countries, from Poland to Turkey and Mongolia to Russia.

In his talk to the School’s Economics Society, he recalled some of the news stories and issues he has covered, as well as giving advice on the rewards and challenges of journalism as a career. His latest cover story for the Spectator, headlined The Crash We Need, welcomed this month’s sharp falls in the markets as a necessary correction.

Thanking Mr Halligan after the talk, Headmaster Neil Enright, who is a fellow Governor with Mr Halligan at The John Lyon School in Harrow, said: “I know that the boys greatly appreciate the opportunity to hear from and question those who hold prominent positions in fields such as journalism. I am sure they will have taken away a good insight into aspects of print and broadcast media.

“It is particularly important for our boys to hear from those who, like many of them, may not have grown up in highly academic or professionally networked families, but have nevertheless achieved notable success. The persistence and dedication that it takes to establish oneself in an industry whereby such heritage is almost the norm is something that we work to cultivate and support in our boys.”

During his visit, Mr Halligan, who took a first-class class degree in Economics at the University of Warwick and an MPhil at Oxford, recounted how he helped to exonerate RAF pilots blamed for the 1994 Mull of Kintyre Chinook helicopter crash many years after the disaster and how he exposed pension thefts in 2007. His career also included covering post-Soviet Russia for both The Economist and the Wall Street Journal in the turbulent period in the early 1990s after the break-up of the USSR.

He particularly highlighted the stress of deadlines and the need to be able to work under time pressure. He once received a call from the editor of the Spectator asking him to write the cover story in just four hours.

“You need to be able to entertain, as well as educate and inform, have a spirit of adventure and be willing to challenge decision-makers,” Mr Halligan told the boys. “Success follows those who are confident, driven and versatile. You also need to be a good colleague, as well as being informed about a wide range of topics.”

There were a number of questions from the audience. Year 12 pupil Parth Gosalia said: “When asked about his views on the state of the Government, Mr Halligan told us that politics is very vibrant and that this is, indeed, a very promising time for the UK.”

The questions turned to the effect Brexit would have on the UK economy – an issue about which Mr Halligan was optimistic. “He argued in favour of a clean break from the EU and the Single Market,” said Parth. “His case for Brexit seemed to epitomise the entirety of his talk, in that it provided a fresh perspective to the assembled students.”

QE economists were given insights into the City and the state of the UK economy during a conference at a leading independent school.

The event hosted by St Paul’s School featured a presentation by George Dinenis, a trader at Deutsche Bank, who enlightened boys about the day-to-day realities of working in the financial world. Mr Dinenis, who trades contracts and handles books worth up to £200 million, also discussed some of the implications of economic policy, such as the end of quantitative easing and the impact it had had on his work.

His presentation was complemented by an address from George Buckley, Chief Economist at Nomura, the global investment bank, who presented his economic outlook for 2018 and beyond.

Dr Buckley talked about the opportunities and risks associated with the UK’s decision to leave the European Union. He covered issues ranging from the impacts of exchange rates to productivity.

The conference began with a team trading game, in which QE’s Year 12 boys were mixed with participants from other schools to take on different roles, such as manufacturers and bankers, within simulated commodity markets.

The trip was overseen by Shamendra Uduwawala, Head of Economics, who said Mr Dinenis’s talk offered “an excellent opportunity for the boys to learn about the demands of the banking sector, as well as providing information on routes into the industry. He stressed how important it was to choose to study a subject at university that one is passionate about and not merely because it might seem a more obvious entry to a particular career.” Mr Dinenis himself studied Physics at Imperial College before choosing a career in finance.

“The topics covered in Dr Buckley’s talk provided a great opportunity for boys to apply the macroeconomic concepts and ideas they had learnt in the classroom to a relevant real-world context,” said Mr Uduwawala. “The boys rose to the occasion, taking the opportunity to question Dr Buckley on his views.

“Overall the trip was a great learning experience and provided fresh insights into the world of banking and the UK economy for all the boys involved.”

A QE boy has won a financial journalism writing competition for the second year in a row.

Nikhil Shah’s essay took the top prize in the 17-19 age category of The London Institute of Banking & Finance’s Young Financial Journalist of the Year competition, mirroring the achievement last year of Sahil Suleman, who is now in Year 13. Nikhil was one of four QE competition finalists this year, with fellow Year 12 pupils Nikhil Khetani, Karnan Sembian and Chaoxuan Ouyang also short-listed.

As well as these individual successes, QE has also achieved team success in the Student Investor Challenge. Four Year 11 boys – Bashmy Basheer, Akshat Sharma, Mipham Samten and John Tan – were firstly selected from around 10,000 teams to go forward to a semi-final.  There, they emerged in 19th place out of the 500 teams competing.

Head of Economics Liane Ryan said: “I congratulate all the boys involved in these two competitions. Nikhil’s victory was a fantastic achievement. And the team in the Student Investor contest did very well indeed: I have high hopes for them over the next couple of years in the Sixth Form.”

The journalism competition was judged by Steph McGovern (pictured), BBC Breakfast presenter and financial journalist, who described Nikhil’s essay as “a piece with personality and a solid understanding of the financial challenges young people face, a really nicely structured article”.

Nikhil won a prize of £150 for his essay entitled How will financial education help me meet the financial challen ges I will face throughout my life?