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New figures show that no other state school secured more offers from Oxford and Cambridge last year than Queen Elizabeth’s School, Barnet.

Sixty-two QE pupils received offers from the two universities in 2024 – the same figure as for Hills Road Sixth Form College (a state college in Cambridge with a student roll many times larger than that of QE’s Sixth Form). The only school in the whole country to exceed this figure was the private-sector Westminster School.

In addition, a higher proportion of QE Oxbridge applicants received offers from Cambridge and Oxford than those from any other state school securing 20 or more offers – while QE also had a better application-to-offer conversion rate than any independent boys’ school nationally.

The figures are revealed in a Sunday Times survey of the 90 schools that secured most offers in 2024. The article is headlined How to get into Oxbridge – by the state schools that do it best.

Headmaster Neil Enright said: “It is heartening to receive independent corroboration of how brilliantly our pupils are doing. Over the past three years, a remarkable total of 157 of our leavers have won offers from Oxford and Cambridge. Our success in gaining such high numbers, and in turning applications into offers, results from a consistent focus on fulfilling our mission to ‘produce young men who are confident, able and responsible’.

“We work hard to nurture habits of free-thinking scholarship – that is, encouraging boys to go well beyond the requirements of GCSE and A-level syllabuses so that they pursue their own areas of academic interest.

“Our QE Futures programme provides senior pupils with detailed, specific help with university applications and is supported by the wider Elizabethan community, including our alumni, who provide specialised support, such as tailored mock interviews.

“In addition, the very extensive range of co-curricular activities delivered through our QE Flourish programme ensures that the QE experience is broad and rounded: our leavers are therefore highly credible candidates for admissions tutors at Oxford and Cambridge.”

The Sunday Times survey revealed that QE had a 49% success rate in converting Oxford and Cambridge applications into offers (127 applications; 62 offers). This was  the highest percentage out of the six state schools  gaining the most Oxbridge offers nationally. In fact, in the top ten, it was beaten only by first-placed Westminster, with 96 offers, and by another independent school, St Paul’s Girls’, which secured 48 offers, against QE’s 62.

The Sunday Times spoke to QE’s James Kane, Assistant Head (Pupil Destinations), who pointed to the help provided by Old Elizabethans in assisting those applying to Oxford and Cambridge. He said: “We draw upon the expertise of parents and former pupils and teachers – doctors who may help us with practice admission tests for medicine, or teachers who themselves studied a particular subject at Oxford or Cambridge, who can work with those applicants.”

• Pictured are the group referred to by the Sunday Times survey – the pupils who received Oxbridge offers last year.

From their arrival in Paris to their departure three days later, QE A-level French students enjoyed their authentic taste of Parisian life and the opportunity for some language learning. 

Moving around on public transport, the boys took in the sights and used local specialist guides who spoke to them in French.   

Head of Languages Nora Schlatte said: “The trip was an ideal opportunity for students to practise their language skills in an authentic environment, while experiencing the culture of France’s capital at first hand.” 

The group visited the Latin Quarter, the Ile de la Cité, including a walk around the outside of Notre Dame; the catacombs, the Pompidou Centre, the Stade de France; Montmartre, the Sacré Cœur, the Musée d’Orsay and the Arc de Triomphe. 

Ms Schlatte, who accompanied the 14 boys on the trip, along with Enrichment tutor and History teacher John Haswell, added that the boys had benefitted from the guided tours being delivered in French and had enjoyed the opportunity to explore the catacombs themselves. 

“An understanding of Paris’s history and modern cultural life is an integral part of the A-level course, and this trip had direct relevance to the boys’ course of study,” she said. 

Amongst the highlights for the boys were the evening boat trip and the tour of the Stade de France. Shuaib Adam, of Year 12, said: “Seeing the Eiffel Tower in person on the first night had me in awe, let alone a cruise along the River Seine watching the Eiffel Tower light show.” 

“We travelled around Paris via the Métro, which was much better as we really got to experience that Parisian lifestyle,” he added. 

“We were also given lots of free time to explore the city ourselves and try out the great French cuisine, including the renowned ‘galettes and crepes’, which couldn’t have been any better and which rounded off the trip.” 

Neil Enright, Headmaster of Queen Elizabeth’s School, said today: “I know that the School community, alongside the nation at large, will be greatly saddened and deeply moved at the news of Her Majesty’s passing. We send our heartfelt condolences and loyal wishes to the Royal Family.

“Our School, founded by Queen Elizabeth I, has truly flourished in this second Elizabethan age. The past seven decades have seen momentous changes for the School, and in all our lives, yet through this time, Her Majesty has been a constant. She has been the nation’s strength and stay in difficult times and in good.

“An example of utter dedication, devotion to public service and unwavering commitment to the people of our country and the Commonwealth, she is rightly respected, admired and loved by people across the world. She was someone from whom we could all take inspiration and was in possession of so many of the qualities we value and seek to inculcate in our own Elizabethans.

“Whilst this is a moment of sadness, it is also an opportunity to be grateful for her lifetime of service and dignified leadership; for the impact she had on so many causes and charities; and to recognise how completely she fulfilled the promise she made to her subjects on her twenty-first birthday that ‘my whole life whether it be long or short shall be devoted to your service’.”

A group of Year 8 boys are on a mission to get national backing for a campaign to regulate the use of trans fats in takeaway food.

They were inspired to launch their campaign following a presentation by Yinka Thomas, a nutritionist from Barnet Public Health, about the dangers of sugar and trans fats in the modern diet. The boys were so shocked by what they learned that they decided to take action to raise awareness.

And their campaign is fast gaining attention in high places: six of the 12 campaigning boys were invited to Whitehall to put their case to the Head of the Government’s Obesity Policy Unit, Richard Sangster.

After seeing their presentation, Mr Sangster told them: “That was the best presentation I’ve heard in a long time and was better than many I’ve heard here at the Department of Health. You showed the dangers of trans fats better than in any public health presentation I’ve seen.” He also commented on the boys’ nuanced arguments, confidence and ability to work together as a team.

The 12 boys began their campaign by writing letters to a number of public bodies, including the British Heart Foundation, the NCD Alliance, the World Heart Federation and the Faculty of Public Health. They then pulled their research together and approached the Department of Health asking for an opportunity to present their findings, and were duly invited in.

They put together a presentation stating the existing health risks of trans fats, which are usually found in partially hydrogenated vegetable oils, and the benefits already seen in countries such as Denmark, which have banned or restricted their use. The Food Without Trans Fat! (Food WTF) team are calling for a mandatory use of healthier alternatives, such as rapeseed oil, for cooking in fast food and takeaway restaurants.

One of the group, Avy Batra, said: “We had not realised that one portion of chips fried in AVR60 – the best-selling partially hydrogenated oil – contains 10g of trans fat. Hundreds of thousands of young people, especially secondary students, are consuming these on a regular basis, either on the way back from school or when they go out with friends, putting themselves at risk of developing heart disease and other serious illnesses in the future.”

Head of Year 8, Rosie Hall, who accompanied the group to the Department of Health, along with Ms Thomas, said: “The boys delivered an engaging and convincing argument about the dangers of trans fats, particularly AVR60 in fast foods. They took props to show how much fat was going into a person’s body if they ate two bags of chips every week, something which many school pupils and young people do.”

Mr Sangster, who was the lead author of the Government Childhood Obesity Policy published last year, discussed with the boys the paucity of data on the consumption of trans fats. While he was unable to offer any funding for their campaign, he was happy to back the campaign’s message.

Mr Sangster also mentioned the National Food Strategy (NFS) being put together by the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (DEFRA). The boys’ next step will be to try to arrange a meeting with Henry Dimbleby, who is leading the NFS as the lead non-executive board member of DEFRA.

Ms Thomas, who met with the team several times to give them additional information and advice, said: “I was so impressed with the boys’ presentation. They should be so proud of their achievement – and hopefully energised going forward.”

The six boys who presented their findings to Mr Sangster were Avy Batra, Giuseppe Cipponeri ,Tharun Dhamodharan, Ugan Pretheshan, Krishna Shrivastava and Khapilash Sritharan. The remaining team members are Theo Abraham, Rayan Choudhury, Omar Siddick, Siddharth Sridhar, Kevin Sureshkumar and Dharun Thambiayah.

QE boys are aiming to repeat previous successes in a competition run by the Baha’i Faith Community in Barnet. The competition looks at how people can work together to solve the world’s problems, such as environmental crises, poverty and racism.

The focus of this year’s contest is on tackling anti-social behaviour – a topic with links to both Citizenship and R&S. Entries may be the form of a poster, an essay or a poem. The prizes will be presented by the Mayor of Barnet.

The School’s R&S department has done well in this competition in the past, with pupils having taken first, second and third places in individual and group categories of the competition over the past two years.

This year’s competition is sponsored by Department for Communities and Local Government. It is open to everyone in Years 7-9, with all Year 7 boys composing potential entries as R&S homework. Three winners will be selected from each R&S class and entered in the competition.

Boys are encouraged to enter and should see teacher Sarah Gibbons for further details.

QE’s innovative Thursday lunchtime Maths Club for Years 7 and 8 gives keen young mathematicians the opportunity to tackle puzzles set by Sixth-Formers, including proving that 2=1! Prizes are on offer.

Also on Thursday lunchtime is Maths Clinic. Space is currently available at the clinic, which provides individual help and attention for any pupil finding it hard to understand a recent topic. “Those who attend find that it is time well spent and much progress is made,” said teacher Christopher Murray.