According to plan: QE looks forward to another successful five years…with help from our alumni!

First of all, I would like to welcome the class of 2025 to our alumni network. There are now some great photos of Valediction on QE Connect. It was a very enjoyable ceremony at which we welcomed as guest of honour actress Alison Steadman, known to millions for roles including Mrs Bennet in the 1995 television adaptation of Pride and Prejudice and Pam Shipman in the record-breaking comedy, Gavin and Stacey.

The end of term sees two other significant farewells: my very best wishes for their retirement go to two dedicated and longstanding colleagues, Burgunde Lukasser and Liam Hargadon.

This week marks an end not only of another successful academic year, but also of the time covered by our outgoing School Plan, Building on Distinction. I am happy to confirm that the governors have ratified our new plan, setting out our priorities for development for 2025–2030: I look forward to sharing that with everyone early in the new School year. Just as Building on Distinction has helped us steer successfully through the post-pandemic period and kept us moving forward, the new School Plan sets out the right course for the School to advance still more over the next five years.

Priorities will certainly include making the most of our campus through a new long-term Estates Strategy. I am pleased to announce one of the first fruits of that – a £2.5m refurbishment of the exterior of our Main Building. To carry out this major project, we received a Government grant of almost £2m, as well as at least £0.5m from FQE. Main Building, opened in 1932, was designed to reflect the School’s Tudor roots. It is vital that we steward this heritage well, protecting the attractive existing fabric.

Of course, as a school, we are educating the citizens of tomorrow, so we are also looking ahead – and nowhere more so than through our QE Futures programme. In a recent Sunday Times article about our success in securing Oxbridge offers, our Assistant Head (Pupil Destinations) James Kane rightly highlighted the significant contribution made by our alumni. In fact, our old boys play an increasing role right across the programme. Large numbers of last year’s leavers came to our University Convention, dispensing helpful advice to Year 12 pupils on choosing a course and university and then catching up with former tutors and teachers over lunch. Asif Shamsad (OE 2012–2019), an HSBC Commercial Banking Degree Apprentice, was on hand to share his insights during a Year 12 trip to HSBC at Canary Wharf. Speakers at our lunchtime talks included Rahil Shah (OE 2012–2019), a software engineer at Bloomberg, while lower school pupils quizzed OEs Eesa Ahmed and Haran Sritharan (both 2017-2024) about life at university in a joint Year 7/Year 10 assembly. Our Year 11 Futures Evening included Cambridge undergraduate Utsav Atri (OE 2015–2022); and a trio of 2024 leavers – IBM analyst Yash Narain, Cambridge undergraduate Shrey Patel, and Divyesh Bansal. Nikolas Ward (OE 2003–2010), Associate at Rodić Davidson Architects, welcomed – and was impressed by – pupil Victor Varbanov on one of our Year 11 work experience placements.

I sincerely thank all of you for your huge contribution. If any alumni can help by conducting university mock interviews, please sign up here or below.

Do take a moment to read this term’s Sports Bulletin which profiles Nathan Kosky (OE 1984–1990), who works in sports & entertainment leadership, and reports on our new cricket celebration, where Christopher Deane (OE 2010–2017) was the special guest. (He also turned out for the OE vs OE match – see below).

This week we welcomed back Ramesh Pari (1997–2004) as guest of honour at Junior Awards. At the Founder’s Day church service, 2015 School Captain Norbert Sobolak gave a stirring address to the Year 7s – “Dream so big it scares you” – while the FQE Fete, as usual, helped put the fun into Founder’s Day. It was great to see a good number of alumni there. Among our guests on the day, and for the rest of that week, was a delegation from Global Education (GEDU), our partners in QE Global Schools. Preparations continue towards opening schools in UAE and India – a truly pioneering initiative born out of our commitment, in Building on Distinction, to ‘bold innovation’.

With best wishes,

Neil Enright

Headmaster

The OE Annual Reunion Dinner: save the date!

If you don’t want to miss this year’s dinner, make a note of the date now: Friday 21st November. Last year’s event matched the record-breaking attendance of our 450th anniversary dinner in 2023. The Headmaster said: “We wanted it to be fun – and it was indeed a lively evening, with a lovely atmosphere. I encourage everyone to be there in November.” Tickets will go on sale in early September, available through the FQE online shop.

Last-ball thriller!

The second annual OE vs OE match hosted by the School was even closer than last year’s inaugural fixture, with the 20:20 game going down not just to the last over, but the very last ball! Director of Sport Jonathan Hart said: “We had a very successful match, with a great turn-out. It’s very much a friendly, and a social occasion, and I know that, regardless of which side they were on, our visiting alumni enjoyed a super evening.” OEs involved included: Ragu Ratnakumaran; Bhav Rambhiya; Chris Deane; Shahid Sheth; Dilan Sheth; Nik Patel; Jay Raghuveer; Bavan Gunaseelan; Bhavik Somani; Haider Jabir; Hamza Hussain; Adam Hassan; Risharn Chandarann; Rishaanth Ananthajeyasri; Vigneswaran Thelaxshan; Mukilan Bakeerathan; Thujivan Kathiravelu; Vansh Mahajan; Akhil Gohil; Kishen Patel; Arnav Jhanaji; and Matt Sears.

Winning the university challenge

No other state school secured more Oxbridge offers than QE last year – and the only school in the private sector to better our figure of 62 was Westminster, according to a survey by the Sunday Times. Assistant Head James Kane, who was quoted, pointed to the help provided by OEs – “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”. It is not just those two universities, of course: this year, 21 of the 24 Russell Goup universities offered places to our boys. Please help us continue this fantastic success by registering to give mock interviews next academic year.

Men of the same stripe: our flourishing Forty Society

The Forty Society’s biannual luncheon filled the clubhouse at the Memorial Playing Fields, where there was a special welcome for long-time Head of Games David Maughan. Some members sported the society’s new blazer (modelled here by OEs Ian Louis-Fernand and Giles Pratt), which is based upon a design used for the awarding of cricket colours in the 1930s. Giles has been significant in encouraging more alumni to come along to the Forty Society (open to any who left the School 40 or more years ago). He visited the School this week, together with Jonathan Gould – who is over from Australia – while another Forty Society stalwart, David Leake (1966–1971) came for a visit in June.

Supporting QE by giving

An increasing number of our alumni are supporting the School through financial giving: whether the gifts are large or small, we are deeply grateful for each and every one. As a state school, we need such support in order to continue offering life-changing opportunities to bright boys, regardless of background. To make a one-off or regular gift, click the button below. If you would like to sponsor an extra-curricular activity for current pupils, are interested in remembering QE in your will, or have any other questions about giving, our Development Office will be glad to help.

Stalwart supporter pays QE a visit

OE visitors to the School this term included distinguished economist and academic Sandeep Mazumder (OE 1993–2000). Until recently Dean of Hankamer School of Business at Baylor University, Texas, on 1st July Sandeep took up a new post as President of Berry College, a private liberal arts university in Rome, Georgia. Sandeep was visiting the UK with his wife and children. A donor and 450 Club member, he is very active in supporting the School, especially the Economics department. He frequently gives talks via MS Teams to the department's Gresham Society, while his online masterclasses are very popular with A-level economists. Sandeep has also assisted the QE Futures programme by providing support for pupils interested in applying to US universities. After his visit, he praised the “wonderful progress in recent years” at QE. The Headmaster said: “It was great to meet Sandeep in person for his first visit to the School in 25 years. Any alumnus similarly interested in popping in to see us, or wishing to get more involved, should drop us a line.”

Valete

After 29 years and 36 years at QE respectively, teachers Burgunde Lukasser and Liam Hargadon retire this term. The Headmaster pays tribute: “Burgunde has been a wonderful Head of German, and served as Assistant Head of Languages in recent years. She led many a trip, including the German exchange programme in Bielefeld. While latterly technically working only part-time, she has still been in on many of the days she is supposed to have been off! Liam was a member of the senior management team, Head of Politics (a highly informed and passionate subject expert) and was a Head of Year in the Sixth Form for many years. Slowly cutting back on his working days and leadership responsibilities, he has finished as a part-time teacher of History & Politics. He has taken up various interests, including volunteering at Shakespeare's Globe Theatre (where he has encountered QE trips on several occasions). He has continued to be involved in bringing in notable guest speakers from the political world, recently including Lord Heseltine and Sir Vince Cable.”

Highly rated: our triple assets at Barclays

Chris Beheri (1998–2005) has taken on younger OE Soham Karmakar (2013–2020) for a summer internship at Barclays Investment Bank. Soham joins his QE contemporary, Avinash Kumararuban, who is already there. Chris says: “Avinash, Soham and I work within Barclays group, Treasury Funding & Investments. The teams are responsible for managing the wholesale liabilities as well as the regulatory high-quality liquid asset portfolio of the bank. I knew Soham was an OE when I was interviewing him, but only realised Avinash was when he told me about Soham!” Soham has now started his internship, having just graduated from Cambridge with a Master’s in Information and Computer Engineering, achieving First Class Honours with Distinction. Chris joined the bank in 2008, while Avinash started there some months after graduating from UCL in 2023.

Funding success for Jamie’s AI start-up attracts Minister’s plaudit

Doubleword, an AI company co-founded by OE Jamie Dborin (2007–2014), has secured more than £9m in a Series A funding round. The company offers businesses the ability to self-host their AI functions, giving them more control over the technology. It was founded in 2021 by: Jamie (pictured right); his fellow Oxford alumnus, Meryem Arik; and Fergus Finn. Jamie and Meryem both read Physics at Somerville College, where Jamie captained the men’s rugby team from 2016–2017. Jamie and Fergus conducted post-doctoral research involving quantum machine learning compression at University College London. Peter Kyle, the UK’s Secretary of State for Science, Innovation and Technology, praised the firm: “Doubleword’s work is helping set the standard for how companies can … [adopt] AI quickly and efficiently so they can realise their ambitions and allow their workers and customers to thrive in the age of AI.”

£6.6m to accelerate expansion of Ash’s health company

The past few days have brought news of another major funding success involving an OE entrepreneur. 2003 School Captain Ash Kalraiya’s MediShout, has raised £6.6 million in a Series A funding round. The funding will help it expand across Europe and the US. MediShout simplifies the work of hospital staff by bringing together suppliers and helpdesks into a digital ‘one-stop shop’, enabling them to report any operational issue easily. Ash (OE 1997–2004) said: “With 140 hospitals across Europe and many of the world's largest medical device companies using our platform, this investment will supercharge our expansion further.” Among those he thanked was fellow OE Saav Shah (1999–2006), Managing Partner at Nickleby Capital, which led MediShout’s seed fundraising round two years ago and was again involved in the latest funding round, led this time by Heal Capital.

Justice seen to be done: barrister Matthew appears in new TV series

Lawyer Matthew Radstone featured in the first episode of a new Channel 4 documentary series that follows some of the country’s leading barristers representing clients accused of serious crimes. The programme, Barristers: Fighting For Justice, shows Matthew (OE 1993–2000), a criminal defence barrister, defending a taxi driver facing a 15-year prison sentence as he is accused of transporting cocaine worth £1m as part of an international drugs conspiracy.

And finally…

We trust you have enjoyed reading this edition of the QE Connect e-magazine produced by QE for all our old boys. What next? Well, if you haven’t already discovered QE Connect, our online social and business network, why not take a look.