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QE’s robotics competitors start the Summer Term fighting fit, with six teams qualifying for the Vex World Championships in the US later this month.

After battling it out at the national championships in Telford, three senior V5 teams won places at the ‘Worlds’ in St Louis, Missouri, with a further three making the grade in the junior IQ competition.

In a busy Spring Term for robotics, a Year 12 team also took their own trip across the Atlantic, travelling to Calgary, Canada, where they were the only team from outside North America among 81 teams competing at the Mecha Mayhem event.

Headmaster Neil Enright said: “Qualification for the World Championships requires huge levels of preparation, skill, design flair and teamwork, so our teams deserve hearty congratulations: we wish them all the best in St Louis.”

The three qualifying senior teams all acquitted themselves well at Telford, with Team Nova taking an Innovate award and Rogue winning a Think award, while Zenith were fourth in the Skills competition and came fifth in their division.

Six VEX IQ teams from Years 8 and 9 travelled to the national championships, joining two days of competition with teams from all over the UK. Each team competed in 12 qualification matches, with the hope of gaining a spot in their division’s finals.

The competition involved frequent working in alliances with other teams. The QE competitors’ collaborative skills, resilience and problem-solving duly won them a clutch of awards.

Team Omega won the coveted overall Design Award and claimed their slot in Missouri.

The other Worlds places went to GearSquad and CircuitBreakers, whose clever solutions to the competition game devised for this year’s national championships won them both an Innovation Award.

In addition, there was a Think Award for Torque Titans – an independent team of QE pupils who had decided to compete in VEX outside of School – and an Amaze Award, with a place at the Worlds, for a mixed team comprising students from various schools, including QE.

Darsh Singh, of Year 8, said: “I found the Nationals an extremely joyful and unforgettable competition. We all made loads of friends and it was an experience like no other.”

This was a sentiment shared by Yaer 9’s Akshaj Mittal, who added: “VEX isn’t about just winning. It’s about teamwork, friendship, resilience and courage, and our team embodied just that…”

The Canada competition was attended by team HYBRID. In recent years, QE Year 12 teams, who are unable to go to the Worlds because of examination commitments in the Summer Term, have joined a series of special robotics events in North America.

At Mecha Mayhem, with HYBRID the only non-American team, its pit area rapidly became a favourite place for others to visit.

The team finished day 1 with a win in their practice match and one win and loss in their first two qualification matches. On day two, they ranked 42nd in a competitive field. Competing in the Skills competition on the final day, they came in 19th place out of 74, thus hitting their target of a top-20 finish.

They also found time to relax and explore a little. They enjoyed a thrilling game of NHL Ice Hockey, the final match for many players before the winter Olympic break, where the Calgary Flames upset the odds by beating the Edmonton Oilers 4-3. At Calgary Zoo, they saw native species including Canadian mountain goats, bison, musk oxen and wolves. They took a trip to the Calgary Tower, followed by a visit to an escape room where they not only beat the time limit but escaped only just short of the record time. They also enjoyed the Downtown Calgary district, with its picturesque Jack & Jean Leslie Riverwalk.

• Click on the thumbnails to view the images.

QE diplomats representing Spain at one of the leading Model United Nations conferences won both individual and collective success.

Spain secured three of the five resolutions at the 18th annual Haberdashers’ Elstree Schools Model United Nations Conference (HabsMUN). There were awards for several of the QE participants, while the QE delegation as a whole was ‘highly commended’.

Headmaster Neil Enright said: “My congratulations go to our delegates, whose efforts resulted in QE being recognised as one of the leading schools overall at HabsMUN. At MUN conferences, participants practise public-speaking and collaborative working, and are required to look at global issues from different perspectives. They thus develop the skills needed to become compelling communicators and deep thinkers – skills which are increasingly sought after by leading employers.”

The three-day event was attended by more than 600 young people. They came from familiar local schools (including North London Collegiate School and Mill Hill School), from well-known independent schools (Marlborough College and Brighton College), and from institutions as far afield as China, the Czech Republic, Italy and Greece.

The interests of around 70 nations were represented; QE was tasked with appearing for Spain and Nigeria.

After the opening ceremony, a lobbying period gave delegates the opportunity to get to know their committees. Debates within committees occurred the next day.

The final day consisted of the General Assembly, where only the strongest resolutions were debated. The debate took place in front of a hall full of delegates from across the committees.

The three resolutions from QE’s Spain delegation came from:

• Year 10’s Siddharth Kumar, from the Health Committee; he was named Outstanding Delegate
• School Captain Tunishq Mitra, of Year 12, from the ECOFIN (Economic and Financial) Committee; he was awarded Distinguished Delegate
• Kelvin Chen, of Year 11, who was part of the CEP (Committee on Environmental Policy); a Highly Commended Delegate.

QE Nigeria delegate Eshaan Anil, of Year 10, was awarded a Special Commendation.

The conference featured guest speakers and a varied programme that included everything from flag parades to inter‑committee karaoke. In one of the event’s lighter moments, Siddharth and Eshaan, both from the Health Committee, were crowned 2026 Karaoke Champions.

As HabsMUN drew to a close, Siddharth said: “This conference wasn’t only about the awards. I learnt so much about public speaking, socialising, critical thinking and improvisation. My confidence has significantly improved, and I will leave with memories of fun like never before.”

In addition to those mentioned above, the QE delegates were:

Year 10 – Afraz Khan and Samuel Sobolak;
Year 11 – Nikhil Francine and Parth Jain;
Year 12 – Aahan Shah.

Two visiting Old Elizabethans narrowly defeated the Sixth Form pair who proposed the motion, This House would rejoin the European Single Market, at The 59th Annual Elizabethan Union Dinner Debate.

The OE debating duo, Anish Kumar and Shubh Rathod (both 2017–2024), argued that the point was not to relitigate the 2016 referendum, but to recognise that the world has moved on, with Europe left behind, and that, therefore, there could be no going back.

In an evening packed with tradition, Year 13’s Sejal Bobba and Shreyas Chandrasekar proposed the motion. The 2025 School Captain, Simardeep Sahota, toasted the visitors, while Shubh gave the toast to the Elizabethan Union – QE’s debating society. There were also the customary toasts to His Majesty, The King and to The Pious Memory of Queen Elizabeth I.

The Dinner Debates began in the early 1950s. After not being held for around ten years, they were revived in 1985. Further cancellations were occasioned by the Covid-19 pandemic.

Sejal began this year’s debate by noting that the Single Market is not the same as the European Union, since a participating country is not required to be in the customs union. Rejoining the single market would benefit the economy to the tune of £80–£90bn.

Anish, however, stated that having another referendum would reopen old problems, not least in Northern Ireland. The world is not moving towards Europe, but away from it, with other European countries and their economies struggling.

Shreyas urged looking to the future, not the past. Free movement would deal with labour shortages in the UK, and would help Europe, too. Since allies beyond Europe have become less reliable, we should stand with the European countries, he said.

Shubh, however, countered that leaving was difficult enough, so rejoining would be on unfavourable terms. He cited the significant amount the UK had to pay to rejoin the Erasmus scheme as a cautionary example. Our independence is helpful in giving the UK a measure of freedom in geopolitics and defence, and he noted the downsides of free movement in the context of refugee crises and instability.

A lively floor debate followed, during the course of which the proposers noted that net migration increased substantially after Brexit.

With an AI revolution looming, some of the sixth-formers present pointed to the way in which Britain leveraged its independence during the Industrial Revolution to its huge advantage, warning that making an economic commitment to Europe would compromise its ability to work effectively with economic giants including the US, China and India.

Others, however, stated that it is not possible to negotiate in good faith with the current leadership of the USA, or pointed to the ineluctable fact of continental Europe’s geographic proximity, with well over 40% of the UK’s import and exports still taking place with Europe.

The vote came down to a wafer-thin margin, with the motion defeated.

The pupils and OEs enjoyed a three-course dinner with a vegetarian option for the main course and sticky toffee pudding with salted caramel for dessert.

Year 12 pupil Yash Mehta took first place in a national speaking competition, winning a £10,000 prize and a handcrafted spear inlaid with 24-carat gold.

Yash was named Laureate after his speech on Education for all impressed judges at the inaugural Sovereign Minds SPEAR Oratory Prize Grand Final held at Church House in Westminster.

He was one of three QE sixth-formers to enter the competition – and all three achieved considerable success. Yash’s fellow Elizabethans, Year 13’s Laksh Aggarwal and Vyom Srivastava, of Year 12, were among just 25 young people to reach the semi-finals out of more than 2,000 entrants.

Headmaster Neil Enright said: “My hearty congratulations go to Yash on this very notable success. At QE, we are committed to promoting oracy and to nurturing deep thinkers and compelling communicators. Public-speaking competitions provide an excellent opportunity to develop such qualities, and Yash, Laksh and Vyom are to be commended on taking full advantage of this one.”

The competition, open to anyone aged 16–18, was run by Sovereign Minds, a UK-based educational initiative. Entrants were required to deliver a speech from memory on one Sovereign Minds’ ten SPEAR target subjects.

The five finalists’ speeches were judged by: Colonel (Retired) Lucy Giles, the first female commander at Royal Military Academy Sandhurst; Charlotte Horobin, CEO of the Cambridgeshire Chambers of Commerce, who sits on several business and academic advisory boards; and Dr Harshinder Malhi, who has over 40 years’ experience in education.

In the final, Yash delivered a ten-minute speech to an audience of 400 people. “I have seen how access to education can quietly shape confidence, ambition, and trust in what is possible. To me, education is the hidden engine behind innovation, economic growth, and human progress,” he said. He also spoke of his core belief that when everyone rises, the world accelerates and flourishes.

Yash plans to use the money to invest in a company that is making education more accessible.

Laksh, also speaking on Education for All, considered how education can tackle issues such as health and climate change. Laksh explained why he entered the competition: “Firstly to improve my own confidence in writing and giving a speech – and it’s an opportunity to learn more about the topic.”

Vyom’s speech was on the Peace & justice target subject. It focused on the importance of free speech in society, stressing people’s rights to voice their opinions free from government control.

The other SPEAR targets are:

• End poverty
• Improve health
• Eliminate hunger
• Future of work
• Protect our planet
• Equality everywhere
• Global cooperation
• Responsible consumption

One feature of the competition was that the latter stages were held in prestigious central London venues. The quarter-finals were in the Naval and Military Club, while the semi-finals took place in the House of Commons. Church House, the location of the final, not only houses offices for various parts of the Church of England, but it also provided a meeting place for Parliament during the Second World War, and in 1946 was the venue for the first meeting of the UN Security Council.

Three Old Elizabethans played in the historic Varsity rugby and water polo fixtures this term, with at least half-a-dozen others currently representing Oxford and Cambridge in the universities’ clubs.

Cambridge captain Ben Rock (2016–2023) and Avi Juneja (2018–2025) competed together in water polo’s oldest fixture, first played in 1891. Avi is pictured here taking a penalty in the Varsity match shoot-out. In rugby, Joel Anjorin (2018–2025) secured his Blue from Oxford in The Varsity Match at StoneX Stadium. Others involved include: Cambridge first-team water polo players Andreas Angelopolous (2018–2025) and Yuto Watanabe (2015–2022); team coach Alex Norcliffe (2009–2016); Oxford University Water Polo Club player Suryansh Sarangi (2018–2025); and OURFC members Victor Angelov and Taro Niimura (both 2016–2023).

Click on the thumbnails below to view the photos. The gallery shows, in order:

University of Cambridge water polo
1. & 2. Andreas in action in the Varsity Seconds match
3. Andreas, Avi and Ben at their pre-Varsity match team dinner
4. Andreas alongside Yuto Watanabe (OE 2015-2022) at the recent Cambridge first team match vs Warwick
5. A team photo showing Andreas, Avi and Ben in Malta

University of Oxford water polo
6 & 7. Suryansh was part of Oxford’s victorious team in the Varsity Seconds match.

Our thanks go to Andreas and to Mrs Sweta Sarangi for these photographs.

• To read more from Ben and Joel, see the Spring Term Sports Bulletin, which also includes a profile of this term’s QE Rugby Dinner guest speaker, Max Hassell (OE 2002–2009), in our OE Spotlight feature.