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A record 65 guests signed up to support Year 11 boys at this year’s Careers Convention – more than 30 of them alumni.

New workshops were added to cover degree apprenticeship assessment centres and being ‘future-ready’ in a rapidly changing labour market – one of the six key priorities in QE’s new School plan, Boundless.

Assistant Head (Destinations and Progress) James Kane said: “Our Careers Convention grows stronger each year, and 2026 was our most inspiring yet. The generosity of our speakers – particularly our Old Elizabethan community – creates an environment where students can explore their ambitions with confidence and curiosity.

“The event encourages boys to explore both traditional and alternate pathways, providing them with first-hand insights about careers and career development from alumni, parents, other friends of the School and higher education advisors.”

The day opened with an inspirational keynote from Kam Taj (OE 2004–2011), who encouraged pupils to stay open-minded, embrace uncertainty, and understand that career paths are rarely linear.

There was a range of expert panel sessions on topics covering seven key career areas: accountancy, banking & finance; creative industries & the built environment; engineering; law; entrepreneurship; STEM opportunities; and medicine & dentistry.

Pupil Sriram Muthukumaran, who attended the engineering session, said: “I personally enjoyed the panel and their insights, which really helped guide my journey and allowed me to network with people in the field I want to explore.”

The afternoon featured workshops running in parallel with a Careers Fair in the Shearly Hall, where boys could have one-to-one conversations with the visiting experts, taking the opportunity to ask personalised questions and receive tailored insights.

This was especially popular with the 114 boys who gave feedback, such as Isa Sheikh, who said: “Being able to speak to people in different industries personally in the Careers Fair was the best part for me.” Vash Mamtani agreed: “Having conversations with some of the alumni and getting personalised advice was incredibly useful.”

Overall, a large majority of respondents gave the Careers Convention a four or five out of five rating.

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The OE pair narrowly defeated the School’s motion, This House would rejoin the European Single Market, at The 59th Annual Elizabethan Union Dinner Debate.

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.

In an evening packed with tradition, sixth-formers 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.

Sejal began 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 an 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, others 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.

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.

Alumnus Matt Houghton (OE 1997–2004) has won a BAFTA Award for the Best British Short Film 2026 with This is Endometriosis.

In his acceptance speech, he said: “This is a grass-roots film built by volunteers, and driven by a desire to make a small but significant change in the world.”

Blending present-day narration with memories, the documentary tells the story of how the gynaecological condition robbed sufferer Georgie Wileman of time.

Matt praised her as “brave beyond comprehension and an inspiration”. He told her: “Making this film with you has humbled me and taught me that to make films that matter, we must enter creativity with a strong soul and a soft heart.”

This Is Endometriosis had already received wide recognition before its BAFTA success, including a nomination at the 2025 Grierson Awards, a Gold Shark for Best Documentary at the Kinsale Shark Awards in Ireland, and honours at the Webby Awards.

The film has been screened at Everyman Cinemas nationwide.

Matt was in Pearce House at QE, where he was a standout athlete and played rugby for the School. He went on to study History at the University of York before embarking on his career in film.

On his website, Matt describes himself as a Londoner of mixed British and Indian descent “who makes films about outsiders and the unheard”. He was an associate producer for the Netflix Original feature Apollo Thirteen: Survival.

In advertising, Matt’s work has been nominated and won awards at the Kinsale Sharks, Webby Awards, British Arrows and 1.4 Awards, as well as being selected as part of Vimeo’s coveted Top Ten Best Of The Year twice.

• This is Endometriosis can be watched here.

Help was on hand when QE’s Music students had to perform their own GCSE and A-level compositions.

Not only did their fellow pupils turn out in numbers to play alongside them at the special concert, but two Old Elizabethans returned to the School to support them, too.

As well as the new works, the Chamber, Choral and Composition Concert featured Beethoven, Brahms and Schubert, together with pieces by lesser-known 20th-century luminaries, such as the Polish-Lithuanian Grażyna Bacewicz and Czech composer Bohuslav Martinů.

Adding to the entertaining mood in The Friends’ Recital Hall, there was a Barbershop rendition of Journey’s Don’t Stop Believing, not to mention sixth-former Leo Sellis’ quirkily titled piece, 7W Microwave (purportedly inspired by some of the random titles given to jazz tracks).

Director of Music Ruth Partington said: “It was a splendid evening, with a spectacular quality of composition and performance. The criteria for the GCSE and A-level compositions were that they should make full use of the instrument for which they were composed, so we had lots of virtuoso performances.

“It was lovely to see boys investing so much in playing the work of their friends and peers, and doing those works great justice.”

Miss Partington especially thanked Old Elizabethans Conor Parker-Delves (2015-2022) and Tristan Boldy (2013-2020) for returning to play the saxophone and trumpet respectively. Conor had travelled down from Manchester, where he is in his final year at the Royal Northern College of Music.

The final performance filled the floor of The Friends’ Recital Hall as the Chamber Choir and Orchestra combined for sections of Mozart’s Requiem. It was, said Miss Partington, “stirring, powerful, and a demonstration of the massed strength of QE’s singers and musicians”.  Those involved had attended a workshop with the Barnet Choral Society on this work back in January, and Miss Partington duly thanked the society’s Musical Director, Rory McCleery.

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Having spent the day with Her Majesty the Queen, the Chancellor of Birmingham University headed to QE, where she gave an inspiring speech during a memorable Senior Awards Ceremony.

Dr Sandie Okoro was guest of honour at the School’s showpiece annual celebration of excellence for Years 10–12.

She came to Barnet from St James’s Palace, after being invited there in her role as Chair of the Women of the World Foundation for an event linked to International Women’s Day.

Headmaster Neil Enright said: “This year’s Senior Awards was a wonderful night: we were thrilled to welcome Dr Okoro, who was a hugely engaging and inspiring speaker, bringing real energy to the role.

“Emphasising the central importance of the arts and of remembering human values and human judgment in the context of technological change, she encouraged our senior pupils to be part of hopeful change and to take pride in being the first – having broken numerous glass ceilings herself.

“She was very generous with her time, too, staying to speak with many families and other guests at the reception after the ceremony in our Main Hall.

“My congratulations go to all this year’s award-winners, whose recognition was very well deserved.”

Dr Okoro was installed as the eighth Chancellor of the University of Birmingham in 2024. A high-profile equality rights champion, she is the first female Chancellor of Birmingham since the university was established in 1900.

She has had a distinguished career as a highly respected lawyer, holding senior positions with the World Bank Group, HSBC Global Asset Management, Barings and Schroder. Most recently, she served for almost three years as Group General Counsel of Standard Chartered Bank.

Reflecting afterwards on a “wonderfully joyful evening”, Dr Okoro had a final message for the prize-winners: “Remember, your education is the one thing no one can ever take away from you.”

During the ceremony, around 80 prizes were presented to the boys, watched by their parents, teachers and other guests including Councillor Edith David (Deputy Mayor of the London Borough of Barnet) and Martin Russell MBE (Representative Deputy Lieutenant). They were given for their academic studies, for their contributions to School life, and for co-curricular activities, such as music, chess and QE’s Combined Cadet Force.

The evening was punctuated by musical performances, including those in the interludes after the prize-giving for each of the three year-groups.  These were given by three music prize-winners: Year 10 violinist Jeremy Shi (playing Béla Bartók’s Romanian Folk Dances), Year 11 pupil Jamie Lam (also a violinist, playing Camille Saint-Saëns’ Danse Macabre) and Year 12 vocalist Rishi Watsalaya (Ralph Vaughan Williams’ The Vagabond).

“All the music was outstanding, but particularly the three interludes,” said Mr Enright.

In his speech, the Headmaster pointed out to the boys that the School’s first Speech Day took place in 1876: “So tonight, in addition to honouring your achievements, we mark a 150‑year tradition of recognising hard work, talent, and boundless potential.”

He went on to highlight the importance of, and connections between, empathy and reading: “Empathy is rarely built by scrolling, but it is often built by reading. Reading widely allows us to inhabit the perspectives, experiences, and inner lives of others… To be clear: digital media, visual storytelling, podcasts, and AI all have their place and their value. Concision is an art. Technology is a tool. But the ability to read deeply, think critically, and empathise with others is a human skill. A timeless skill. A leadership skill.

“And we aspire for you to be the leaders of your generation in your chosen fields.”

After the ceremony, refreshments were served by volunteers from The Friends of Queen Elizabeth’s (“I must say the food was excellent, too,” said Dr Okoro).

There was also an opportunity for prize-winners to have their photograph taken in the Shearly Hall in front of a newly purchased QE backdrop.

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