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Sixth-former Joel Swedensky and Year 10’s Noah Morley have been named as the first-ever Organ Scholars under a new partnership between QE and St John the Baptist Church.

The pair will have increasing responsibility for playing the organ at services and for rehearsing the choir at the church, while also being fully involved in the extra-curricular Music programme at the School.

They have the opportunity to practise the instrument extensively at QE, which is now home to an electric organ supplied by the Royal College of Organists (RCO). The scholarships include an honorarium.

Team Vicar Fr Sam Rossiter-Peters said: “We are delighted to have welcomed Joel and Noah as Organ Scholars at St John the Baptist, and from the outset of their time with us have been hugely encouraged and impressed by their ability as organists, their commitment to service and learning, and their willingness (and the willingness of their families) to be part of the wider church community.

“Joel and Noah are a credit to Queen Elizabeth’s School. They are passionate about music, they engage with their fellows in the choir and organ loft, and they display considerable talent and potential as organists. Everyone I have spoken to in the church, both those who frequent the loft, and those who sit in the pews, speak very highly of both boys, who have made the scholarship programme a delight to run.”

Headmaster Neil Enright said: “We are very pleased to have launched this new partnership and hope that in the future there will be many more such Organ Scholars from QE. It fits in very well with the Evensong tradition that we are rapidly developing at QE: our Chamber Choir has sung Evensong both at the parish church and at Southwark Cathedral in recent months.

“Furthermore, the Organ Scholarship scheme with St John’s is not only important in itself; it also creates pathways to other opportunities, including scholarships at Oxford and Cambridge.”

Two Old Elizabethans have won Organ Scholarships from Cambridge in the 21st century – Drew Sellis (2013-2020) and Peter Yarde Martin (2002-2007), who is now a peripatetic Music teacher at the School.

More recently, current Year 13 student Arjun Patel has won a Choral Scholarship from Merton College, Oxford – one of the record-breaking 62 Oxbridge offers this year.  Another of the School’s peripatetic teachers, operatic tenor Rhys Bowden (OE 1996–2003) was a Choral Scholar at St. Martin-in-the-Fields, Trafalgar Square, and then went on to study music at Girton College, Cambridge.

Joel and Noah’s role includes playing the church organ and conducting at Sunday morning Eucharist and Evensong. Working with the church’s Choirmaster and Organist Emeritus, Terence Atkins, they also attend Friday evening rehearsals, giving them additional experience of rehearsing the choir.

Similarly, at QE, they are working with various ensembles to gain experience both of conducting and of providing accompaniment.

QE’s Viscount Chorum 40-S organ was supplied last term by the RCO under its Organs in Schools programme for state schools. It was immediately put to good use, including during the recording session for Howard Goodall’s anthem, And Be It Known, which was commissioned to celebrate the 450^th anniversary of the School.

Joel said: “It’s been really useful having the electric organ to practise on, as unlike with other instruments, it is usually a very difficult instrument to practise, so this has helped me get in significantly more practice time.”

“I am looking forward to gaining very useful experience in not only playing for services but also in choral conducting and accompaniment. Father Sam and choirmaster Terence have been very welcoming.”

One of the priorities of the parish church’s mission action plan is to become a centre of musical excellence. On Palm Sunday, 24^th March, the church hosted a production of St John’s Passion by Bach.

Speaking ahead of the event, Father Sam said:“I am delighted to say that Noah will be playing for some of the chorales during the performance. This is a huge opportunity for Noah, as it is the largest production the church will have hosted for a few years, as we welcome the Anglo-Japanese Choir, several local dignitaries and distinguished guests, and honoured guests of the Japanese Embassy.

“I was equally delighted that Joel was able to take part in our interview process for our Director of Music and Musical Mission role. Joel stepped up to the occasion admirably, and was an invaluable voice amongst the wider appointment panel. His thoughts on the candidates made a material contribution to our choice, and we were pleased to appoint his preferred candidate.”

Noah and Joel (along with Zach Fernandes, of Year 8) have played at previous QE services at St John’s, as well as playing voluntaries at Southwark Cathedral prior to the Chamber Choir’s Evensong there last Summer Term.

The School is taking active steps to inspire boys to take up the organ. Peripatetic teacher Adam Hope has been teaching the instrument to Noah and Zach, who both passed grade 3 with distinction in a year.

Music teacher Jas Hutchinson-Bazely, who is himself an accomplished organist, has now started a club for pianists to come to learn more about the instrument, with a view to them taking lessons in the future.

He has also taken a wider group of potential organists to the parish church after school and has arranged a day at St Paul’s Cathedral with its Organ Education Lead, Jeremiah Stephenson. Eight musicians will visit: Joel, Noah, Zach and another existing organist, Year 7’s Gabriel Ward – plus another four who are attending the club. They will: be able to play all four instruments at St Paul’s; receive a masterclass from Jeremiah; watch the choir rehearse Evensong; and then attend with reserved seats in the Quire.

A sixth-former’s review of Balenciaga’s autumn collection has been named among the winners in a New York Times writing contest.

Suryansh Sarangi was selected as one of nine overall winners – and one of only two from outside the US – after penning a review that commented not only on the clothes, but on the collection’s relationship to the American dream.

He drew inspiration from his interest in fashion, but also from his A-level English classes, and especially American literature lessons on F Scott Fitzgerald’s The Great Gatsby.

Head of English Robert Hyland said: “Full marks to Suryansh on this outstanding success! Having discovered the competition for himself, he then submitted an entry that was at once lively, original and thoughtful.”

There were more than 3,200 entries to the NYT’s Ninth Annual Student Review Contest. Entrants, who had to be school pupils aged 13 to 19, were invited to write original reviews of up to 450 words on any kind of creative expression covered by the Times, one of the world’s most influential newspapers.

In his review, Suryansh began by noting the importance of the show’s setting – “Draped in the golden Californian sun on a pristine neighborhood boulevard punctuated with postcard-perfect palm trees, everything about the Balenciaga fall 2024 collection just screams Los Angeles.”

The city, he noted, carried special significance for Balenciaga’s creative director,  Demna Gvasalia: “Having grown up in a dreary ‘post-Soviet vacuum’, Demna himself states that the very culture he idolized as the perfect, colorful life was that of L.A.”

The collection, with its “relaxed yet stylish outfits” and its mixed messages – “Perhaps celebrities are just like us. But are they?” – was, Suryansh concluded, “an ironic highlighting of inequality…nothing more than a testament to the modern American dream, an illusory ideal we can only chase, yet never achieve”.

Suryansh, who is in Year 12, found out about the competition through a friend he made at a US universities fair. “I was compelled by the immense creative scope it allowed entrants. I realised this was a great opportunity to express my passions about my non-academic interests: this competition gave me a free licence to write about whatever I wanted

“Social commentary through the media of fashion piqued my interest and I was drawn to brands which did this, like Balenciaga. Balenciaga’s philosophy is to make every piece a work of art, something that transcends mere fashion and becomes a statement of expression, emotion and creativity.

“I did not have to research much; I just had to watch the fashion show on YouTube, and from there, it was just about interpreting it and analysing it beyond its face value.

“When doing The Great Gatsby, we talked and learned a lot about the American dream, with it being a key focus of the novel, and I was able to incorporate this into my review.”

Suryansh writes for The Econobethan and The Arabella – pupil-run magazines at QE – and recently led a creative writing workshop at the School.

He recommends that anyone interested in fashion’s role in social commentary should look into:

• Raf Simons Fall 2001 Show, Riot! Riot! Riot!
• Alexander McQueen’s spring/summer 2010 collection, Plato’s Atlantis
• The work of other designers and fashion houses such as Rick Owens, Maison Margiela, Yohji Yamamoto and Jean Paul Gaultier.

As his prize, Suryansh’s review has now been published, along with those of the other eight winners, on the NYT’s educational resource website, The Learning Network.

It’s not just about what you know, nor even who you know…you have to learn to build trust and communicate well if you want to get ahead in your business career.

That was one of the important messages at the School’s 2024 Careers Convention, held as part of the new QE Futures programme.

Dozens of Old Elizabethans and other supporters turned out to help Year 11 find their path during a day that featured morning talks and a series of workshops, as well as a careers fair, where boys had the opportunity to gain one-to-one support and guidance.

Assistant Head (Pupil Destinations) James Kane, who heads QE Futures, said: “The day provides insights into a range of careers from those already embedded in them. We find that the large number of our alumni who help are especially able to understand the current boys and their perspective.

“Naturally, the guests do share some role-specific guidance during the day, but many stressed the broader skills that are highly valued in their wider sector. It was notable that all those who spoke about careers in business, finance and insurance emphasised the importance of being able to communicate verbally and successfully build personal relationships – that those being most successful in these careers are the people who can build trust with their clients and colleagues.

“The day was very positively received by the boys and by our visitors. My thanks go to all who gave their time: we hope to see you back at QE soon.”

The day started with an introduction by Mr Kane in the Main School Hall and plenary sessions on Keeping an Open Mind by performance coach and motivational speaker Kam Taj (OE 2004–2011) and on Appropriate Alternatives to University by Annice Abanda, an adviser with the Education Development Trust for the ASK Programme (Apprenticeship Support And Knowledge For Schools And Colleges).

It was, Kam said afterwards, “wonderful to return” and speak to the 180 pupils. He shared three ‘takeways’:

1. You are not meant to know your future path, provided you know your current goals and ambitions and can move on when they change.
2. Celebrate when you find something you dislike, because this discomfort supplies the impetus to ask what you want to do and to change your situation.
3. We are constantly changing, so reject norms that no longer suit you, embracing change and honouring your growth.

The boys then went to their chosen talks in two half-hour sessions before lunch. These covered careers in areas including: Medicine; Entrepreneurship; Business; Finance & Insurance; and STEM.

The afternoon’s careers fair in the Shearly Hall enabled the boys to practise their networking skills as they sought more information about the different options available to them.

Among those advising on careers in Engineering was Rahil Shah (2012–2019), who shared with the pupil delegates about his own journey towards his current role as a software engineer at Bloomberg. After the convention, he reflected on his experience there: “I met a lot of bright, driven students who had ideas of going into STEM at A-Level, university and beyond.

“Some students had more clarity on this future trajectory than others. But that is PERFECTLY OK! Reading Computer Science at university was a leap of faith for me. I must have changed my mind on what I wanted to study at least five times.”

Held in parallel with the two careers fair sessions were several workshops. Among those proving popular was the one entitled Preparing for university and the world of work led by Arvind Raghu, Sujan Boddu, Vishruth Dhamodharan and Akshit Varkala.

• Click on the thumbnails below to view photos from the day.

QE marked February as LGBT History Month with a series of special assemblies and other events designed to raise awareness of the issues.

2023’s School Captain, Darren Lee, led the way in a competition to design computer desktops with his winning images of two American icons of LGBT rights, tennis legend Billie Jean King and ‘first trans celebrity’ Christine Jorgensen.

Headmaster Neil Enright said: “We are proud as a School to promote equality, diversity and inclusion (EDI), and I congratulate all those who have been involved in celebrating LGBT History Month.

“Of course, this is not only about one month in the year: it is important that all our students develop an understanding of society around them and the histories and experiences that have shaped culture, politics, and the law.

“To this end, we are in the process of auditing our curriculum across the whole School to assess how it is aligned with our vision for a broad, balanced and inclusive curriculum. This involves ensuring that diversity is celebrated and that there is positive representation.”

The month included assemblies delivered by the charity Just Like Us, with its ambassadors delivering separate, age-appropriate talks to Years 7–9 and to Years 10–12 about growing up queer, covering topics such as faith & sexuality, gender identity and coming out.

Last year several pupils joined forces with those from Queen Elizabeth’s Girls’ School as part of the QE Together partnership to take part in a national advertising campaign with Just Like Us.

Other activities during the month included:

• Wearing rainbow ribbons on blazers; these were distributed free by prefects
• Watching the film Bohemian Rhapsody, a musical focusing on the life of Queen lead singer Freddie Mercury, in the Main Hall
• Making rainbow-beaded bracelets
• Participating in the LGBT History Month Quiz on the last day of the month.

Having recruited 27 pupils from Years 9–11 as Equality, Diversity, and Inclusion Ambassadors to support the two assigned Year 12 Vice-Captains with their leadership of this important aspect of School life, QE is embedding pupil leadership lower down the School and facilitating succession-planning. The ambassadors are split into sub-teams working on different areas of provision: events; pastoral resources; and the Perspective forum on the eQE network.

The EDI Ambassadors’ Club has been established and now meets fortnightly. This is open to pupils in Years 9–12 and is engaging pupils in active promotion of EDI at QE. It covers a wide range of issues and seeks to create a team culture of mutual support.

Other people covered in entries to the computer desktop design competition besides Billie Jean King and Christine Jorgensen included American gay rights activists Harvey Milk and Bayard Rustin. A more abstract design by Year 9’s Akshay Shah, featuring all the colours of the rainbow, was also among the front-runners (pictured top). The winning designs were displayed on desktop computers around the School.

As the School’s U14 and U16 rugby squads prepare to welcome teams from around the country to the 48^th annual QE Sevens tournament, their U15 counterparts are reflecting on a strong national competition run.

Another recent highlight was the first-ever QE Rugby Dinner, which saw top players from all year groups come together to celebrate their love of the game.

The QE Sevens, held this year on Sunday 10^th March, is one of the country’s biggest school sevens tournaments. It has cup and plate competitions for both U16 and U14 age groups. QE’s own players recently got some practice in at warm-up sevens tournaments at Haberdashers’ and London Oratory schools.

Head of Rugby James Clarke said: “We are busy putting in place the final preparations for the big day. QE Sevens provides invaluable opportunities for our rising players to test themselves against strong opposition. It’s an event at which QE families, alumni and staff can welcome old friends and make new ones.

“Most of all, it’s a great day out at the School – an opportunity to cheer on the home teams and to watch highly competitive, fast-moving rugby in a convivial atmosphere. The action starts at 11:00am. It’s free, and spectators are welcome just to turn up on the day: we look forward, as usual, to seeing many supporters on the touchline!”

The U15s stormed through three rounds of the National Bowl to reach a fifth-round home game against Emanuel School in Battersea. With no first round played, they had kicked off their campaign by securing a convincing 36-7 win in October against Hampstead’s University College School.

They then dispatched both Parmiter’s School, from Garston – whom they defeated 15-12 in round 3 – and Debden Park High School, from Loughton in Essex – against whom the winning margin was greater, with the final score at 25-14.

In their encounter with Emanuel School, they led throughout, amassing a 14-3 lead in the second half. However, after a strong fightback by the visitors, they saw victory snatched from their grasp by an Emanuel try in the last play of the match.

“It was a truly painful defeat,” said Mr Clarke. “Had the boys managed to hold on and see out the match, they would only have been two games from the final at Twickenham. But they should be congratulated on playing some fantastic rugby, both in this game and throughout their run.”

There was some consolation for several of the U15 backline when they found themselves named in the QE Team of the Year, which was announced at the inaugural Rugby Dinner in the Shearly Hall.

There were also prizes for boys of all ages in the Most Improved Player, Players’ Player, and Player of the Season categories.

Inspirational speeches came in the form of videos from current South African captain Siya Kolisi and London’s Maggie Alphonsi MBE, former flanker for Saracens and England.

Also speaking on video was guest speaker Desh Ganeshamoorthy (OE 2014–2021), a former First XV player, who fondly recalled his own QE rugby memories: “I think I ended up playing every position but fly half and scrum half…it was so much fun.”

• The dedicated Sevens website will show the draw and allow people to track results through the group and knockout stages.

With beginners making up at least half the 80-strong party that headed for the French alps, this year’s QE skiing trip was a time to enjoy thrilling new experiences alongside friends and classmates.

The boys enjoyed plenty of time on the slopes in the beautiful setting of Les Deux Alpes, near Grenoble – the destination for this year’s nine-day, half-term trip.

Group leader Richard Scally said: “It was a super trip, with everyone having a good time – and no major injuries!

“Such visits provide adventure and fresh experiences for the boys, and are a really important element in the QE experience.”

Les Deux Alpes, a ‘snowsure’ resort popular with British skiers, boasts a number of records: it has Europe’s largest skiable glacier and is also home to the longest fully on-piste vertical in the world, at 2,200m.

In total, Les Deux Alpes has 200km of on-piste terrain, ensuring that skiers of all abilities and experiences can enjoy their alpine adventure.

The boys stayed at the traditional Le Soleil alpine hotel in the centre of the village. Its après-ski attractions include a cosy fire area, ping-pong and table football.

Their busy programme when not skiing included ten-pin bowling and the opportunity to see some spectacular ice sculptures.

The trip began with a coach journey of more than 21 hours that took them all the way from the School to the resort, and included crossing the Channel on the Dover–Dunkirk ferry.

The boys were accompanied by ten members of staff, led by Mr Scally, who is QE’s Head of Cricket and Combined Cadet Force Contingent Commander.

He said: “Temperatures were very warm – up to 18 degrees one day.

“Snow was good at higher altitude, but, in an indication of how the climate is changing in the alps, it was interesting to see things getting a little slushy lower down in the afternoons.”

Destinations for the long-running QE skiing trip have in recent years ranged from the Italian alps to the Purcell Mountains, close to the Canadian Rockies.

• Click on the thumbnails below to see more images from the trip.

Bioquest, QE’s new, richly illustrated Science journal, features articles covering topics that range from a look at plant communication to an exploration of the eye’s importance in predicting human health.

The first edition is contained within the pages of The Econobethan, the School’s well-established Economics and Politics magazine, but future editions are intended to be stand-alone publications.

Edition XVII of The Econobethan takes as its theme The Economics of Conflict, looking at economic topics in theatres of war from Nazi Germany to the current conflicts in Ukraine and the Middle East.

Headmaster Neil Enright said: “My congratulations go to the team who have launched Bioquest – I hope it will be the first edition of many. It is also good to see such a high-quality edition of The Econobethan.

“Such publications provide excellent opportunities for boys to display genuine academic curiosity and scholarship. Through its thematic approach, The Econobethan demonstrates how the big issues cut across disciplines.

“It is important that our pupils develop an understanding of the world around them, and these publications show that they are taking great interest and thinking carefully about context.”

Bioquest is produced by a six-strong editorial team. One of them, Year 12’s Advik Balaji, appeals in his introduction for “dedicated scientists to contribute articles” for future editions.

Its six articles all feature colour illustrations and are all written by pupils in Year 12. They include Kavinayan Manivannan’s investigation of The Plants’ Trojan Horse, which explores plant cells’ use of RNA defence systems against necrotrophic fungi. Shivam Vyas looks at Microbiome Engineering in Plants, considering how a recent research breakthrough could “dramatically cut the use of pesticides and unlock opportunities to bolster plant health”.

Seyed Jalili considers how the identification of CHIP (Clonal Hematopoiesis of Indeterminate Potential) in human blood cells might translate into effective treatments. Joshua John looks at the ethical implications of genetic screening in his piece entitled The Cost of a Human Life.

Within the Economics of Conflict-themed section of The Econobethan, the writers look both at particular wars and at economic lessons to be drawn from conflicts more generally. For example, Year 12’s Akheel Kale reflects on The Bizarre Nature of ‘Hitlernomics’ and Suryansh Sarangi, also of Year 12, explores the legacy of the British selling opium in China on the Chinese economy.

The magazine also includes a more general section on Economics, Politics and History.

• For those with access to the School’s eQE network, The Econobethan and Bioquest may be viewed here.

Twenty of QE’s youngest boys teamed up with pupils from a leading independent girls’ school to explore the environmental crisis and learn how to persuade others to take action.

The QE contingent headed to North London Collegiate School for the Year 7 academic symposium, starting the day with a critical examination of social media posts representing different viewpoints and highlighting different scientific data on the atmosphere.

Together with the NLCS girls, they then explored the power of persuasion, studying the speeches of Swedish activist Greta Thunberg, before enthusiastically taking up the opportunity to write and practise their own speeches.

Enrichment tutor and Chemistry teacher Xiangming Xu said: “It was an amazing display of collaboration and environmental responsibility, in which the aim was to educate young students about the environmental crisis and empower them with knowledge about their role as students.

“Thus, they not only expanded their knowledge on environmental issues, but also developed essential skills such as teamwork, quick thinking, and persuasive communication techniques. Overall, the symposium served as an inspiring platform for students to learn, develop, and take action.”

The start of the day was marked by discussions about the selected social media posts, with the boys and girls supporting or challenging the various arguments being propounded.

Next, they looked at the impact of different techniques employed in speeches, including the influential contributions made by Thunberg, who customarily challenges world leaders to take immediate action over climate change.

Later, in the afternoon session, they had the opportunity to apply these techniques and to deliver their own speeches targeted at specific audiences, including business professionals, politicians, primary school children, and teachers.

Afterwards, three of the QE participants gave their reflections on the day:

• Arnav Ghoshal: “We learnt about the environment – which is a major factor in today’s world – while doing engaging and fun activities, making it a great time. Also, as QE is an all-boys school, it is good to mix with other genders, too.”
• Aaron Khan: “The activity I enjoyed most was when we worked together as a group to create an ‘elevator pitch’ for our chosen audience. This trip helped build confidence and my communication skills with others whom I may not be so familiar with.”
• Thomas Leung said he enjoyed delivering a speech aimed at changing politicians’ minds, since politicians can have a significant impact. “They have enough money and power to change something. I felt more confident at the end as I knew more about the environment and learnt new facts.”

A Year 12 team have been presented with their trophy after seeing off competition from 1,200 teams from Slovenia to Singapore to triumph in the international Ritangle Mathematics competition.

The five-strong team submitted the best answer to the final question, thus winning them the title in the competition run by education charity MEI (Mathematics, Education, Innovation).

Competition organiser Bernard Murphy, a Maths Education Support Specialist for MEI, visited the School to present the trophy and a hamper in a special assembly.

Headmaster Neil Enright said: “My congratulations go to the five on a splendid victory in a competition that is designed to stretch young people’s Mathematics knowledge to the limit.”

Ritangle is a free competition for teams of students aged 16-18 studying either A-level Mathematics or equivalent qualifications. Fifteen QE teams took part in the competition.

Harik Sodhi, captain of the winning team, said: “My favourite part of Ritangle was collaborating with friends on solving an interesting Maths problem. I definitely enjoyed the final question the most as it was a very open question and required lots of steps and a combination of Python and Maths and Excel programming, which made it very fun.”

His fellow team members were Anshul Nema, Koustuv Bhowmick, Shreyas Mone, Joel Swedensky.

For the first four weeks, one question was released every Monday. For the following five weeks, three questions were released, on Mondays, Wednesdays and Fridays. Every correct answer revealed a piece of information that helped solve the final task.

Shreyas said he particularly enjoyed the period in which the number of questions started to increase each week.

The final problem, involving the pairings for a ‘jamboree’-format chess tournament, was released on a Tuesday evening, with even those who set it not knowing what the best answer would be.

Mathematics teacher and Head of Academic Administration Wendy Fung said: “It essentially involved finding the smallest possible number that met a set of criteria. The question setters came up with an answer of 56, which they expected to be beaten by someone, but not by a great deal.

“The first correct answers submitted were above 100. On the Thursday afternoon, the winning QE team submitted the figure of 0.16. MEI initially assumed it must be wrong, but it proved to be correct once checked, and was never beaten – though some other teams got quite close. It was a remarkable performance by the boys, who have vowed to try and win again in 2024!”

The winning team, The Flex Angles, worked independently to solve the questions and needed to get to grips with using various forms of technology, from spreadsheets to graphing software.

Joel particularly enjoyed the early stages of Ritangle, when large numbers of boys at QE were taking part. “Racing to complete each question first after it was released was its own mini-competition.”

Anshul added: “Beside the final question, which will always be special to me, I really enjoyed all the prior questions in which I could use my technical expertise in plotting advance or interactive graphs to optimise functions. I’d have to say that my favourite part was at the very end, coming back to my computer after taking a break from the frustration to see my code announcing that a solution had been found, and rushing to tell Harik and the team.”

Of all the teams who entered, only 153 submitted correct answers to the final question. A second Year 12 QE team – The Left Angles, captained by Uday Dash – was among these and was therefore listed among the “commendable” teams by MEI. Uday’s fellow team members were: Saim Khan; Kovid Gothi; Adyan Shahid; Vijay Lehto and Dinuk Dissanayake.

Queen Elizabeth’s School has set a new all-time record for the number of places offered by Oxford and Cambridge universities, with the 2024 figure of 62 offers easily surpassing the previous school record of 47, set only last year.

There were record numbers of offers from both universities – 46 from Cambridge and 16 from Oxford – with just over one in three boys in Year 13 receiving an Oxbridge offer.

The offers cover a wide range of disciplines – from Law and Medicine to History and Asian & Middle Eastern Studies – and come from 33 colleges.

Headmaster Neil Enright said: “This is brilliant news! It’s a huge jump up from last year’s figure of 47, which itself comfortably exceeded our previous record of 40.

“These offers are testament to the academic accomplishment and sustained application of these students, both in public examinations and in their university admissions tests.

“They also demonstrate that these candidates were able to a make a convincing case at interview, where they were invariably up against very stiff competition. I would like to take this opportunity to thank the many Old Elizabethans and other friends of the School who conducted mock interviews with our boys in the autumn.

“This record is a very auspicious start to our new QE Futures programme, which seeks to further refine and enhance university admissions support and preparation, building on much excellent work embedded here over recent years.”

The highest number of offers came from the following colleges:

• Queens’, Cambridge – five
• St Catharine’s, Cambridge – five
• Trinity, Cambridge – four

There were: 18 offers for Medicine: eight for Economics, or Economics and Management; eight for Engineering; seven for Mathematics, as well as smaller numbers for other subjects, including famous courses such as Cambridge’s Natural Sciences and Oxford’s PPE (Philosophy, Politics and Economics).

Digging down into the statistics reveals a steady improvement in QE’s offer-to-application and offer-to-interview ratios over the past five years. This year, 90% of Oxford and Cambridge applicants were called for interview and 49% of applicants offered a place.

Assistant Head (Pupil Destinations) James Kane, who heads QE Futures, said: “To have reached a point this year where very nearly half our Oxford and Cambridge applicants have received an offer demonstrates how strong those ratios have become.

“We are confident that these students will make a positive impact on the life of their respective colleges and universities. Of course, receiving an offer is not the end of the process: the hard work continues as these boys strive to meet the conditions of their offers.

“There has been an encouraging picture more broadly, with other students securing a range of offers from other leading institutions: 344 offers so far across 119 courses at 32 different universities.

“As ever, we are mindful that there are some strong and credible candidates disappointed at not receiving the offers for which they had hoped.”