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Biology teacher Sam Acors has won a Jack Petchey Leader Award after being nominated by his pupils.

QE is announcing the award to Dr Acors on National Thank a Teacher Day.

Headmaster Neil Enright said: “It seems especially fitting to be able to congratulate Sam today on this award, which is well deserved.

“It’s also an excellent opportunity to celebrate the immense contribution that all our hard-working, dedicated and inspirational staff make to the success of Queen Elizabeth’s School.”

Dr Acors joined QE last year after working as a post-doctoral researcher at Imperial College London. His doctorate from King’s College London was awarded in March 2024.

His pupils praised him for the good humour he brings to his teaching, as well as his supportive and nurturing approach.

Expressing his appreciation for the award today, he said: “It feels good to have made an impact on the students and be appreciated. I got into teaching to make a positive difference to young people’s lives, so having won an award that suggests I have influenced many of our pupils means a great deal to me. That being said, the students at QE are outstanding, so it makes our job as teachers that bit easier.”

The Jack Petchey Foundation was set up by entrepreneur Sir Jack Petchey, who died in 2024 at the age of 98. Since 1999, the foundation has been recognising and celebrating the achievements of young people across London and Essex.

The foundation’s Leader Awards recognise the ‘above and beyond’ commitment of adults who help young people. It encourages their schools and organisations to get the young people themselves involved in making nominations for the awards.

The Thank a Teacher campaign is run by the Teaching Awards Trust and has a vision to help create a society which values and celebrates “the great work that takes place in education every day across the UK”.

The Trust was established in 1998 by Lord David Puttnam, with the support of all the leading political parties, the teaching unions and the wider education community, as well as industry and media partners.

Dr Acors’ research at King’s included working with post-doctoral researcher Dr Nathalia Almedia to create populations, or lines, of a special type of human stem cell, which could help uncover why HIV leads to different outcomes in different people.

Announcing this development in February this year, Professor Mike Malim, co-senior author of the paper, said: “This has been a long journey for us, and I am particularly pleased for Nathalia Almeida and Sam Acors whose dedication and attention to detail enabled the creation of this panel of lines. It will be fascinating to see what we and others can discover about HIV biology and pathogenesis in the years to come.”

Twenty-four French pupils visiting QE as part of their language exchange had ample opportunities to express themselves during their week-long stay – and not always with words!

The boys and girls from the Institution Saint-Pierre gave free rein to their creative side in activities that included a hip-hop workshop held just for fun, as well as an English literature and poetry class led by Head of English Robert Hyland.

Having worked up an appetite through the dance and through outdoor team-building activities, they were sent on their way on their last day with a full English breakfast, courtesy of the School canteen.

Head of Languages Helen Shephard said: “We welcomed our French visitors by providing a range of varied and enriching cultural visits and activities, and giving them a taste of QE life in which staff across the School delivered a series of fun and educational activities.

“They stayed with QE families, benefitting from language immersion, and had the chance to participate in classes with their QE correspondents, who are drawn from Years 8 and 12.

Highlights of the week at QE included visiting the Harry Potter Warner Bros Studio and taking in iconic London sites.

“With bonds developed and friendships made, we now look forward to the return leg to Bourg-en-Bresse [between Lyon and Geneva, at the foot of the Jura mountains in south-east France] in June.

“Immersion in a foreign language is a key aspect of language-learning in Key Stage 3,” Dr Shephard said, explaining the importance of the exchange, which has been running since 2010.

“By the time boys become A-level linguists, they are fully conversant, and confident in their speaking, reading and writing skills.”

One prime example of this is the participation of QE sixth-formers in the Institut Français’ annual Joutes Oratoires Lycéennes national debating competition.

This year, four students (Year 13’s Edward Muscat and Colin Copcea, and Year 12’s Akira Norimura and Jun Lin) reached the Final d’Or – Gold Final – at the London heat, hosted by St Paul’s Girls’ School, after achieving high scores in the qualifying rounds.

Edward and Colin finished fourth in the Final d’Or, thus narrowly missing out on progressing to the national final held at the London headquarters of the Institut Français.

The competition involves debating complex and thought-provoking motions entirely in French.

The motion they had to support was: Centrist political parties should not collaborate with extremist political parties. With 15 minutes to prepare and no access to the internet (by phone or laptop), the boys had to rely on their knowledge of politics in the past and present. “It was certainly a pertinent topic in light of the current political climate,” said Dr Shephard.

Colin said: “This was a highly enjoyable experience, which helped us improve our spontaneity in French oracy.”

Sixth-former Devansh Jha has won first prize in his age group in Samsung’s Solve for Tomorrow technology competition.

His concept, The Green Cross, is a handheld medical device that scans wounds to monitor their healing. As well as featuring on national radio, Devansh’s winning idea will be showcased on the iconic Piccadilly Circus screens. His prizes include an exclusive London work experience placement from Samsung, and some of the technology giant’s own products.

Competing alongside him was fellow finalist Sparsh Shrivastava, of Year 8. Year 11’s Ishan Jakkulwar reached the semi-finals.

The competition challenges young people to create ‘tech for good’ – solutions that benefit society by addressing real-world issues.

Head of Technology Bilaal Khan said: “We are tremendously proud of Devansh. He was up against 1,000 other ideas and 2,184 fellow competitors, so this is a very considerable achievement.

“By so successfully harnessing technology for the public good, he is amply demonstrating at least three of the six priorities in our Boundless School Plan: he is future-ready, community-orientated and a leader of influence & valued collaborator.”

Devansh’s idea, The Green Cross, supports more accurate remote wound assessment, helping clinicians make better treatment decisions, while reducing the need for follow-up appointments. He was mentored by Samsung Product Manager Jordan Roberts.

For his entry, Sparsh was supported by his Brilliant Bob 10 team – Dhruv Srinath and Aadit Shukla, who, like him, are in Year 8.  His idea is called GrowGuard – an adaptive operating system that ‘grows’ with young people to help keep them safer online as they get older.

Just nine finalists pitched their ideas in the final at Samsung’s King’s Cross HQ. The event, which was managed by educational agency Hark, featured speakers including Mete Coban, Deputy Mayor of London for Environment and Energy, as well as Samsung UK’s President, Ben Yoon.

Speaking after he took the top prize in the 16–18 age category, Devansh said: “It was a really eye-opening experience – I got to talk to so many people about how I could design something to make their life better. I had no experience in med tech before, but, with the people around me, I really wanted to solve a problem that mattered. This experience reinforced something I’ve become increasingly passionate about: technology is most powerful when it’s used to solve real, human problems.

“I’ve learned how to present, how to sell an idea, and to put myself out there – things I hadn’t done before.

“My advice to anyone thinking of entering next year: just go for it. As long as you have a genuine passion for it, you are good enough. It’s a really fulfilling experience, and if it doesn’t work out, it’s okay – it’s a learning process.”

Ishan, with his Flux team, was one of 24 semi-finalists. He took part in a rapid prototyping workshop led by technology charity Tech She Can.

Year 10’s Aaryan Prabhaker has won the 2026 World Math Hackathon – a global competition where contestants focus on using mathematics to solve some of the planet’s most pressing issues.

QE is announcing his success today on National Numeracy Day 2026.*

Aaryan won the gold medal and first prize, beating a young Canadian mathematician into second place, reversing the order last year, when he was runner-up to Canadian pupil Havish Bhavasar.

He secured first place with his essay on the UN Sustainable Development Goal (SDG) on poverty reduction. Pupils from Canada took both second and third places this year.

Head of Mathematics Jessica Steer said: “Our congratulations go to Aaryan, who showed perseverance, creativity, and, of course, great mathematical ability to produce an outstanding essay.”

Open to pupils aged 11-17 worldwide, the World Math Hackathon is run by Explorer Hop, a Toronto-based educational organisation that focuses on financial literacy, money management, and entrepreneurship.

The competition tackles a different SDG every year and is aligned with the United Nations Sustainability Plan.

Previous examples of the challenges set include: the problem of vaccine deliveries in underprivileged countries; creating sustainable living communities by designing a walkable city, and finding solutions for sustainability and inequality.

Aaryan rose to the challenge by producing an essay on how education and training could help reduce poverty in Ethiopia – the case study provided by the competition organisers.

He applied mathematical modelling to evaluate three spending options to provide basic education, but also suggested other, low-cost measures, including the use of social media and community story-telling sessions.

His essay concluded with these words: “A holistic and well-rounded approach can help solve the crisis that Ethiopia faces today and help provide education to millions of children. Education is like the water, sun and soil, all combined together that can help nurture and grow these children out of poverty.”

* National Numeracy Day is a UK campaign dedicated to improving everyday maths. Each May, individuals, schools and organisations across the country come together to help children and adults feel more confident with numbers at work, at home and at school. This year’s theme is Count on Your Community.

• You can read Aaryan’s essay here.

Sixth-former Hisham Khan was named in the top 25% of the 100 élite young mathematicians competing in the final round of the British Mathematical Olympiad – considered the UK’s hardest national Maths competition.

Hisham and fellow Year 13 pupil Joshua Wilkinson reached the BMO’s second round after both won bronze medals in round 1, where they were ranked among the top 100 of the 1,300 who took part.

Assistant Head of Mathematics Kirtan Shah said: “Due to the sheer volume of students who enter, it is not easy to be a top scorer in round 1 and progress to the final round. But Hisham and Joshua did even better than that, mustering clear focus, endurance and resilience in round 2.

“Overall, theirs was a fantastic performance that will serve as an inspiration to others.”

The BMO is a UK-wide competition for Year 10 to 13 run by the UK Maths Trust (UKMT). Even to enter, students have to rank in the top 1,000 of the separate UK Senior Mathematical Challenge (UKSMC), or be entered by their Maths teacher.

The first round of the BMO lasts three-and-a-half hours and has six questions.

Both Hisham and Joshua qualified for it by coming in the UKSMC top 1,000.

Like round 1, round 2 lasts three-and-a-half hours, but it has four, not six, questions.

Hisham is no stranger to success in the BMO: in the previous academic year, he secured a silver medal in round 1, while 2025 leaver Saim Khan won bronze, missing out on a silver by just one mark.

In addition to their bronze medals, Hisham and Joshua, both from Year 13, won a book, Introduction to Number Theory, by C J Bradley, who was a lecturer at Oxford.

Hisham also won a certificate of distinction for coming in the top 25% in round 2.

Head of Year 13 Akhil Gohil presented Hisham and Joshua with their medals and books in Year 13 assembly.

Four sixth-formers reached the national final of a prestigious competition with their detailed plan for building on the UK’s strengths and resolving its economic woes.

The Year 12 Economics students were among only eight teams from a 173-strong field to make it to the final of the Institute of Economic Affairs and Vinson Centre Budget Challenge.

They had first swept through the initial round to win a place in the semi-final, where they emerged successfully from a face-to-face grilling on their proposals.

Head of Economics Krishna Shah said: “These four students not only demonstrated a strong grasp of current economic conditions, but also set out a credible strategy and some detailed proposals for dealing with the UK’s economic issues. Our congratulations go to all four of them on reaching the final in this well-respected competition.”

Economics is a popular A-level choice at QE. In 2025, 21 candidates secured places to read Economics at university, while ten of the 44 offers of places from Oxbridge this year were for Economics, either on its own, or as part of a wider degree, such as Oxford’s Politics, Philosophy and Economics (PPE) course.

The IEA Budget Challenge aims to help young people: learn more about Economics; sharpen their writing, research and analytical skills; and better understand policy issues facing national decision-makers. There is a top prize of £1,000.

For the first round of the challenge, Peter Atanasov, Shreyas lyengar, Aditya Karmarkar and Ahsan Rahman had to submit a 5,000-word entry giving:

• Their analysis of UK macroeconomic conditions and prospects for the next two years
• An outline of what they considered to be the main economic goals and their broad strategy for pursuing them
• A proposed budget, setting out taxes and other sources of revenue, expected levels of spending by department, and details of expected borrowing (if any).

Their entry secured them one of 12 team places in the semi-final held at the University of Buckingham. Here, they were tasked with creating a presentation on their proposed budget.

They had ten minutes to present their revenue-raising policies, which included a move to asset-based taxation. There were also Government spending measures, such as competition policies and supply-side policies which included spending on education and vocational training.

The four were then subjected to a rapid ten minutes of questions-and-answers from their distinguished panellists Dr Steve Davies, Senior Education Fellow at the IEA (an educational charity and free-market think tank) and Professor Juan Castaneda, Director of the Vinson Centre – a research and knowledge exchange base at Buckingham.

In the final at the IEA’s headquarters in Westminster, the team delivered a presentation on the evaluation of their budget, on alternative methods they could use in the future, and on some constraints they had not considered before.

Afterwards, all four pupils reflected positively on their experience. Ahsan said: “Taking part in competitions like this gives you greater insight into how UK budgets work.” Peter benefitted from “…thinking about and understanding the changing economic landscape towards sustainability”.

Aditya enjoyed developing his teamwork and collaboration skills. And, after facing two rounds of Q&As, Shreyas said: “It certainly helps you develop the way in which you respond to rapid-fire questions under pressure and thinking on the spot!”