National economics competition finalists lauded for essays on healthcare

Two QE Sixth-Formers have been praised for their “outstanding” entries to a national economics competition run by the Institute of Economic Affairs.

The School itself also received a prize after it was the runner-up – by a narrow margin – in terms of the number of entries submitted to the IEAs’ 2015 essay competition for the Dorian Fisher Memorial Prize.

Calum Johnson and Saif Rehman, of Year 13 (pictured below, on the right), were among just 20 short-listed finalists who were invited to the prize presentation lunch at the institute’s Westminster offices, close to the Houses of Parliament. They were competing against young economists from many of the country’s best-known independent schools.

IEA Education Director Dr Steve Davies, who spoke at the ceremony, said: “This year we chose to focus on the topic of the economics of healthcare, and the essays were of a consistently high quality, with many showing real thoughtfulness and a willingness to look outside the usual polarity of the NHS and the US system and to consider the example and performance of countries nearer to home such as Switzerland and the Netherlands.

“The top 20 essays were of outstanding quality and it is very pleasing to see so many young students tackling a quite difficult and demanding subject.”

All who took part in the competition received a complimentary copy of the IEA’s, magazine, Economic Affairs, and a monograph.

The £250 prize for the School was presented to QE’s Head of Economics, Liane Ryan.