Twenty Upper VI students completed extensive independent research projects and presented their findings to audiences of their teachers and peers.

There was an amazing breadth of work, from analyses of the economics of Manchester United, the similarity of Taylor Swift lyrics to gothic novels, and a proposal for new software to make adjusting hearing aids more intuitive to the user.

Five students were awarded Sixth Form Scholarship Awards. Trisha Mishra and Helena Pizura were given full awards. Poppy Bennett, Eleanor Beale and Issy Durham were highly commended. All the students will receive funds to help them in their future studies.

Trisha wrote an impressive play and analysed how it might be staged with different performance variables. Helena explored the role of the human bacterial gut microbiome in immunity, and how it might be related to chronic disease. Poppy designed a small housing development, considering how the buildings could be altered to affect the lives of the inhabitants positively.

Eleanor and Issy both produced detailed and perceptive analyses of contemporary political situations: the role of Christianity in American voting patterns for Eleanor, and Issy examined the different impacts of legislation in Sweden and Malaysia on LGBTQIA+ communities.

It was a great pleasure to hear our students examining the world with such imagination, rigour and insight, and to see such a breadth of skilled academic research. All the participants deserve to feel very proud of their work.