Izzie E (Year 12) enjoyed VIP treatment at the House of Lords on Wednesday 29 April as she received the Whitbread Memorial Prize from Lord Lexden, President of the Independent Schools Association.

Izzie, who until September 2021 was a pupil at Abbot’s Hill School, was awarded this highly prestigious national award for academic and all-round excellence at GCSE.

The morning began with a tour of the House of Lords, after which Izzie and several other prizewinners watched the Speaker proceed into the Chamber. They sat in the Strangers Gallery and watched a fascinating session of Oral Questions.

Following this, they proceeded to a meeting room where prizes were presented to Izzie and to three other students – the winners of the Whitbread Prize from 2020 (Izzie having won it in 2021) and the Lexden Prize (for A-Level years) for 2020 and 2021.

Izzie and her mother then visited the Peers Dining Room for afternoon tea to round off the proceedings, before enjoying some sightseeing round London.