Pupils are celebrating today after receiving an astonishing 43 offers from either the University of Oxford or the University of Cambridge – the highest number in the College’s history. We are immensely proud of our pupils - a huge congratulations!
This Tuesday evening, the College played host to the constituency’s first General Election hustings for the candidates running to become the next MP for Brighton Kemptown and Peacehaven.
Candidates from the five parties running (Conservative, Green, Labour, Liberal Democrats and SDP) took to the stage of the Great Hall for an event styled on the format of the BBC’s Question Time. The event was expertly chaired by Guardian columnist Rafael Behr, who called on our Sixth Form pupils to ask a variety of probing questions that challenged the candidates and stimulated some lively debate.
Questions spanned a wide range of topics, including those inspired by the parties’ recent policy announcements, such as votes for 16-year-olds, national service, and VAT on private school fees. The packed hall really benefited from hearing how the parties and their candidates differed on these issues, with a question on a possible move to proportional representation being perhaps the only time where the Conservative and Labour candidates solidly agreed – with both keen to keep the current first-past-the-post system.
A truly enlightening night, showcasing how UK democracy works ahead of the school’s own internal pupil-run mock election, which will take place next week.
