Farnham Heath End School’s History Bowl London champions took part in the International Academic Competitions European Championships at the City of London School on June 1 and 2.

Three pupils qualified for the Middle School - Years 8 and 9 - History Bee, an individual buzzer-based trivia competition featuring 24 competitors from countries including France, Switzerland and the United Arab Emirates.

In the preliminary round Hayden B recorded the highest score and qualified for the final as top seed. Amelie R also qualified but Gethyn J just missed out despite answering several questions on his specialised subject of military history.

After a final characterised by tricky questions, Hayden B became European champion with a score better than anybody else in any age category. Amelie finished eighth.

In the International History Bowl, the Year 7 Elementary team finished fourth on their competitive debut, narrowly losing the third-place match.

The Middle School team stormed through to face Eton College, who lost to Farnham Heath End at the last three tournaments, in the semi-finals. They battled hard and were ahead for most of the game, eventually falling on the final question to the eventual winners.

The third-place match saw them face some incredibly obscure questions before another devastating loss on the last one. Farnham Heath End was the only state school in this competition.

But the day ended with another honour for reigning European champ Hayden B, who was awarded a gold medal for the highest Middle School score in the Ancient History championship exam.