College A-level student has received a Royal Geographical Society (with IBG) award for Excellence in Geography. Lucy Stapleton achieved the best results in the country in the OCR exam board’s GCE A- level Geography examination last summer. 

The award scheme promotes the interest and enjoyment of Geography by recognising and rewarding high achievers in A level and GCSE examinations. It is always appreciated by students, parents and schools when the highest examination achievements are rewarded, and to have that achievement recognised by the national Learned Society for the subject elevates the achievement further.

Steve Brace, Head of Education and Outdoor Learning at the RGS-IBG said ‘The Royal Geographical Society (with IBG) is delighted to give Lucy an award for her achievement as one of this year’s best Geography students.’

Dr Peter O’Connor, Head of Geography at the College stated ‘Lucy was a truly outstanding student of Geography. Her enthusiasm and dynamism for the subject was reinforced by an intellectual rigour which went way beyond the confines of the A-level syllabus. Her project work on the relationship between deprivation levels and voting patterns in Harlow was genuinely ground breaking for its use of GIS at schools level. I am really looking forward to seeing how Lucy will contribute to the development of Geography as she follows her studies at Cambridge University.’

The College has been pioneering the use of geographical information system (GIS) technology in schools since 2003 using one of the most advanced products available. The GIS system, supplied by the Environmental Systems Research Institute (ESRI), makes the subject more interactive and engaging and equips pupils with the right GIS skills should they go on to use the technology in their chosen careers.