Nickless Prize 2025

In a fitting tribute to Christopher Nickless, OR, former Headmaster of the Preparatory School, the results of the 2025 Nickless Prize have been announced. This competition was originally initiated by Mr Nickless in 1969.

Classmates Zain B and Roman G (8L) scored “full houses” in the Second Round of the paper. This strong showing ensured that they retained their lead from the “blind” sitting in Round One earlier in the term. They are to be congratulated on their success, becoming joint-winners of the 56 th Nickless Prize. They will receive their prize in July’s Speech Day.

In total six pupils recorded a century in Round Two, including Zain and Roman. Vivaan T (5N), Arturo W (5W) and Alfred W (8L) also accomplished this feat, while Rahul S’s (7H) 100 elevated him from sixth to third in the overall standings. Aside from Arturo and Vivaan, there were some very encouraging performances from younger pupils in Round Two with five of the “leaderboard” made up of pupils in Year 4-6, and Year 4 Maya V, the top-performing girl, finishing sixth overall. Kyan H (6W) and Milan H (4SM) won the unofficial “family” contest, while 8L narrowly topped the Form Competition.

Overall pupil scores improved over three times between rounds, suggesting that thoroughgoing research was undertaken in family libraries during the half-term holiday and many pupils worked hard at memorising the knowledge gleaned from Mr Google et al. Miss Walters, whose eclectic knowledge included the Classics, not unsurprisingly given her degree, and, perhaps, more surprisingly, Snooker, finished top of the staff league, with Miss Bower and Dr Thomson winning places on the podium.

In the House Competition, Roman and Zain’s success suggested that Crick was well-placed to win the House Challenge, but it was Storrs that outshone the other houses overall with greater strength in depth as they won this aspect of the contest by 6.23 points per child.

Thank you to Mr Medhurst and staff for marking and administering the quiz and Mr Williamson for his unwavering support and administration of scores.

Top Ten Finishers
Position   Name         Score    Form    House
=1st             Zain B          123         8L            C
=1st            Roman G      123         8L            C
3rd             Rahul S         121          7H           P
4th             Arturo W      115          5N           C
5th             Kyan H          114         6W          P
6th             Maya V          113         4M         W
7th             Fola D            111          5W         S
8th            Milan H         110         4SM       P
9th            Alfred W       109         8L          W
10th          Eiliyah S       104         7H         W

House Competition:
1st Storrs 33.64 points
2nd Crick 27.41 points
3rd Parker 27.00 points
4th Whiston 24.76 points