Orla Hogan wins top prize at an international debating competition in China

Orla was one of four students chosen from the IBD sixth form programme to compete in the First Prudential Cup Sino-UK International High School Student Insurance Knowledge Competition held in the summer in Bejing.

Alex May, Christelle Dossa, Kofi Asiedu and Orla Hogan were all chosen for their knowledge of economics, their ability to think on their feet and respond to the unexpected. The competition involved a formal debate on a financial topic in English, and a cultural performance.

The trip was fully funded by Prudential and organised jointly with SSAT, together with prestigious financial and academic intuitions in China: CASS and CIRC. The team was accompanied by their economics teacher, Mrs Thompson, Helen Ellis, Head of Corporate Affairs at Prudential UK, and Nicola Garratt, Project Manager at SSAT.

All students worked hard to prepare for the debate, practising their group performance and learning some basic Mandarin – all within a short timescale. They were rewarded for all their hard work with some fabulous sightseeing opportunities, including guided trips to the Great Wall of China, Tiananmen Square, the Forbidden City and the Olympic stadium, all gnerously funded by the Prudential.

You can read two moving impressions of the trip by...

Christelle Dossa
Alex May

It was a thrilling experience and hugely successful on a number of levels – not least Orla Hogan winning the top individual prize of a laptop.

Congratulations, Orla!

Click below to see pictures of the trip...