Congratulations and well done to former student Ben Taylor who received his Gold Award at a special presentation at Buckingham Palace on Monday.

Ben was a student at Cleeve Park School between 2014 and 2022 (Years 7 to 13). After achieving some outstanding results in his A Levels he was offered a Degree Apprenticeship as a Data Analyst at Queen Mary’s University through PWC (PricewaterhouseCooper).

Ben is the first Cleeve Park Student to have been awarded a DofE Gold Award. The Gold DofE programme is a non-competitive personal challenge, open to all young people, which takes a minimum of 12 months to complete. Young people build their own programmes with activities in five sections – Physical, Skills, Volunteering, a five-day Residential and a four-day Expedition.

The event was hosted by the Duke of Edinburgh - Buckingham Palace Garden had been transformed into a festival-style celebration for young people and their loved ones, with giant deckchairs, bunting, and garden games and activities and the visitors were able to walk the grounds of the very impressive gardens. Television presenter, former professional footballer and Silver DofE Award holder Jermaine Jenas (pictured with Ben and a friend) also delivered an inspiring speech.

A great day was had by Ben and his family.