The GCHQ Languages Competition kicked off on Monday, 14^th November and ran until Friday 18^th, with Year 9 Teams from all houses getting involved, to solve as many online decoding problems as possible to capture the flag before the end of the competition.

GCHQ is a world-leading intelligence, cyber and security agency, who along with MI5 and MI6 keep the UK safe from threat. So, as you can imagine, this competition was not for the faint-hearted.

The Languages Department would like to congratulate Team Farfield: Will B, James C, Connor M and Alex P, for their tenacity and the many hours spent cracking codes. Although they did not win the national competition, they did come in the top 10% of the country out of over 3000 Teams, which alongside following the Gresham’s timetable was no mean feat. Congratulations too to the Edinburgh and Woodlands Teams who came 2^nd and 3^rd respectively.

Languages play a huge role in intelligence in the UK, and we hope this competition has inspired our Year 9s.