Lois Heslop, who left FHS in 2017, is one of three students awarded the University of Oxford’s prestigious Geddes Prize, with Lois winning the main Philip Geddes Prize for most promising student journalist.

Lois, a second-year physics student at Lady Margaret Hall, submitted a portfolio of work for the Oxford Blue, a newspaper she co-founded (and is Oxford’s first student newspaper in 30 years!). Lois broke several news stories for the Oxford Blue that went on to make national headlines. These include reporting the arrest of a Christ Church professor for stealing ancient papyrus from the Sackler, a Pembroke don pleading guilty to child pornography possession, and a long read on the Governing Body feud at Christ Church, laid bare in confidential documents she obtained.

She also submitted two interviews with prominent scientists: Nobel Prize Winner Professor Donna Strickland, and Professor Dame Jocelyn Bell Burnell, and an opinion piece she wrote for the Telegraph on the treatment of students during lockdown.

The Geddes Prize is named after Philip Geddes, a former student at St Edmund Hall and himself a promising journalist, who was killed as a result of an IRA bombing in 1983. The prize is open to Oxford University undergraduates and recognises emerging journalistic talent, with previous winners going on to work for newspapers such as The Times and Guardian.

Said Lois, “I’m delighted to have been awarded the 2021 Geddes Prize for my work as Co-Founder and former Editor-in-Chief of The Oxford Blue. I’ve been involved with student journalism almost since I started at Oxford, and I co-founded The Blue in my second year. In just over a year since we started publishing, The Oxford Blue has broken news, barriers, and new ground, and we’ve even won a national journalism award. I’ll be putting the prize money towards several projects at The Blue, including the development of a student journalism app, and a science channel. This is of particular importance to me as a physics student, and I’m really interested in science communication: something I discovered at FHS, through mentoring younger students. I’m delighted to be joining the ranks of Geddes Prize winners, whose alumni include Samira Ahmed and Helen Lewis.