Exploring Codebreaking History at Bletchley Park

This week, 85 Year 12 students from our Maths and Computer Science departments visited the world‑renowned Bletchley Park, the historic centre of British codebreaking during the Second World War.

Students explored the site where Alan Turing and his colleagues transformed the course of history, even seeing Turing’s mug still chained to the radiator. Workshops brought combinatorics and cryptography to life, including a deep dive into why the Enigma machine had far more than “158 million million million” possible settings. Students also tested their skills in an AI‑image discrimination challenge and, of course, enjoyed a well‑earned ice cream in the sunshine.

As Vahid (Year 12) reflected, the trip offered “an insight into the experiences of World War 2 and the strong foundation for future pioneers of technology.” It was a powerful blend of history, mathematics and inspiration, and a reminder of how STEM continues to shape the world around us.

To read more about this trip and other STEM projects from this term, take a look at Volume 5 of the LAET Newsletter.