Queen’s College celebrates ten national awardees

Queen’s College secured seven of the 12 Barbados Scholarships awarded for 2026, along with three of the country’s 21 Barbados Exhibitions.
The results gave the school ten national awardees, with principal Mitchelle Maxwell crediting the students as well as the teachers, parents and guardians who supported them.

The scholarship recipients are Azani Blades, Ethan Dear, Chaya Griffith, Kaela Hinds, Joshua Jemmott, Amaris Nicholls and Arrielle Thompson.
Queen’s College’s three Exhibition winners are Anaya Moore, Brandon Squires and Daniel Wickham.

Maxwell told Barbados TODAY the results are a great source of pride for the entire school community and credited students, teachers, parents and guardians for their roles in the success.

“Very much based on what we have been exposed to the public domain, we recognise that this year has been an exceptional year for the school with the number of scholarships that… those seven students would have received as well as our three exhibition winners,” she said.

“And of course this is a tremendous feat; it’s a tremendous sense of pride based on the performance of our students when we consider what our school has been able to accomplish as a school community.”

The principal said the results were not solely the achievement of the students, but reflected the combined efforts of everyone who supported them during their time at school.

“As a collective, we are very happy as to our students and their performance and I would want to say that our teachers have worked exceptionally hard and we are happy as to the support that has been given from our teachers as well as our parents, as well as our guardians,” Maxwell said.

She added that the students showed dedication throughout their studies.
“We are exceptionally proud of our students and their accomplishments, and we recognise that this is as a result of dedication, persistence, and of course, commitment on the part of the students.”

Across the country, 34 students received academic awards for 2026. Twelve earned Barbados Scholarships, 21 received Barbados Exhibitions and one was given the Award of Excellence.

Barbados Community College had the most Exhibition winners with 13. The St Michael School had three and Harrison College had two.

Maxwell did not confirm whether this was the highest number of scholarships Queen’s College has ever received, saying the school has “always done exceptionally well” and that past records would need to be checked.

“But this has been another exceptional year for Queen’s College,” she said.
According to Maxwell, the school had a strong indication that several students were capable of competing for the top awards based on their performance in the previous academic year.

“We did have a good sense as to what were the possibilities,” she said, explaining that students who had performed strongly in Lower Six were identified as potentially being able to compete for scholarships and exhibitions.

The school community then continued to support them as they worked towards those goals.

Maxwell placed emphasis on the role of the teachers and said: “They continue to apply themselves to their task. Every year they give yeoman service to pedagogy to working with students, wanting to explore, you know, the very best for our students.”
For Maxwell, the results also offer a message to younger students who may aspire to achieve similar success.

“Continue to apply yourself, continue to be committed to excellence,” she said. “It’s going to require, as it always does, hard work, commitment, dedication.”
She urged students to remain focused and deliberate in their approach to their studies.

“You must remain focused, be intentional, and be purposeful. And of course we always rely on God for steadfastness in everything that we do as a school community,” Maxwell said.

The Ministry of Education Transformation announced the 2026 national academic awards, with Chief Education Officer Dr Ramona Archer-Bradshaw congratulating the awardees and recognising the work of students, teachers, parents and guardians at the ceremony on Friday. (LE)