THREE national engineering award-winning students from Alton Convent School received an exclusive invitation to Buckingham Palace in recognition of their outstanding achievement in the TeenTech program.

Lauren Shea, Gabriella Till and Lucy Rawlings were filled with disbelief as they embarked on their journey to the palace and excitement and anticipation mounted as the students were ushered onto the gravel behind the iconic gates.

The event began with afternoon tea in the most exquisite of rooms, followed by the awards ceremony when Lucy, Lauren and Gabriella adroitly explained their winning mShuttle design to their fellow students, leaders in industry, and the Duke of York.

There was much applause and flashing of cameras as the pupils returned to their seats.

The students were then interviewed to create an international promotional video for TeenTech. The youngsters are all accomplished public speakers. Most recently, Lauren and Lucy addressed an audience of 400 technology leaders, educators and policy makers at the Science Museum in London to share their inspirational experience.

The palace visit has been one of many opportunities resulting from their TeenTech success both for the individual students involved and the school as a whole.

Head of science Dr Louise Clayton said: “We are incredibly proud of the team. They have become inspirational role models for the next generation of Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics (STEM) professionals both within in our school and beyond.”

“The school is buzzing with excitement about STEM, and we are excited about the future possibilities for our student community,” she added.