Year 11 History students visited The Science Museum in Kensington yesterday, October 9 to attend an exhibition called ‘Top Secret: From Ciphers to Cyber Security.’

The exhibition provided an insight into security techniques used in the Cold War.

The exhibition coincides with the 100th anniversary of GCHQ, the UK’s Intelligence, Security and Cyber agency.

They got to explore the story of Alan Turing and the team of Bletchley Park codebreakers who broke the Enigma code in 1941. There was a chance to uncover spy-craft from 1960’s Cold War espionage and challenge their friends by becoming  codebreakers in an interactive puzzle zone.

Students really enjoyed this trip and the range of artefacts, exhibits and interactive activities and one student, Leonardo Martin, added: “This trip really benefited my studies as I was able to see how espionage developed during the Cold War”.  

Another pupil, Brogan Cordice, commented: “Cracking the code was a challenge but lots of fun; it makes you realise why security is so important”.  

It sounds like they had a fantastic insight into the world of spies, secrets, espionage and intrigue and not a sign of 007 or Moneypenny anywhere.