Top of the Class: Comedian Alex Horne hosts Warwick’s School Tasking Champion of Champions Final 2025

School’s out on Thursday (19 June) as more than 800 schoolchildren visited University of Warwick for the School Tasking Champion of Champions Final – hosted by Taskmaster creator Alex Horne.

Inspired by the hit TV show Taskmaster, School Tasking introduces Year 5 pupils to the world of Law through imaginative tasks and team challenges. Created by Dr Ali Struthers in 2022, School Tasking is a Warwick-led legal outreach programme that now works with over 3,000 schoolchildren and 34 universities across the UK and Ireland.

The winners of the regional finals visited Warwick for the grand finale, competing in fun tasks on stage with Alex – from finding the audience member closest in height to a chicken, to tossing beanbags into Dr Horne’s mortar board, and even hiding in Warwick’s iconic Butterworth Hall – in a bid to be crowned School Tasking Champions 2025!

Taskmaster creator and comedian, Alex Horne, said:

“Every year, the children in this project consistently show how capable and creative they are in approaching each and every one of the tasks at the Champion of Champions. It must be nerve-wracking for them standing up on stage and being given tasks to do by ‘that man off the telly’, but they really do take it all in their stride and perform magnificently.”

This year’s School Tasking champion is Da Nuggets from Pirniehall Primary in Scotland. The other regional winners taking part in the national final were:

Winning team: Pirniehall Primary (Scotland)

Brockwell Mega Minds from Brockwell Junior School (Midlands)
Cookies ‘n’ Cream from St George’s Catholic Primary (North East)
The Law Busters from Stanhope Street Primary (Ireland)
The Preppy Kids from Willow Lane Primary (North West)
The Prison Breakers from Lawdale Junior School (South)

School Tasking creator, Dr Ali Struthers, Reader in Law, University of Warwick, said:

“The School Tasking Champion of Champions is always such a joyful event, bringing together Year 5 teams from across the country who have won their Regional Finals and earned the right to lark about on stage doing ridiculous tasks with Little Alex Horne. It’s not easy performing on stage in front of around 1,000 people in the audience, but they rise to the challenge brilliantly and absolutely give it their all.”

School Tasking's Dr Ali Struthers with Alex Horne

School Tasking has been recognised for its innovative and impactful work, winning the prestigious LawWorks and Attorney General Student Pro Bono Award for ‘Best Contribution by a Team of Students’ at a ceremony at the House of Lords earlier this year, as well as being shortlisted for the Times Higher Education Award for Widening Access or Outreach Initiative of the Year 2024.

ENDS

Notes to the editor

University of Warwick press office contact:

Dom Barker, Media & Communications Officer

Dom.Barker@warwick.ac.uk / Mob: 07824 540727

General and out of hours press office number +44 (0)7392 125605 (please call as emails are not checked out of office hours)

Photography

All photos credit: University of Warwick.

Photo 1: Task in action

Photo 2: Winning team (Pirniehall Primary, Scotland) with Alex Horne

Photo 3: Dr Ali Struthers (School Tasking creator) with Alex Horne

More photos available on request

About School Tasking

School Tasking is a legal outreach project for schools in less advantaged areas. Participating Year 5 classes are split into teams of 5-6 to compete against each other, other local schools, and, ultimately, other schools across the country in a bid to be crowned that year’s School Tasking Champions!

Classes are introduced to some of the most interesting areas of law and are given a chance to practise key skills, such as teamwork, communication, and lateral thinking. Just as in the TV show, School Tasking provides the opportunity for all children to shine based on their particular talents and skills.

LawWorks and Attorney General Awards

For further information on The University of Warwick winning the LawWorks and Attorney General award for ‘Best Contribution by a Team of Students’, please see the Warwick press release, available online: https://warwick.ac.uk/news/pressreleases/warwick_students_win_national_law_award_at_the_house_of_lords1

Academic Paper

Dr Struthers academic paper ‘School tasking in UK primary schools: widening access through early intervention and gameful design’, co-authored with Katie Jones, can be read in the Journal of Further and Higher Education.

DOI: https://doi.org/10.1080/0309877X.2025.2497049