Election fever took hold at King James Academy in Royston as pupils held their own mock general election.

Organised by Year 10 pupils, each class within the school represented its own constituency with a seat in the King James Parliament.

The election mimicked the real thing - with each constituency having an electoral role and students attending a polling station to record their vote, working on the 'first past the post' principle.

KJAR pupils gathering for the mock general electionKJAR pupils gathering for the mock general election (Image: KJAR)

To prepare for the election, pupils have been learning about the political process in the UK and the manifestos and policies of the five main political parties.

Headteacher Lisa Plowman said: "This mock election is an excellent addition to our already extensive personal development program.

"We have a moral obligation to educate young people, and we believe that part of this is to help them navigate the world around them.

"We are rightfully proud of what we do to support students in developing into well-rounded citizens of the future.

"Our character values, of which respect is a key one, form a golden thread through everything we do as a school, evidenced clearly by the way students have taken the lead with organising the election."

The school had mock polling stations and ballot boxesThe school had mock polling stations and ballot boxes (Image: KJAR)

Acting deputy headteacher Alistair Dewar said the exercise helped improve wider skills such as literacy, numeracy and critical thinking, adding: "It is great to see young people taking such an active part in the political process.

"It is too easy to say that the younger generation have no interest in politics but this is clearly not the case.

"We are very proud of the articulate and thoughtful way that our students can express their views and thoughts about the different parties' policies.

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"This has been an amazing learning opportunity for all involved."

At the end of the day on Thursday, July 4, Year 10 hosted their own live election broadcast to announce the results to the school.

Deputy prefect Holly Watson said: "It was really interesting to see how our electoral system created such a difference between the votes cast and the MPs elected.

"It has been a great opportunity to learn about the difference between different political systems."