PHSG wins SWAT Challenge Cup 2025

We are delighted to share that Plymouth High School for Girls has been awarded first place in this year’s prestigious SWAT Challenge Cup, a competition that brings together grammar schools from across the South West of England to tackle complex, real-world challenges through critical thinking, collaboration, and innovation.

This year’s theme was a particularly timely and nuanced question: “How can we increase public trust in the police?”

Representing PHSG were five members of our Thinking Leadership Team – Lilly, Katie, Amira, Simran and Ingrid – who responded with an outstanding proposal: a smartphone app named “Police Connect.”

The app would serve as a hub for local policing information, offering features such as up-to-date policies and practices, advice on crime prevention, a chat function to improve accessibility, and tools designed to boost transparency and build community confidence in policing.

Their concept stood out for its relevance, innovation, and practicality – impressing a judging panel that included Catherine Saunders, Communications and Publications Manager at The Police Foundation, and Temporary Assistant Chief Constable Mathew Longman of Devon & Cornwall Police.

We are incredibly proud of the team for this remarkable achievement – especially given the strong competition from Devonport High School for Girls (2nd place) and Colyton Grammar School (3rd place). Their thoughtful response to a real societal issue reflects the best of PHSG’s values: learning not just for school, but for life.

Events like the SWAT Challenge Cup remind us of the value of working collaboratively with other leading grammar schools across the region, and of the shared commitment within the South West Academic Trust (SWAT) to nurture thoughtful, articulate and socially engaged young people.