There’s no question: Farnham has some of the country’s finest young minds as Heath End students have done their town and country proud in a European quiz competition.

Thirteen students competed against of the continent’s most exclusive schools at the International European Academic Championships in Vienna.

But the boys and girls from Surrey were simply wunderbar, returning with podium finishes and lots of silverware.

Heath End students – who qualified for the European competition after winning the History Bowl title in February – enjoyed a full day of sightseeing and got a taste of Austrian cuisine before getting quizzical.

Hayden Burton and his brother Mostyn, a Year 6 pupil at William Cobbett, gave organisers a taste of things to come in the International Geography Bee.

Number one seed Hayden claimed the title while his younger brother finished fourth in the Elementary age category, with the eldest narrowly missed out on retaining his European History Bee title by one question.

Amelie Read came ahead of numerous sixth form pupils to claim gold in the historical geography competition along with a silver in the History Bee for her age group.

The questions continued the next day with FHES teams competing in the Elementary (Years 6-7) and Junior Varsity (Years 10-11) sections.

The FHES elementary team won their first round-robin match against The German School of Brussels but were defeated by Latymer Upper School and the Brussels School in the following matches.

They had to score at least 30 points against their Latymer opponents from London in their final match to progress but succeeded to much rejoicing.

The FHES Junior Varsity team got off to a great start with victories over Landau School from Azerbaijan, Ecole Jeannine Manuel D from Paris, Eton College (by ten points) and Ecole Jeannine Manuel E. Their only defeat in the group stage was against the defending champions Ecole Jeanine Manuel B, widely regarded as France’s best school.

The FHES team were seeded second going into the knockout stage and faced a semi-final against arch rivals Eton College, but Heath End triumphed with 20-point victory on the final question.

The room was packed for the Junior Varsity final; FHES versus an EJM C team who shocked their higher-ranked schoolmates in the semi-final.

Heath End got off to a great start winning the first round 70 points to 30 with some incredible answers from Hayden, Gethyn and team captain Amelie. Sadly, their French opponents came back and an incorrect buzz handed victory to the Parisians.

A spokesperson for the school said: “The FHES team showed all the school values throughout this event but especially at the end of this final, when our students went straight to congratulate their opponents.”

“Special mention also to Amelie who consoled some of the younger students who were quite upset at this high-stakes final.”

“The students would like to say a huge thank you to the FHES community and Herald readers of who responded so generously to an appeal to donate funds to help pay for this trip.”