Over 1200 schools registered for the 2011 competition and have competed across the UK since March. Colchester Royal Grammar School triumphed over ten other schools in the nail-biting Grand Final held at the IndigO2 at the O2 in London, on Thursday 23 June.

The Times Spelling Bee 2011 school team champions are: Thomas Kirkham, (12), Joe Tagliaferro (12) William Harrington-Clark, (12) and reserve Liam Spurgeon (12).

The outstanding young spellers gained a record-breaking 103 points, spelling words such as pluperfect, necromancy and expostulate.

To add to the accolade of being Britain’s best young spellers, TV personalities Dick & Dom presented Colchester Royal Grammar School with The Times Spelling Bee trophy and the winning prize, which is the chance to guest edit the Young Times section of The Times newspaper. 

The individual winner in the Spelling Play-Off was Joe Tagliaferro from Colchester Royal Grammar School, Essex. The award for the last player standing is sponsored by Collins, the official dictionary of The Times Spelling Bee. Joe received an Amazon Kindle pre-loaded with 10 HarperCollins Children’s books, and the Collins Trophy. 

First News caught up with hosts Dick and Dom on the day. Look out for our video interview, coming soon to First News TV.