Year 12 and 13 politics classes took a trip to London to visit the Houses of Parliament and The Supreme Court, taking a guided tour of both of these institutions. This trip was both highly interesting and informative for our course and revision.

We visited the Houses of Parliament in the morning, being shown around by an informative tour guide. We visited many different parts of the building, but obviously the most interesting parts were being taken inside the chambers of the House of Lords and the House of Commons. Being able to see and   experience the places where all the laws are made that govern our country, as well as putting a more physical face on things we had learned in class, was undoubtedly a rich experience.

Before leaving Parliament, we also got to complete a workshop, the theme of which was pressure groups and the impact that they have. Pressure groups are an important component of the A Level specification and, in recent years have grown in importance, so it was certainly useful to undertake this workshop.

The Supreme Court trip in the afternoon was also a rewarding experience. Only founded in 2009, the Supreme Court is a much more modern and rigidly enforced institution compared to the tradition and many conventions found in Parliament. We were able to sit in one of the official court rooms, and our tour guide presented us with examples of many difficult cases that the Supreme Court has had to decide on, relating to themes such as religion, freedom of speech, freedom of expression and discrimination.

These tough examples illustrated just how difficult it is to conclude on the sort of cases which the Supreme Court has to judge on; when presented with the eventual result of the real cases it became easier to understand how the decisions from the Supreme Court have had impacted on UK law.

Overall, this was undoubtedly a rewarding and interesting trip which I can definitely see helping us in our exams and studies, as well as being purely a memorable experience.