Thirty-five Year 10 and 11 students at West Hatch High School, Chigwell, took part in a debate at the Candle Conference with Dr Peter Vardy at Bloomsbury Baptist Church in Central London.

The GCSE Religious Studies students under the guidance of Head of House, Mr Steve Windsor, contributed to a debate on the theme of Genetic Engineering and whether we should use genetic engineering to modify embryos to eradicate human disease and disability.

Some 500 students attended the conference which covered topics from Medical Ethics, War, Sex and Relationships and Environmental ethics.

For more about the conference visit http://candleconferences.com/gcse-rs/

Student Eva Battson said: “Peter Vardy was interesting. He raised a lot of good points for discussion. I spoke in front of everyone about my opinion on genetic engineering. It was quite terrifying but I don’t regret it."

Student Avesta-Saule Zardasht said: "The question was about whether we believed genetic modification of embryos was right or wrong. 

"I said it was wrong because we should be proud to be who we are and by genetically modifying unborn babies we are going against God’s plans. It was nerve-racking and scary."