PUPILS are in for an evening of inspiration as the latest in a series of motivational talks comes to Oxford.

Next week pupils across the county will hear first-hand the experiences of BBC News World Affairs Editor, John Simpson.

The lecture, on Monday, November 30, will be the fourth in a series run by New College School, on Savile Road.

Dubbed the ‘Holloway Lecture’, the programme is funded by the Holloway family, who had four sons at New College School, and aims to introduce pupils to inspirational speakers who are experts in their various fields.

Around 180 visitors are expected to attend the event next week at Oxford University’s physical and theoretical chemistry lecture theatre.

Mr Simpson will talk on his experiences as a journalist and on the global political stories he has covered since starting at the BBC aged just 22.

During his career Mr Simpson has reported from Angola, been the BBC’s key correspondent in Baghdad during the Gulf War, been smuggled into Afghanistan disguised in a burqa and was the first journalist to go into liberated Kabul.

Previous speakers include mathematician Marcus du Sautoy and art historian and TV presenter Andrew Graham-Dixon.

New College School is an independent pre-prep and prep school in central Oxford, founded in 1379 to educate the choristers of New College.

Both state and independent senior school pupils and teachers will also attend the free event.