The British Olympic hockey coach visited Queens’ School yesterday to talk to Year 11 pupils about dealing with pressure, as part of a mock results afternoon the school was holding.

Andy Halliday gave the talk as a part of the afternoon where students got an idea of how it would feel to open up their GCSE results in the summer.

Mr Halliday talked about his careers in the armed forces and as a GB coach.

He spoke about the similarities in dealing with difficult situations and how you can learn to deal with these using the training given to him in the armed forces which he used with the GB Hockey team in 2012 London games.

After 30 years with the Metropolitan Police, Mr Halliday now works as a consultant to England and Great Britain hockey.

As well as coaching and managing an International hockey team, he now speaks openly to groups on his career in both fields including being part of the police operation following the 2005 bombings in London.

He said: "I love spreading the word and passing on my experiences to benefit others. I don’t quote academia, but prefer to rely on my own findings.

"The recipe for success for an elite performing team, whether at the top of sport or in the world of firearms policing has a number of common themes. It is not always plain sailing, learning from your mistakes is as important as building on success."

Pritam Vekari, who organised the talk, said: "I hope the pupils learn some of the coping strategies Andy has used in both his careers, which can work in any situation, and that stepping out of your comfort zone and learning from failure is how we learn and develop."