Alumna Spotlight: Isabel Bruce, Class of 2013

Isabel Bruce, Royal High School Bath Class of 2013, is a media and communications specialist. She currently works as the Head of Communications for Telegraph Media Group, the publisher of the Daily and Sunday Telegraph.

Isabel previously worked as a Special Adviser in Government. She advised Secretaries of State at the Ministry of Justice, Department for Work and Pensions and the Northern Ireland Office. She was seconded to Downing Street during the pandemic as part of the Prime Minister’s media team.

Her career started in corporate communications and advocacy where she specialised in geopolitics, before she joined the press office in Conservative Campaign Headquarters.

After leaving Royal High, Isabel graduated with a First Class BA (Hons) degree in Spanish and Arabic Studies from Exeter University, having lived for a year in Jordan as part of her course.

What aspects of The Royal School did you enjoy and find most rewarding?

Joining Royal High remains one of the best decisions I have ever made. The sense of confidence that was instilled in us gave me the encouragement I needed to believe in myself - personally, and now professionally. I was privileged to be given lots of opportunities to explore my interests and take on new challenges. It was the variety of activities that were available to us which I enjoyed the most, I ended up going on sports tours to the Netherlands and Barbados, played netball and hockey for the school, joined the Model United Nations and edited the School magazine.

Any key memories and favourite teachers?

Miss Bevan was one of my favourite teachers - although I don’t think she ever actually taught me as she was the headmistress of the junior school when I started. After I joined, she told my parents that ‘if I were a stick of rock I would have Royal High running through the middle’! I hadn’t felt I had properly belonged at a school before, but she was the first teacher who made me feel like I did.

Getting stranded in Barbados after all our flights were cancelled has to be up there with the greatest adventure. To pass the time, we all made cakes in the saucepans in our hotel rooms with tiny kitchen stoves, had sleepovers every night and went to the beach every day, while we waited to fly home. We were meant to go for 10 days and stayed for 3 weeks in the end.

What did you aspire to while at school?

I actually found my yearbook recently during my parents’ house move and I had said on leaving sixth form that I would like to work in the diplomatic service. I didn’t end up joining the Foreign Office but I pursued my passion for languages at university. It took me to some amazing places and I had some incredible experiences after I took up Arabic from scratch in my first year of uni and went to live abroad in Amman, Jordan. I don’t think I ever considered politics directly at the time, but Mrs Walker, one of my tutors several years before, predicted I would end up there!

How did Royal High empower you for your future?

I was always encouraged to be my own person, pursue my own interests, and to be independent. Looking back now I was also given the perfect foundation I needed to pursue politics and communications as a career - I took up public speaking and was involved in debating and drama, which meant I felt comfortable holding my own.

What has been your proudest moment?

My proudest achievement at school was probably getting my GCSE results - I didn’t manage the pressure of the build up to exams very well but I really committed myself to the revision. I remember sticking up a timetable on the back of my bedroom door that divided each of the 11 subjects into 45-minute study sessions for months in advance. I worked really hard and I did well. I didn’t consider myself to be naturally academic, but it taught me that I could do whatever I set my mind to if I worked hard enough.

Today, I would say it’s the work I did as a Special Adviser as part of the team at the Northern Ireland Office and working for the UK Government, who were responsible for promoting women’s rights in Northern Ireland - I am particularly proud of all the work we did to secure safe access to abortion for women and girls there, bringing it into line with the rest of the country.

What would you say to your 11-year-old self?

Don’t be afraid to be your own person - being independent and resilient will serve you well in the future. There is no such thing as failing, only lessons for the future - so don’t be afraid if things don’t go as well as you would have liked them to or how you planned. Now is the time to say yes to everything so try the new sport or take up the new hobby and find out who you really are and what you’re really interested in.

What are your hopes for the future?

I would like to continue to have a varied and fulfilling career - I have been really lucky in the experiences I have had and it’s been a privilege to do some of the jobs that I have. If I can continue to do interesting and worthwhile work, I will be able to look back in the future and consider that a success. And it is a cliche, but I would love to take a sabbatical at some point to travel more - I have a long list of places I would like to go and not enough time to get there!