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OxBright Essay Competition 2024

Test your academic skills with the OxBright Essay Competition. Designed for bright 15-18 year olds, the competition will challenge you to go beyond the school curriculum and think about the future of your subject.

Think big, stretch yourself – and stand out from the crowd when the time comes to apply to university.

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Watch our Explainer Video

How Our Essay Competition Works

Submit your entry.

Research and write your essay and then submit it, along with your references, via our short form below.

Entries close at 9pm UK time on 31st March 2024 !

Awards Ceremony

All shortlisted entrants and their parents and teachers will be invited to attend our Awards Ceremony in April 2024, where the winners will be announced.

Over £100,000 Worth of Academic Prizes

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Free Conference place

The first thousand students who are successfully shortlisted will be awarded a free place at one of our OxBright Conferences (worth £95) in the autumn. Alternatively, you can put this credit towards an Online Course or Online Internship .

All shortlisted entrants and their parents and teachers will be invited to attend our online Awards Ceremony in April 2024, where the winners will be announced.

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Matilda Winner, History, 2023

I’m both thrilled and flabbergasted at the outcome of the competition.

Winning this competition undoubtedly made me feel much more confident in researching and writing in my field from now on, opening a lot of new doors for me!

essay competitions sixth form

Regina Winner, Psychology, 2023

I’m very happy and grateful to win such a meaningful competition. I truly learned a lot.

My advice to anyone considering entering is to try to think deeper and further about your chosen topic.

essay competitions sixth form

Alex Winner, Philosophy, 2023

Frequently Asked Questions

Entering the essay competition, how will entering the oxbright essay competition help me in the future, why do you run an essay competition.

OxBright is about giving students the edge to help them to succeed, find their purpose and make a difference in the world.

We think it’s the greatest time to be alive, but we’re aware that young people face challenges their predecessors didn’t. We’re passionate about encouraging students to be optimistic about the future by being active thinkers interested in collaborating to create a better future for the long-term. You can read more about this in our Worldview .

Our essay competition combines these two elements – encouraging students to think actively about the future, and giving them tools to help them to succeed.

Who can enter?

Anyone can enter – the only eligibility criteria is that you must be aged between 15-18. You don’t need to have previously joined an OxBright programme in order to take part.

Kindly be aware that to be eligible to take up any of the free places offered as prizes, such as our online courses/internships, winning students must be between the ages of 15 and 18 at the commencement of the programme.

Can I write more than one essay?

Sorry, we only accept one essay per student in each Essay Competition. This is due to the volume of essays we receive.

Can I enter jointly with a friend?

No, we can only accept entries from individuals, and it’s important to make sure that your work is entirely your own.

Is there a fee to enter the OxBright Essay Competition?

No, the essay competition is completely free to enter.

When is the entry deadline?

The entry deadline is 9pm on Sunday 31st March 2024.

Are you connected to any university?

No, OxBright is an independent education organisation which is not connected to any university.

Where can I see the results of the Essay Competition 2023?

You can see the results of our previous Essay Competition, including the winning essay in full, here .

Writing Your Essay

What are the subject categories i can enter for, how long should my essay be.

There are three parts to the essay:

  • Essay title: the title of your essay can be up to 100 characters long, including spaces
  • Essay: your essay can have up to 3,800 characters , including spaces (this is about 500 words). This includes everything you write, like the main text and in-text citations. In-text citations are little notes you put in your essay to show where your information came from. For example, if you quote something from a book by John Smith, you would add (Smith, 2010, p. 50) right after the quote. These citations are part of your word count, so make sure to include them
  • References: as for references, there’s no word limit – you can include as many as you need! These are important for showing where your information came from. Please use the Harvard Referencing Style for your references (you can find how to do this in the guidelines provided here ). This won’t count towards your essay character limit, so please list all the sources you used

What are the evaluation criteria?

We’ll be assessing essays on the following criteria:

  • Fluency of written English
  • Relevance to the question
  • Creativity and originality of ideas
  • Use of evidence or examples
  • Relevance to the OxBright Worldview

Should I use references?

Please make sure to include references to your sources, using the Harvard Referencing Style (guidelines here ).

What makes a good essay?

Make sure to read our criteria carefully (you can find it in the FAQ above).

We want essays that are thoroughly researched, packed with examples and solid evidence. What really catches our attention are essays with unique analysis. So, we’re not just interested in essays that simply describe things – we want your thoughts, analysis, and fresh ideas.

Don’t forget, it’s crucial to use and mention trustworthy sources for the evidence you provide.

Do you accept personal or descriptive essays?

We’re looking for clear, concise and compelling answers to the question above, written and formatted in an academic style. Please don’t submit personal essays or creative writing samples.

What Happens Next?

When will i hear the results.

We’ll be in touch within two weeks of your entry to let you know whether or not you’ve been shortlisted (all entrants who meet our core standards of relevance and coherence will be shortlisted).

All shortlisted entrants and their parents and teachers will be invited to our Awards Ceremony in April 2024, when the winners in each subject category will be announced.

How are essays assessed?

You can read about the criteria we use to assess your essay in the FAQ above (“What are the evaluation criteria?”).

Essays are assessed using our proprietary system which combines a mixture of technology and personal assessment. Essays which are deemed to be plagiarised or be written by AI will be rejected and our decision on this is final.

There are two stages to our assessment process:

Shorlisting Our first stage assessment reviews whether the essay is relevant and coherent. If so, your essay will be shortlisted, you will be offered a free place at an OxBright Conference and you will be invited to the Awards Ceremony.

Awards Shortlised essays are then given further assessment by our panel. This includes a review of the References. In the application form, we ask for a the name of a teacher who is familiar with your academic work. If your essay is nominated for an Award, we will ask this teacher to confirm that the essay was genuinely written by you.

What are the prizes?

Please click here for more information about the prizes and awards.

Why is the overall prize a place at Oxford Scholastica in 2025, not 2024?

Will i receive feedback.

Unfortunately, due to the volume of entries received, we are unable to provide feedback on essays.

Does everyone who enters get a free place at a Conference?

The first thousand students to who make a valid submission and are shortlisted will be invited to attend an OxBright Conference of their choice, free of charge (worth £95). Conference subjects include Business, Medicine, Law and Psychology. It is optional to attend a Conference.

Alternatively, you’ll be able to choose to apply the £95 credit toward another programme with us.

Does everyone receive a certificate?

Only students who win one of the awards receive a certificate. Certificates are issued in online format.

Do you publish the names of the award winners?

Yes, award winners will be published on our website after the Awards Ceremony.

How can I pass on some feedback about the essay competition?

essay competitions sixth form

Essay  COMPETITION

2024 global essay prize.

The John Locke Institute encourages young people to cultivate the characteristics that turn good students into great writers: independent thought, depth of knowledge, clear reasoning, critical analysis and persuasive style. Our Essay Competition invites students to explore a wide range of challenging and interesting questions beyond the confines of the school curriculum.

Entering an essay in our competition can build knowledge, and refine skills of argumentation. It also gives students the chance to have their work assessed by experts. All of our essay prizes are judged by a panel of senior academics drawn from leading universities including Oxford and Princeton, under the leadership of the Chairman of Examiners, former Cambridge philosopher, Dr Jamie Whyte.

The judges will choose their favourite essay from each of seven subject categories - Philosophy, Politics, Economics, History, Psychology, Theology and Law - and then select the winner of the Grand Prize for the best entry in any subject. There is also a separate prize awarded for the best essay in the junior category, for under 15s.

Q1. Do we have any good reasons to trust our moral intuition?

Q2. Do girls have a right to compete in sporting contests that exclude boys?

Q3. Should I be held responsible for what I believe?

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Q1. Is there such a thing as too much democracy?

Q2. Is peace in the West Bank and the Gaza Strip possible?

Q3. When is compliance complicity?

Q1. What is the optimal global population?  

Q2. Accurate news reporting is a public good. Does it follow that news agencies should be funded from taxation?

Q3. Do successful business people benefit others when making their money, when spending it, both, or neither?

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Q1. Why was sustained economic growth so rare before the later 18th century and why did this change?

Q2. Has music ever significantly changed the course of history?

Q3. Why do civilisations collapse? Is our civilisation in danger?

Q1. When, if ever, should a company be permitted to refuse to do business with a person because of that person’s public statements?

Q2. In the last five years British police have arrested several thousand people for things they posted on social media. Is the UK becoming a police state?

Q3. Your parents say that 11pm is your bedtime. But they don’t punish you if you don’t go to bed by 11pm. Is 11pm really your bedtime?

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Q1. According to a study by four British universities, for each 16-point increase in IQ, the likelihood of getting married increases by 35% for a man but decreases by 40% for a woman. Why? 

Q2. There is an unprecedented epidemic of depression and anxiety among young people. Can we fix this? How?

Q3. What is the difference between a psychiatric illness and a character flaw?

Q1. “I am not religious, but I am spiritual.” What could the speaker mean by “spiritual”?

Q2. Is it reasonable to thank God for protection from some natural harm if He is responsible for causing the harm?

Q3. Does God reward those who believe in him? If so, why?

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JUNIOR prize

Q1. Does winning a free and fair election automatically confer a mandate for governing?

Q2. Has the anti-racism movement reduced racism?

Q3. Is there life after death?

Q4. How did it happen that governments came to own and run most high schools, while leaving food production to private enterprise? 

Q5. When will advancing technology make most of us unemployable? What should we do about this?

Q6. Should we trust fourteen-year-olds to make decisions about their own bodies? 

ENTRY REQUIREMENTS & FURTHER DETAILS

Please read the following carefully.

Entry to the John Locke Institute Essay Competition 2024 is open to students from any country.

Registration  

Only candidates who registered before the registration deadline of Friday, 31 May 2024 may enter this year's competition.

All entries must be submitted by 11.59 pm BST on  the submission deadline: Sunday, 30 June 2024 .  Candidates must be eighteen years old, or younger, on that date. (Candidates for the Junior Prize must be fourteen years old, or younger, on that date.)

Entry is free.

Each essay must address only one of the questions in your chosen subject category, and must not exceed 2000 words (not counting diagrams, tables of data, endnotes, bibliography or authorship declaration). 

The filename of your pdf must be in this format: FirstName-LastName-Category-QuestionNumber.pdf; so, for instance, Alexander Popham would submit his answer to question 2 in the Psychology category with the following file name:

Alexander-Popham-Psychology-2.pdf

Essays with filenames which are not in this format will be rejected.

Candidates should NOT add footnotes. They may, however, add endnotes and/or a Bibliography that is clearly titled as such.

Each candidate will be required to provide the email address of an academic referee who is familiar with the candidate's written academic work. This should be a school teacher, if possible, or another responsible adult who is not a relation of the candidate. The John Locke Institute will email referees to verify that the essays submitted are indeed the original work of the candidates.

Submissions may be made as soon as registration opens in April. We recommend that you submit your essay well in advance of th e deadline to avoid any last-minute complications.

Acceptance of your essay depends on your granting us permission to use your data for the purposes of receiving and processing your entry as well as communicating with you about the Awards Ceremony Dinner, the academic conference for essay competition finalists, and other events and programmes of the John Locke Institute and its associated entities.  

Late entries

If for any reason you miss the 30 June deadline you will have an opportunity to make a late entry, under two conditions:

a) A late entry fee of 20.00 USD must be paid by credit card within twenty-four hours of the original deadline; and

b) Your essay must be submitted  before 11.59 pm BST on Wednesday, 10 July 2024.

To pay for late entry, a registrant need only log into his or her account, select the relevant option and provide the requested payment information.

Our grading system is proprietary. Essayists may be asked to discuss their entry with a member of the John Locke Institute’s faculty. We use various means to identify plagiarism, contract cheating, the use of AI and other forms of fraud . Our determinations in all such matters are final.

Essays will be judged on knowledge and understanding of the relevant material, the competent use of evidence, quality of argumentation, originality, structure, writing style and persuasive force. The very best essays are likely to be those which would be capable of changing somebody's mind. Essays which ignore or fail to address the strongest objections and counter-arguments are unlikely to be successful .

Candidates are advised to answer the question as precisely and directly as possible.

The writers of the best essays will receive a commendation and be shortlisted for a prize. Writers of shortlisted essays will be notified by 11.59 pm BST on Wednesday, 31 July. They will also be invited to London for an invitation-only academic conference and awards dinner in September, where the prize-winners will be announced. Unlike the competition itself, the academic conference and awards dinner are not free. Please be aware that n obody is required to attend either the academic conference or the prize ceremony. You can win a prize without travelling to London.

All short-listed candidates, including prize-winners, will be able to download eCertificates that acknowledge their achievement. If you win First, Second or Third Prize, and you travel to London for the ceremony, you will receive a signed certificate. 

There is a prize for the best essay in each category. The prize for each winner of a subject category, and the winner of the Junior category, is a scholarship worth US$2000 towards the cost of attending any John Locke Institute programme, and the essays will be published on the Institute's website. Prize-giving ceremonies will take place in London, at which winners and runners-up will be able to meet some of the judges and other faculty members of the John Locke Institute. Family, friends, and teachers are also welcome.

The candidate who submits the best essay overall will be awarded an honorary John Locke Institute Junior Fellowship, which comes with a US$10,000 scholarship to attend one or more of our summer schools and/or visiting scholars programmes. 

The judges' decisions are final, and no correspondence will be entered into.

R egistration opens: 1 April, 2024.

Registration deadline: 31 May, 2024. (Registration is required by this date for subsequent submission.)

Submission deadline: 30 June, 2024.

Late entry deadline: 10 July, 2024. (Late entries are subject to a 20.00 USD charge, payable by 1 July.)

Notification of short-listed essayists: 31 July, 2024.

Academic conference: 20 - 22 September, 2024.

Awards dinner: 21 September, 2024.

Any queries regarding the essay competition should be sent to [email protected] . Please be aware that, due to the large volume of correspondence we receive, we cannot guarantee to answer every query. In particular, regrettably, we are unable to respond to questions whose answers can be found on our website.

If you would like to receive helpful tips  from our examiners about what makes for a winning essay or reminders of upcoming key dates for the 2024  essay competition, please provide your email here to be added to our contact list. .

Thanks for subscribing!

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The John Locke Institute's Global Essay Prize is acknowledged as the world's most prestigious essay competition. 

We welcome tens of thousands of submissions from ambitious students in more than 150 countries, and our examiners - including distinguished philosophers, political scientists, economists, historians, psychologists, theologians, and legal scholars - read and carefully assess every entry. 

I encourage you to register for this competition, not only for the hope of winning a prize or commendation, and not only for the chance to join the very best contestants at our academic conference and gala ceremony in London, but equally for the opportunity to engage in the serious scholarly enterprise of researching, reflecting on, writing about, and editing an answer to one of the important and provocative questions in this year's Global Essay Prize. 

We believe that the skills you will acquire in the process will make you a better thinker and a more effective advocate for the ideas that matter most to you.

I hope to see you in September!

Best wishes,

Jamie Whyte, Ph.D. (C ANTAB ) 

Chairman of Examiners

essay competitions sixth form

Super-Curricular Opportunities

  • Over the coming weeks and months we are building up an amazing directory of super-curricular opportunities to pass on to your Sixth Form students to help them with greater depth understanding as well as to support the academic section in their UCAS personal statement.

COMPETITIONS (extensive list being added throughout March 2021 - check back soon)

  • https://www.see-science.co.uk/whats-on/competitions/
  • https://www.esu.org/competitions/schools-mace/
  • https://competition.thebigbangfair.co.uk/about/
  • https://www.ox.ac.uk/admissions/undergraduate/applying-to-oxford/teachers/academic-competitions-schools-and-colleges
  • https://www.royalholloway.ac.uk/studying-here/schools-and-colleges/activities-by-subject/psychology/psychology-resources/national-psychology-competition/
  • https://www.ciwem.org/awards/u...
  • https://www.nchlondon.ac.uk/es...

Economics  

  • Interest Rate Challenge, the competition designed for 16 to 18 year old students across the UK -  details
  • Connell Guides Short Story Competition, open to all year 11 students - details  
  • Commonwealth Essay competition, open to anyone between 14-18 years of age - details  
  • Christopher Tower Poetry Competition, open to 16-18 year old students in the UK to write a poem and is run by Christchurch College Oxford - details  

Humanities 

  • St John's College Classics and Ancient History Essay Competition, open to all UK students currently studying in Year 12 - details  

SUPER-CURRICULAR IDEAS FOR VARIOUS SUBJECTS

University of cambridge -myheplus - details.

  • Excellent web site for super-curricular materials

UNIVERSITY OF CAMBRIDGE SUBJECT MASTERCLASSES - details

  • These are subject-specific events that offer students a flavour of undergraduate study and an introduction to the University of Cambridge. The Masterclasses provide students with an opportunity to explore topics of interest beyond what is covered within the A Level syllabus including: Chemistry, Engineering, Genetics, Geography, History, Languages, Mathematics, and Psychology.

LONDON  SCHOOL OF ECONOMICS (LSE) OUTREACH - details

  • Mentoring, tutoring, pathways to Law, pathways to banking and finance, Saturday school. Often aimed at students from London schools but their free lecture programme is open to all. 

LONDON  SCHOOL OF ECONOMICS (LSE) FREE LECTURES - details

  • Free Lecture programme and podcasts. 

KING'S COLLEGE LONDON - FACTOR MATHS PROGRAMME -  details

  • This is a Maths club aimed at Y12 & Y13 students which offers students challenging problems aimed at developing and enriching thinking. Criteria apply in terms of location and diversity. 

STUDENT INVESTOR CHALLENGE - details

  • Each year, Year 12 can be part of a major competition, organised by the London Institute of Banking and Finance, which can last several months. It will provide a useful insight into trading in stocks and shares. The Student Investor Challenge gives students the chance to experience what it’s like being a stock broker in a fast-paced and competitive market. Teams, consisting of four members aged between 14 and 19, take control of two investment portfolios with £100,000 of virtual money for each one to invest in the stock market.

ETON SUMMER SCHOOL: July in Year 12 - details

  • For your most highly achieving students in Year 12 with Grade 8/9 at GCSE. Ten day residential at Eton College. The residential course costs but those on a bursary can apply for financial support. Only 120 students can attend and location and being a state school are factors. 

SUTTON TRUST SUMMER SCHOOLS - details

  • Fantastic summer schools at one of twelve partner universities (Bristol, Cambridge, Durham, Edinburgh, Imperial, KCL, Nottingham, Oxford, St. Andrews, UCL, Warwick, Royal Veterinary College) for high achieving students from low or middle income families. The Summer Schools are 100% free. There are 130 different courses across 11 of the UK’s top universities. The dates for the Summer Schools vary by subject and university.

OXFORD UNIVERSITY UNIQ SUMMER SCHOOLS - details

  • UNIQ is open to students studying in their first year of further education, who are based at UK state schools/colleges. Students make a single application between December and January and can be selected to participate in one of two activities: UNIQ Digital or UNIQ Spring and Summer. Register between November and February if interested.

FUTURELEARN (MOOC) - details

  • A range of short online courses to deepen subject knowledge through this amazing MOOC site (Massive Open Online Community). Very useful for stretch and challenge and a students’ personal statements. Free to access and complete each course though there is an optional payment for a certificate. 

UNIVERSITY OF WARWICK PODCASTS 

  • A wide range of podcasts from politics to engineering - details

UNIVERSITY OF OXFORD - 'EXPLORE YOUR SUBJECT'

  • Explore the resources or select a subject area such as Humanities or Social Sciences, followed by a specific subject (Classics, English, etc.)  - details

UNIVERSITY OF OXFORD READING BANK

  • A very attractively designed list of books to read with reviews and Youtube clips - details
  • Great entry level strategy as students can simply search by theme and then watch a video  -  detail

GRESHAM COLLEGE

  • Educational talks and videos for the public free of charge. There are over 3000 videos available on the Gresham website - details

IDEAS FOR SPECIFIC SUBJECTS

  • Wonders of life with Brian Cox - click here
  • Horizon documentaries with Michael Mosley -  click here
  • Biology Ted Talks - click here
  • Our Secret Universe: The hidden life of a cell - click here
  • Incredible medicine: Dr Weston's Case Book - click here

BUSINESS AND ECONOMICS

Radio 4 podcasts - business and economics.

  • 'Bottom Line' huge array of topics. 30 mins podcast with 2-3 people interviewed on a business theme - details
  • Applications of Maths useful to studying Economics at University – click here
  • Stand Up Economist – click here
  • An Economist Walks into a bar – click here
  • Tropical Short Videos from The Economist Publication – click here
  • Panic: The Untold Story of The Financial Crisis – click here
  • The Bank that Bust The World – click here
  • Too much maths too little history – click here
  • Masters of Money: Keynes – click here
  • Masters of Money: Hayek – click here
  • Masters of Money: Marx – click here
  • Economics in Ten (podcasts) - click here

COMPUTER SCIENCE

  • Mysteries of the mind can be solved: A brain in a supercomputer. Henry Markram - click here
  • Big Data: Watch the TedTalk on the year open data went worldwide. Tim Berners-Lee -  click here
  • Computer Science. University of Oxford Podcasts - Audio and Videos Lectures -  click here

RADIO 4 PODCASTS - LAW

  • 'Law In Action' - lots of podcasts on law theme - details

MATHEMATICS

MILLENNIUM MATHEMATICS PROJECT

  • University of Cambridge provide this helpful site with ideas to explore mathematics in greater depth -  details

MATHEMATICS FOR NATURAL SCIENCES WORKBOOK (UNIVERSITY OF CAMBRIDGE)

  •   Pdf document to download full of maths problems - provided by Faculty of Mathematics -  details

RADIO 4 PODCASTS - MATHEMATICS

  •  'More or less; behind the statistics - themed podcasts which debunks statistics in the news by exploring the evidence -  details

RADIO 4 PODCASTS - PSYCHOLOGY

  • 'All In The Mind' - huge array of podcasts for those interested in psychology - details

RADIO 4 PODCASTS - POLITICS

  •  'Political thinking with Nick Robinson' - political journalist, Nick Robinson, explores various themes  -  details
  • 'Yesterday in Parliament' - kind of obvious really but great for politics students to keep up-to-date -  details

RADIO 4 PODCASTS - PHILOSOPHY

  • 'Moral Maze' - Accessible discussion about morality. Might be some good ideas for EPQ perhaps -  details
  • 'The Public Philosopher' - Harvard philosopher Michael Sandel examines the thinking behind a current controversy -  details

RADIO 4 PODCASTS - SOCIOLOGY

  • 'Thinking Allowed' - Professor of Sociology addresses various themes and new sociological research -  details

RADIO 4 PODCASTS - SCIENCE

  • 'Life Scientific' - Accessible interviews of scientists on current themes and new research -  details
  • 'Putting Science to Work' - scientists work out how science can best be put to work to solve a pressing problem facing society -  details

RADIO 4 PODCASTS - NATURAL SCIENCES

  • 'Inside Science' - obvious theme - great for science students. Might be some good ideas for EPQ perhaps -  details

RADIO 4 PODCASTS - HISTORY

  • 'The Long View' - stories from the past are compared with current events. -  details

RADIO 4 PODCASTS - GEOGRAPHY

  • 'Costing the Earth' - fresh ideas from the sharpest minds working toward a cleaner, greener planet -  details

RADIO 4 PODCASTS - COMPUTING AND TECHNOLOGY

  • 'Computing Britain' - 75 years of UK computing history in developing the technologies we rely on today -  details

RADIO 4 PODCASTS - ART (includes painters and playwrights)

  • 'Only artists' - two artists talk about their creative work - the conversation is free-flowing. Choose the pair talking -  details

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Cambridge Society for Economic Pluralism 

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  • Jun 29, 2022

2022-23 CSEP Essay Competition is Released

Questions for 2022-23 CSEP Essay Competition is released!

essay competitions sixth form

Every year Cambridge Society for Economic Pluralism hosts its Essay Competition to encourage sixth form students to go beyond their curriculum and explore important questions society faces today. Our annual essay competition is open to all students starting Year 12 or 13 (or equivalent) in September 2022 (ie taking A Levels or IB or equivalents in the next two years) . We welcome essays in response to any of the 5 titles written below. When writing their essays, we strongly encourage students to consider economic ideas which are beyond the traditional, neoliberal syllabus of most economics courses and to support their arguments with real-world examples/data. Essays should be between 1000 and 2000 words in length (excluding any citations) and entries should be submitted by 23:59 UK Time (GMT+1) on September 4th, 2022. Result of the competition will be published on this page on October 2nd, 2022. Prize winner will be contacted individually regarding their prize.

For details of the competition please check our website .

For inspiration and review please check our past competition archive

  • Other Event

Recent Posts

TWS x CSEP Forum: Levelling Up

CSEP Forum Discussion: Can Capitalism Solve the Climate Crisis?

Debate: 'This House Believes the Neoliberal Age is Over'

essay competitions sixth form

Student Essay Competition .

The dorian fisher memorial prize 2022.

  • A short essay, of roughly 1,200 words, on one of the following questions:
  • A 500-word answer to one of the following two questions:
  • A 500-word answer to the following question.

The Monetary Policy Essay Prize 2021-22 By the Institute of Economic Affairs, the Institute of International Monetary Research, and the Vinson Centre

“Does inflation matter? And will the current inflation upturn be transitory or not?”

The IEA is an educational charity and free market think tank .

Our mission is to improve understanding of the fundamental institutions of a free society by analysing and expounding the role of the markets in solving economic and social problems.

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Discourse, debate, and analysis

Cambridge re:think essay competition 2024.

Competition Opens: 15th January, 2024

Essay Submission Deadline: 10th May, 2024 Result Announcement: 25th June, 2024 Award Ceremony and Dinner at the University of Cambridge: 30th July, 2024

We welcome talented high school students from diverse educational settings worldwide to contribute their unique perspectives to the competition.

Entry to the competition is free.

About the Competition

The spirit of the Re:think essay competition is to encourage critical thinking and exploration of a wide range of thought-provoking and often controversial topics. The competition covers a diverse array of subjects, from historical and present issues to speculative future scenarios. Participants are invited to engage deeply with these topics, critically analysing their various facets and implications. It promotes intellectual exploration and encourages participants to challenge established norms and beliefs, presenting opportunities to envision alternative futures, consider the consequences of new technologies, and reevaluate longstanding traditions. 

Ultimately, our aim is to create a platform for students and scholars to share their perspectives on pressing issues of the past and future, with the hope of broadening our collective understanding and generating innovative solutions to contemporary challenges. This year’s competition aims to underscore the importance of discourse, debate, and critical analysis in addressing complex societal issues in nine areas, including:

Religion and Politics

Political science and law, linguistics, environment, sociology and philosophy, business and investment, public health and sustainability, biotechonology.

Artificial Intelligence 

Neuroengineering

2024 essay prompts.

This year, the essay prompts are contributed by distinguished professors from Harvard, Brown, UC Berkeley, Cambridge, Oxford, and MIT.

Essay Guidelines and Judging Criteria

Review general guidelines, format guidelines, eligibility, judging criteria.

Awards and Award Ceremony

Award winners will be invited to attend the Award Ceremony and Dinner hosted at the King’s College, University of Cambridge. The Dinner is free of charge for select award recipients.

Registration and Submission

Register a participant account today and submit your essay before the deadline.

Advisory Committee and Judging Panel

The Cambridge Re:think Essay Competition is guided by an esteemed Advisory Committee comprising distinguished academics and experts from elite universities worldwide. These committee members, drawn from prestigious institutions, such as Harvard, Cambridge, Oxford, and MIT, bring diverse expertise in various disciplines.

They play a pivotal role in shaping the competition, contributing their insights to curate the themes and framework. Their collective knowledge and scholarly guidance ensure the competition’s relevance, academic rigour, and intellectual depth, setting the stage for aspiring minds to engage with thought-provoking topics and ideas.

We are honoured to invite the following distinguished professors to contribute to this year’s competition.

The judging panel of the competition comprises leading researchers and professors from Harvard, MIT, Stanford, Cambridge, and Oxford, engaging in a strictly double blind review process.

Essay Competition Professors

Why has religion remained a force in a secular world? 

Professor Commentary:

Arguably, the developed world has become more secular in the last century or so. The influence of Christianity, e.g. has diminished and people’s life worlds are less shaped by faith and allegiance to Churches. Conversely, arguments have persisted that hold that we live in a post-secular world. After all, religion – be it in terms of faith, transcendence, or meaning – may be seen as an alternative to a disenchanted world ruled by entirely profane criteria such as economic rationality, progressivism, or science. Is the revival of religion a pale reminder of a by-gone past or does it provide sources of hope for the future?

‘Religion in the Public Sphere’ by Jürgen Habermas (European Journal of Philosophy, 2006)

In this paper, philosopher Jürgen Habermas discusses the limits of church-state separation, emphasizing the significant contribution of religion to public discourse when translated into publicly accessible reasons.

‘Public Religions in the Modern World’ by José Casanova (University Of Chicago Press, 1994)

Sociologist José Casanova explores the global emergence of public religion, analyzing case studies from Catholicism and Protestantism in Spain, Poland, Brazil, and the USA, challenging traditional theories of secularization.

‘The Power of Religion in the Public Sphere’ by Judith Butler, Jürgen Habermas, Charles Taylor, and Cornel West (Edited by Eduardo Mendieta and Jonathan VanAntwerpen, Columbia University Press, 2011)

This collection features dialogues by prominent intellectuals on the role of religion in the public sphere, examining various approaches and their impacts on cultural, social, and political debates.

‘Rethinking Secularism’ by Craig Calhoun, Mark Juergensmeyer, and Jonathan VanAntwerpen (Oxford University Press, 2011)

An interdisciplinary examination of secularism, this book challenges traditional views, highlighting the complex relationship between religion and secularism in contemporary global politics.

‘God is Back: How the Global Rise of Faith is Changing the World’ by John Micklethwait and Adrian Wooldridge (Penguin, 2010)

Micklethwait and Wooldridge argue for the coexistence of religion and modernity, suggesting that religious beliefs can contribute to a more open, tolerant, and peaceful modern world.

‘Multiculturalism’ by Tariq Modood (Polity Press, 2013)

Sociologist Tariq Modood emphasizes the importance of multiculturalism in integrating diverse identities, particularly in post-immigration contexts, and its role in shaping democratic citizenship.

‘God’s Agents: Biblical Publicity in Contemporary England’ by Matthew Engelke (University of California Press, 2013)

In this ethnographic study, Matthew Engelke explores how a group in England seeks to expand the role of religion in the public sphere, challenging perceptions of religion in post-secular England.

Ccir Essay Competition Prompt Contributed By Dr Mashail Malik

Gene therapy is a medical approach that treats or prevents disease by correcting the underlying genetic problem. Is gene therapy better than traditional medicines? What are the pros and cons of using gene therapy as a medicine? Is gene therapy justifiable?

Especially after Covid-19 mRNA vaccines, gene therapy is getting more and more interesting approach to cure. That’s why that could be interesting to think about. I believe that students will enjoy and learn a lot while they are investigating this topic.

Ccir Essay Competition Prompt Contributed By Dr Mamiko Yajima

The Hall at King’s College, Cambridge

The Hall was designed by William Wilkins in the 1820s and is considered one of the most magnificent halls of its era. The first High Table dinner in the Hall was held in February 1828, and ever since then, the splendid Hall has been where members of the college eat and where formal dinners have been held for centuries.

The Award Ceremony and Dinner will be held in the Hall in the evening of  30th July, 2024.

2

Stretching out down to the River Cam, the Back Lawn has one of the most iconic backdrop of King’s College Chapel. 

The early evening reception will be hosted on the Back Lawn with the iconic Chapel in the background (weather permitting). 

3

King’s College Chapel

With construction started in 1446 by Henry VI and took over a century to build, King’s College Chapel is one of the most iconic buildings in the world, and is a splendid example of late Gothic architecture. 

Attendees are also granted complimentary access to the King’s College Chapel before and during the event. 

Frequently Asked Questions

Why should I participate in the Re:think essay competition? 

The Re:think Essay competition is meant to serve as fertile ground for honing writing skills, fostering critical thinking, and refining communication abilities. Winning or participating in reputable contests can lead to recognition, awards, scholarships, or even publication opportunities, elevating your academic profile for college applications and future endeavours. Moreover, these competitions facilitate intellectual growth by encouraging exploration of diverse topics, while also providing networking opportunities and exposure to peers, educators, and professionals. Beyond accolades, they instil confidence, prepare for higher education demands, and often allow you to contribute meaningfully to societal conversations or causes, making an impact with your ideas.

Who is eligible to enter the Re:think essay competition?  

As long as you’re currently attending high school, regardless of your location or background, you’re eligible to participate. We welcome students from diverse educational settings worldwide to contribute their unique perspectives to the competition.

Is there any entry fee for the competition? 

There is no entry fee for the competition. Waiving the entry fee for our essay competition demonstrates CCIR’s dedication to equity. CCIR believes everyone should have an equal chance to participate and showcase their talents, regardless of financial circumstances. Removing this barrier ensures a diverse pool of participants and emphasises merit and creativity over economic capacity, fostering a fair and inclusive environment for all contributors.

Subscribe for Competition Updates

If you are interested to receive latest information and updates of this year’s competition, please sign up here.

Who's the Mummy

Essay Competitions for Year 12 Students: A Complete Guide

essay competitions for year 12 2024

I must confess that essay competitions were not a thing when I applied to uni. But then when I applied to uni, all that was required was a decent pass in all my A-Levels and a part-time job in McDonalds. The story for today’s teens is not so simple.

Today I’m sharing a guide to independent essay competitions run by colleges and other organisations. This is a chance for students to share work they’ve already done, or create a fresh essay on a topic set by the organisers.

While you’re here, don’t miss our other guides for Year 12 students:

  • Complete guide to pre-university summer schools
  • Oxford and Cambridge admission tips from an admissions director
  • 50+ super curricular activities for Year 12 students

Table of Contents

Why essay competitions are useful

Essay competitions for Year 12 students are a great way to build up your UCAS application. They’re a great example of a super-curricular activity. They show universities that you have a genuine interest in a subject, and expending your learning beyond the classroom.

This is important if you are applying for a competitive course like English or Psychology, or a competitive university like Oxford or Cambridge. We’ve focused on English and humanities here because that’s what my teen is researching. But if you want to study something else, this guide includes relevant essay competitions in other areas for Year 12 including law, philosophy and history.

There are essay competitions in LOADS of subject areas. The below essay competitions for Year 12 (and sometimes other years) could help. Not only by showing your commitment. If you win a prize, then you could mention this in an application. Some essay competition prizes include attendance at a university open day, providing a valuable way to stand out to admissions teams.

Complete Guide to Essay Competitions for English Lit Students

Below you’ll find a list of Year 12 essay writing competitions that are aimed at, or suitable for, English students. Some of these competitions won’t open until later in the academic year. Others are open for entry in 2024 for students applying to university in 2024/25. I’ve indicated a month of closing for each competition. I’ve also provided a brief description of each competition and details of prizes. Click through to find out more.

Girton College Humanities Writing Competition

Girton College, Cambridge, runs an annual competition for humanities essays, which is suitable for students wanting to apply for English at university. It’s also a great opportunity for students of history, geography, economics and other humanities.

The essay prompt is an exhibit from the college’s museum collection, and students are invited to submit an essay inspired by that item. Winners receive prizes of up to £200. It’s worth noting that only three students per school can enter this competition. The submission deadline is MARCH and the prize is £200.

Find out more  

Minds Underground Essay Competitions

This scientific focused from Minds Underground essay competition has a category aimed at ‘senior’ students, which means Year 12. There are actually multiple essay categories covering science, geography, medicine, veterinary science along with history, english and classics.  The submission deadline for all categories is April 3, 2024.

Find out more

Immerse Education Essay Competition

This annual essay competition has an unusual prize – a place at the annual pre-university summer school run by Immerse Education in Oxford, Cambridge or London. It’s a highly competitive competition and the standard of entries is high. The deadline is January each year, further details available online.

Sheffield Philosophy Essay Competition

This competition has small prizes of £50 but worth entering for the kudos. It’s open to students in Years 10, 11 and 12, and invites you to write an essay of 1,500 words on one of five ethical/moral questions like ‘Can animals be moral?’. The competition opens in January and closes in May.

Sheffield History Essay Competition

The University of Sheffield is also running a history essay competition for 2024, which is open until April 26, 2024. To enter the competition, Y12 students must create a 1500 word essay on one of 5 history prompts. Worth noting you can win £100 if you get a prize, but there can only be two entrants from each school or college.

ISA Essay Competition

While some competitions are only open to state school students, the ISA Essay challenge is open only to students attending independent schools that are part of the Independent Schools Association.

The competition is open to students of all ages and entries are judged in various categories, including one for Year 12 and 13 students. The competition opens in February 2024 and closes in May. There’s also an annual poetry competition that might be worth considering for literature students.

Find out more 

New College of Humanities Essay Challenge

NCH London also runs an annual essay competition for Year 12 students, which is open worldwide. The contest includes various categories that may be of interest to future English students. Entry is open to students in Year 12, and the essay prompts will be published on September 5 or thereabouts. Students need to submit a 1,500 word essay by the following January. The overall winner of this competition gets a £1,000 prize. There’s also £500 or £200 for the runners up.

essay competitions for Y12 2024

NU London Essay Competition

This competition is not yet open for 2024, but information on the annual essay competition run by the Northeastern University, London can be found online. The competition is open to students in Year 12, and covers technology, social science and humanities topics. Expect questions to be posted in January and the competition usually runs until April.

Fitzwilliam College Essay Competitions (various)

This year, Fitzwilliam college, Cambridge, is running a series of essay competitions in Ancient World and Classics, Archaeology, Economics, History, Land Economy, Medieval World and Slavonic Studies. Entries must be submitted by the end of March 2024. Students must be in year 12 and there is a limit of 5 applications per school per competition. Helpfully, the college is running a couple of webinars in essay writing, to help students make the most of the competition.

The Hugo Young Award

If you’re a budding journalist or activist, the Hugo Young award is run annually by the Guardian newspaper and is open to people aged 16-25. The prize is to create a short piece of journalism on a topic of your choosing.

There is a specific category for 16-18 year olds (if you’re under 18, you’ll need an adult to confirm your entry) and the award is open to anyone from a state school background, although entries from traditionally under-represented groups are especially welcome. You can win £100 in book vouchers, a Guardian subscription and certificate.

The Rex Nettleford Prize

Run by Oriel College, Oxford, this essay competition focuses on the enduring influence of colonialism on our lives. The rules encourage students to engage with the legacies of colonialism in all its forms – historical, political, economic, social, cultural. Entry is via a 2,500 word essay, and is open to students in Year 12. The prize is £250, and your entry needs to be submitted by 15 March, 2024.

Magdalene College Essay Competition 2024

This competition has not yet opened for 2024, but you can register for more information and to get an alert when entries open. Traditionally, the competition is open to arts and humanities students in Year 12, and is open to students currently in state school education.

essay competitions for english students

Newnham College Essay Competitions

The Newnham competition has been in the news recently because it has changed its rules so that students from independent schools may NOT enter their essay competition. Newnham is a Cambridge college, and as such, they’re trying to distance themselves from the idea that they favour students from privileged backgrounds. Fair enough.

The Newnham competition offers a number of essay prizes, that are open to female students in Year 12. The college provides webinars and guides outlining how to submit and create your essay. Entries are submitted each March, and there is a maximum of four entries permitted in each subject, per school. Details of the Woolf essay, which opens each summer, can be found online.

LSE Undergraduate Political Review

This competition has not yet been opened for 2024 but you can see the format of the competition for 2023 and the winning entries on the LSE UPR website.

This competition invites students in Year 12 to write an 1,000 word essay on a political prompt. The prize includes a £100 Amazon voucher, a certificate signed by the head of LSE’s government department and a chance to present at the annual LSEUPR conference.

Trust for Sustainable Living Essay Prize

This competition is open to school students of all ages but the secondary category is for students aged 11-18 and only requires a 600-word essay on a topic around sustainability.The brief for 2024 – “How can nature help us achieve the UN SDGs in my community?” You will need to have your entry submitted by a teacher or other adult aged 18+.

The Peter Cane Legal Reasoning Prize

If you’re an aspiring lawyer in Year 12 or Year 13, this competition by Corpus Christi College, Oxford. The competition opens in January and closes in February. Winning entrants will be invited to a debate at the college later in the year. This year’s essay prompt is a hypothetical legal case and students are invited to submit an essay outlining their view of the case and reasons why they take the position they do.

The Libra Essay Prize

The Libra competition is for students in Y11 and Y12 preparing for university – it opens each year in January and closes in April 2024. There are actually essay questions across eight categories including science, English, history, economics and more. Essays can be up to 2,000 words and winners will receive vouchers of up to £50 for each category.

Royal Institute of Philosophy Essay Competition

If you reckon you could write 1,200 words on the theme ‘Can Machines Think’ then you might be up for the first ever Royal Institute of Philosophy Think! essay competition. There aren’t any monetary prizes but the winners’ entries will be published by the Institute and that’s got to be worth mentioning on your university application!

The St Johns College Classics and Ancient History Prize

This annual competition is now open and closes in March 2024. There are questions for students of classics and history, including classical literature. To enter, students must submit a 2,000 word essay on one of five questions, and could win a £100 book voucher as a prize. In addition, everyone who submits an essay is invited to the college for an open day, including tours and workshops.

Oxford IQ Essay Competition

Similar to the Immerse Education essay competition, the Oxford IQ essay competition gives students the chance to win a free place on a summer pre-university programme in Oxford. Essays are judged on a rolling basis, but must be submitted by March 2024. Entering is something of a process. You need to first register interest in the summer programme including writing a statement on why you want to attend the session, and you’ll receive details of the competition and the essay questions within 48 hours. You can then start your entry, and you’ll be informed within a week of submission if you have been successful.

The Mary Renault Prize

St Hughes College Oxford runs two essay competitions each year. The first focuses on history , the second on classics. The classics essay is worth considering if you’re aiming for an English degree. The competition welcomes entries from students not currently studying Latin/Greek at A-Level, and your essay can focus on classical literature. There are 2 prizes available, worth up to £500. Entries must be 2,000-2,400 words and submitted by late July. Winners are also invited to visit the college for tea!

Queens College Year 12 Essay Contest

Queens College Cambridge runs an annual English essay competition for Year 12 students, demanding a 2500 word essay for a change to win a £500 prize! Entries close in March and the winner is announced in May. In addition to the cash prize, the winner is invited to the college open day and several previous winners went on to study at Cambridge.

The John Locke Institute International Essay Competition

While not strictly aimed at English students, this global contest is very well known and the breadth of topics means you can take a literary approach to another discipline. Students can submit essays across seven different subjects. They are Philosophy, Politics, Economics, History, Psychology, Theology and Law. There are three questions set for each topic, and you can choose your favourite. Entries close in June each year.

The Betty Haigh Prize

Many sixth form students of literature will study Shakespeare and this essay competition is the perfect place to showcase your best work.

To enter the competition, students need to write a 1500 word essay that compares a scene in a Shakespeare tragedy to a film or TV adaptation, OR write a standalone essay exploring how a TV or film adaptation of a Shakespeare drama has thrown new light on the original text. Entries close in September 2024, and winners generally receive book vouchers as prizes.

2022 essay competitions

Gould Prize for English Literature

One of the best essay competitions for english students is the Gould Prize, which is awarded annually by Trinity College, Cambridge.

Candidates are invited each year to submit an essay of between 1,500 and 2,500 words on a topic to be chosen from the list of questions. Entries must be submitted by August 1, with a first prize of £600 to be split between the student and their school or college. Each year there are six questions to choose from, covering novels, poetry and drama.

Robinson College Essay Prize

You don’t enter the Robinson College essay competition because of the prizes – you’ll get a £50 book token if you win. But you’ll get lots of kudos AND an invite to a celebratory award lunch at the college, where you can meet the dean. Similar to the Gould prize, the Robinson College prize poses a series of challenging questions and invites students to answer them from their own perspective. Questions are carefully selected so they’re applicable to literature but also philosophy, history, law and science. This particular competition will not run in 2024.

There you have it! 26 of the best essay competitions for Year 12 students, that you can apply for in 2022. Missed something from our guide? Let me know in the comments!

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essay competitions sixth form

Immerse Essay Competition 2024: Win a 100% scholarship for our transformative programmes

4th January 2024 Submission Deadline - This round has come to a close

essay competitions sixth form

What is the Immerse Education Essay Competition 2024?

The Immerse Education Essay Competition provides the opportunity for students aged 13-18 to submit essay responses to a question of their choice relating to a subject of interest. There are over twenty questions to choose from which can be found in our full Essay Competition Guide. 10 winners will receive a 100% scholarship to study with us at a world-leading university of their choosing. Outstanding runners-up also receive partial scholarships .

Essay competition timeline

  • Coming soon for 2025 Round Competition opens
  • Coming soon for 2025 Round Competition closes
  • Coming soon for 2025 Round Results announced
  • January, July & August 2025 Programme dates

Who can apply?

The Immerse Education Essay Competition is open to students worldwide of all nationalities. You must be aged between 13-18 during your chosen programme.

List of Essay Topics

  • Programme Overview
  • Programme Prizes
  • Reviews and Winners

essay competitions sixth form

10 winners will receive a 100% scholarship

Take a look at previous essay competition winners.

essay competitions sixth form

Runners Up will be awarded partial scholarships of up to 50% to study their chosen subject with Immerse. The number of runners-up will be determined by the number of entries received, and the quality of the work submitted. 7% of entrants accept scholarship funding to attend an Immerse programme.--> Hundreds of students usually receive a high partial scholarship funding, with thousands receiving further partial scholarships.

Which programmes can the scholarship be redeemed against?

essay competitions sixth form

London Summer School

Our industry-focused experience taught by professionals, based in the heart of London - one of the most exciting cities in the world.

essay competitions sixth form

Cambridge Summer School

Our most popular summer school location - choose from over 20 different subjects taught by expert academics from world-leading universities.

essay competitions sixth form

Oxford Summer School

The city of dreaming spires plays host to a number of Academic Insights programmes. Choose from subjects such as medicine, international relations, business and more.

essay competitions sixth form

  • Online Insights

Taking the highlights of our award-winning "Academic Insights" programme online. Receive expert teaching from Oxbridge academics in a choice of university-level subjects.

essay competitions sixth form

Online Research Programmes

Receive 1:1 tutorials from academics at Oxford and Cambridge University or Ivy League Universities. The aim of these programmes is to develop a university-style academic research project in a topic of your choice - developing key skills such as academic writing, independent study and research.

essay competitions sixth form

Sydney Summer School

Experience our Academic Insights Programme from the University of Sydney, one of the most prestigious institutions in the world. Engage in a unique collegiate educational experience, and choose a course from a range including Business Management, Engineering, Medicine and more.

New York Summer School

Our New York summer programmes, tailored for middle and high school students aged between 15-18 develop the young leaders of tomorrow through innovative industry-focused programmes.

San Francisco Summer School

Experience our Career Insights programmes a doorstep away from the epicenter of entrepreneurship and forward-thinking businesses and startups.

Toronto Summer School

Win a scholarship to participate on our award-winning Academic Insights programme at a leading university in Toronto.

Read about the experience of past winners below

essay competitions sixth form

Immerse Alumni, 100% Scholarship Winner

"I applied to the essay competition online after an email from my school. Coming up to the essay competition deadline, I was sort of aware that I wanted to write something and submit it, but I was still unsure about subjects and things because I had lots of subjects that I'm doing in school and that I'm interested in pursuing and definitely looking through the essay prompts helped. The creative writing one, 'which key attributes make protagonists likeable' was such a general, but also a really interesting question. I think it just inspired me to start research on it immediately."

essay competitions sixth form

Immerse alumni, and scholarship winner

"Immerse was very fun as well as useful. You were able to experience what it would be like if you studied here for university. The most beneficial part of the course was being able to see what International Relations is like, and it helped me decide what I want to study in the future."

essay competitions sixth form

100% Scholarship Winner

I really wanted to go to summer school this year, and so I literally was searching for summer school opportunities and Immerse is one that came up. Through this, I found out about the competition and I decided to submit an answer. Immerse was very helpful whilst I was writing my essay, especially with things like the referencing guide. When I got the scholarship email, I definitely thought it wasn't real. I was in shock, but I was also really, really happy because it’s a once in a lifetime opportunity.

essay competitions sixth form

"I loved the little conversations we had when a question about the topic turned into explanations of the ethical, personal and economic issues that surround medicine. Overall, I found my lessons very beneficial. I know so much more about medicine and its different subsets, but also about what a career in medicine really looks like."

essay competitions sixth form

“Throughout the academic sessions I gained lots of valuable knowledge and helped form foundations for my A-level studies. I also received many slideshows and resources used by my tutor so that I could review them in my own time and reinforce the content. Overall, I strongly believe that the academic sessions were the most beneficial aspect of the programme."

essay competitions sixth form

"I enrolled because I wanted to expand my knowledge of physics and meet other people with the same interests as myself. Both of which I was successful in doing! My favourite aspect of the programme was the small class sizes - this helped both the tutor and students with learning and understanding the subject."

essay competitions sixth form

I could see that the essay competition was an incredible opportunity for international students to win a scholarship purely based on merit. More importantly, after doing some more research, I realised that the process for choosing winners was incredibly fair, that everyone would get an equal chance regardless of their socio-economic background, race, nationality, gender, etc.

essay competitions sixth form

There is no downside to entering the competition. If you win, it is awesome. If you don’t win, you gained an experience. Entering the competition and working as hard as I did for it was one of the most gratifying experiences. From this competition you really get what you put into it, if you put in a lot of effort, you will be rewarded.

essay competitions sixth form

My school invited everyone to participate, and the further I read about Immerse Education, the more motivated I was to enter the competition. Not only did I have the chance to study a subject I love, I would also be able to expand on my essay skills since writing has always been a passion of mine.

Hear from a previous 100% winner

Frequently Asked Questions

Who can enter the immerse essay competition.

The Immerse Education Essay Competition 2024/2025 is open to entries from young people aged 13-18 interested in all subjects, from Architecture to Medicine, Creative Writing to Film Studies. If participants are successful, they should be aged 13 and above before the start of their programme.

What support can I expect when I register interest for the Essay Competition?

Immerse provides a full essay-writing guide which is sent to your email address once you register your interest in the competition. This guide includes a full list of essay questions, our essay specification, top tips for writing an academic essay, referencing guidance, our terms and conditions and guidance on plagiarism! Registering interest also ensures that you're on track to submitting your essay on time, through a series of helpful reminder prompts. To support further you can register for our webinars , which offer top tips and guidance with essay writing from our experts. You are also welcome to explore our creative writing resources .

Why should I enter the Immerse Education Essay Competition?

If i win a scholarship, which location can i use it for.

If you win a scholarship via the Essay Competition 2024 you can use it toward any residential course in any of our locations. Use your scholarship to enrol on one of our renowned online programmes or enriching in-person/residential summer school programmes in cultural melting pots such as Cambridge, Oxford, London or Sydney and more.

Do I need to pay or enrol onto a programme to be able to enter the competition?

No, there is no entry fee and you do not need to have already enrolled onto any of our programmes to take part in the essay competition.

When is the deadline for the Essay Competition?

The deadline for all essay entries for the last round of the competition is 4th January 2024. The next deadline will most likely be on 31st August 2024.

Register interest for the next competition - Coming Soon

The Immerse Education Essay Competition provides the opportunity for students aged 13-18 to submit essay responses to a pre-set question relating to their chosen subject. Join our waiting list to get tips and insight on how to prepare for the competition, essay writing advice and keep track of the deadline as it approaches.

Join the 2025 Competition Waiting List. When live, the Following Guidance Materials will be Shared.

  • A Full List of Essay Questions
  • Essay Specification
  • Top Tips For Writing an Academic Essay
  • Referencing Guidance
  • Essay Competition Terms & Conditions
  • Plagiarism Guidance
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Enrichment Opportunities at Berkhamsted

Essay Competitions (Sixth Form)

Social sciences: New College of Humanities essay competition:

nchlondon.ac.uk/essay/

Medicine essay competition: 

mindsunderground.com/medicine-competition

Law essay competition:

mindsunderground.com/law-competition

History competition:

mindsunderground.com/history-competition

History Essay Competition — Minds Underground

The Minds Underground™ Year 12 History Essay Competition is open for entries. The competition provides students with an opportunity to engage in university-level research, hone their writing & argumentative skills and prepare for university interviews. Entrants must choose 1 question to answer.

mindsunderground.com

Law Essay Competition — Minds Underground

The Minds Underground™ Law Essay Competition is open to students in Year 12. The competition provides students with an opportunity to engage in university-level research, hone their writing & argumentative skills and prepare for university interviews, particularly benefitting Oxbridge applicatio

www.mindsunderground.com

Newnham essay competition:

(Biological Sciences, Classics, Computer Science, Engineering, History, Mathematics, Modern and Medieval Languages, Music, Philosophy and Psychological and Behavioural Sciences)

Watch this website for the Newnham Essay Competition for Girls – launches towards tail end of this month:

https://www.newn.cam.ac.uk/admissions/undergraduates/newnham-essay-prizes/

Work Research Experience:

There are also a range of fascinating work experience opportunities on here to work with people in a particular field – do enquire on this website if any catch your eye:

https://www.mindsunderground.com/work-research-experience

NCH London 2022 Essay Competition

essay competitions sixth form

Related Posts

Round square & galess competition, applications open for innovators toolkit workshop by csdgc at stanford university.

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Focused student writing an essay on her laptop.

Essay competiti…

Essay competition aims to develop entrepreneurial spirit among teenagers

The article at a glance.

An inaugural Entrepreneurship Essay Competition aims to encourage UK Sixth Form students to pursue entrepreneurial aspirations. The initiative is organised by the Entrepreneurship Lab at King’s College, Cambridge, which was founded by 2 faculty members at Cambridge Judge Business School.

Category: Faculty news News

Thomas Roulet.

An inaugural Entrepreneurship Essay Competition for Sixth Form students in the UK has been launched by the Entrepreneurship Lab (E-Lab) at King’s College , University of Cambridge, which was founded by 2 faculty members at Cambridge Judge Business School.

The E-Lab founders are Kamiar Mohaddes , Associate Professor in Economics & Policy, and Thomas Roulet , Associate Professor in Organisation Theory.

Judging panel: a Dragon, a former Bank of England governor and an FT columnist

A winner and 2 runners-up will be selected by an expert panel of judges which includes:

  • Deborah Meaden (Business Leader and Dragon from TV’s Dragons’ Den)
  • Lord Mervyn King (former Governor of the Bank of England)
  • Gillian Tett (Columnist and Editor-at-Large of the Financial Times, who will be the next Provost of King’s College)

The organisers, who include Cambridge Judge Business School PhD student Rhys Williams, hope the competition will nurture the entrepreneurial mindset in students who may not typically engage in the world of business and help them understand better how to launch an enterprise.

Students are asked to choose between one of 3 essays questions, which concern the ethics of a business having excess profits from selling ethical goods, learning from failure, and the impact of generative artificial intelligence for entrepreneurs.

Prize-giving ceremony to be held at King’s College, Cambridge

The winners will be invited to a prize-giving ceremony to be held at King’s College in late 2023. The winner receives a £1,000 cash prize to be split equally between the candidate and their school, and 2 runners-up prizes of £500 are also shared equally between the candidate and their school. The school portion of the prizes will be issued in the form of book tokens.

Featured faculty

Thomas roulet.

Professor of Organisational Sociology and Leadership

View Thomas' profile

Kamiar Mohaddes

Associate Professor in Economics & Policy

Deputy Director of the Cambridge Executive MBA Programme

View Kamiar's profile

Related content

Essay competition: how to enter.

The deadline for entries is 26 September 2023. Visit the E-Lab website for further details.

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Study co-authored at Cambridge Judge calls for reducing export-burden asymmetry for different qualities of waste to reduce environmental harm.

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Investing in your future – how do you fund an MBA from Cambridge Judge?

As we head into the final rounds for entry into the MBA programme at Cambridge Judge Business School, starting in September 2024, we explore the funding and scholarship options still on offer, as well as other ways you can fund your business master's degree in the year ahead.

competitions entrepreneurship Kamiar Mohaddes King's College Thomas Roulet

Girton College

Humanities Writing Competition

Opportunity for year 12 students to research & write beyond the curriculum.

This annual competition is an opportunity for students to research and write beyond the curriculum, using one or more of the  Lawrence Room museum  objects, as their focus. Essays or creative responses (such as dramatic monologues or short stories) are equally welcome. We are looking for the ability to connect different areas of knowledge, to think about details and to communicate clearly.

Open to:  UK students in Year 12 (or equivalent - S5/ Y13 - N.I) who have an interest in the Humanities. 

Prizes:  Up to £200 cash and books to the value of £200 from  Cambridge University Press , the latter to be shared between the winning entrant/s and their school/s. The prize fund may be divided between winning entrants.

The competition is currently open!

Note: There is a maximum of three entries per school.

Link to enter -  https://cambridge.eu.qualtrics.com/jfe/form/SV_eeukLYibe2Vu8IK

Deadline for entries: 5pm, Friday 15th March 2024

Previous competition winners

2022-23 winners.

First prize: Lara Orlandi (St Paul’s Girls’ School, London)

For ‘The Significance of Feng Huang Symbolism in Chinese Architecture’: a full, scholarly and beautifully illustrated account of the belief-system that informed the phoenix roof tile.

Second prize: Miranda Black (Hills Road Sixth Form College, Cambridge)

For ‘Coptic Tunic Fragment: A Woven Essay’: an intriguing piece, half essay, half story, literally weaving together very different ‘strands’ of knowledge to create an imaginative whole.

Third prize: Rosetta Millar (Harris Westminster Sixth Form)

For ‘Phoenix Ridge Tile, The Lawrence Room’: an impressively researched essay with excellent use of images, bringing in a comparison with the modern artist Ai-Wei Wei as an unexpected bonus.

2022-23 Runner-up

Denis Morine (King Edward VI Grammar School, Chelmsford)

‘Decoration, Deities, and Drinking: Delving into Ancient Sport and the Aryballos’: an original and well sustained argument about the contrasting attitudes to sport symbolised by Athena’s owl and the panther of Dionysos.

Oliver Laxton (Woodbridge School)

‘A Cornucopia of Cockerels’ showing great enthusiasm for the subject, this essay contained wide-ranging research around the significance of these birds in ancient Greek art. 

2022-23 Awards Ceremony

It was most enjoyable to welcome four of the five prizewinners to the college on 9 May to receive their prizes from the Mistress and to be given a tour of the Lawrence Room Museum and of the college. Many thanks to Girton Classics students Zac Copeland-Greene(former competition winner), Jack Hitchcock and Anouska Cowen for leading the tour.

Girton is grateful to Cambridge University Press and The C. Anne Wilson Fund for kind sponsorship of the competition.

Art and Artefacts

Explore the art treasures on show at girton college.

Study with us | Schools liaison | What we do | Events and prizes | Lloyd Davies Philosophy Prize

The Lloyd Davies Philosophy Prize for Year 12 students

Developing independent study.

The purpose of the Prize is:

  • To give students in Year 12 (or equivalent) who are considering applying to university an opportunity to write about a subject they are interested in. This should enable them to develop their abilities for independent research and thought in Philosophy.
  • To support teachers of able pupils by providing interesting and challenging further work in Philosophy and by bringing their students into contact with Higher Education.
  • To encourage able students to consider applying to study Philosophy, either at Oxford or at another university, by giving them some experience of the type of work involved.
  • To recognise the achievement and effort of the best of those who apply through prizes and commendations. Note: the judges are not able to provide feedback on any essays.

Assessment Criteria

Entrants should be in Year 12 (or equivalent) at their school or college. The judges will look for:

  • Originality of thought
  • An accurate understanding of the issues
  • Clarity of structure and expression
  • And a critical approach to what has been read

General Guidelines

  • Essays should be no more than 2,500 words in length and should be on one of the topics listed below. Essays should be word processed and submitted by email in either Word or PDF format to  [email protected] .
  • A font size of 12pt or greater should be used, and the page margins should be set to no less than 1 inch.
  • Entries must be sent with a completed entry form, which is available to download below.
  • Please include a bibliography (note: this does not count towards the word limit).

How to Apply

The 2022 Lloyd Davies Competition is now closed for entries.

Check here again soon for information on how to enter the 2023 competition.

Previous Essay Questions

Those who entered the 2022 essay competition answered the following questions:

1. ‘If I know that something is true, I know that any evidence against it is misleading. So I am justified in never questioning my knowledge, even when I come across evidence against it.’ Discuss.

2. Is mathematics similar to morality?

3. Is the distinction between past and future fundamental?

2022 Competition Result

The winner of the 2022 Lloyd Davies Philosophy Prize was Emily Tan.

  • Emily Tan ‘s essay was on the question “Is Mathematics Similar to Morality?”

One essay was chosen as the close runner-up

  • Jem Perry ‘s essay on the question “Is Mathematics Similar to Morality?”

The assessors wish to commend the essays written by:

  • Ilea Dehghan on the question “Is Mathematics Similar to Morality?”
  • Lloyd Doré-Green on the question “If I know that something is true, I know that any evidence against it is misleading. So I am justified in never questioning my knowledge, even when I come across evidence against it.’ Discuss”
  • Andrew McKimm on the question “Is the distinction between past and future fundamental?”
  • Amelie Zhang on the question “Is the distinction between past and future fundamental?”

2021 Competition Result

In 2021 we received close to 100 entries from students from all over the world. One essay was chosen as the winner:

  • Bo Cresser ‘s (Kingsdale Foundation School, London) essay on the question “Does it really matter whether we have a free will or not?”
  • Sirui Cai ‘s (Raffles, Singapore) essay on the question “Does it really matter whether we have a free will or not?”

The standard of entries was extremely high. The assessors wish to single out for special mention the essays by:

  • Amia Guha (Westminster School, Oxford), on the question “Does it really matter whether we have a free will or not?”
  • Nicholson Kanefield (Boulder High School, Colorado) on the question “Do you know that you are not dreaming right now? If so, how? If not, does it matter?”
  • Pongsapak Waiwitlikhit (Shrewsbury International School Riverside, Bangkok) on the question “Should we rethink the nature and limits of freedom of speech in the internet age?”
  • Oliver Weiner (Haberdashers’ Aske’s Boys’ School) on the question “Do you know that you are not dreaming right now? If so, how? If not, does it matter?”

The essays by

  • William Dewhurst (Downside School, Radstock)
  • Cecilia, Forsyth (St Paul’s Girls’ School, London)
  • Maya Grunschlag (St Paul’s Girls’ School, London)
  • Jiay Lin (Cardiff Sixth Form College)
  • Lucy Richardson (Cranford House School, Wallingford)
  • Haley Son (Seoul Foreign School)
  • Nathan Steward (Marling School, Stroud)
  • Martha Vine (Godolphin and Latymer School, London)

were also highly commended.

2020 Competition Result

In 2020, two essays were chosen as joint winners:

  • Kunal Barman ‘s (St Edward’s School) essay on the question: “should vaccines be compulsory?”
  • Elliott Bonal ‘s (Ecole Diagonale, France) essay answering the question: “Is it rational to believe in the existence of viruses but not to believe in the existence of dark matter?”

The general standard of entries was high. The assessors singled out for special mention the essays by

  • Bruce, Edward (Ralph Allen School)
  • Walsh, Oliver (Royal Grammar School)
  • Orkeny, Bence (ELTE, Radnoti Miknlos Gyakorlo Altalanos Iskola es Gyakorlo Gimnazium, Hungary)
  • Yang, Joanne (Seoul International School)
  • Pang, Gabriel (Comberton Sixth Form)
  • O’ Gorman, Tom (Brighton College)
  • Goel, Abhay (Westminster School)
  • Frasheri, Allan (Largo High School)

further information

Rex nettleford essay competition, schools liaison and outreach, our outreach work.

IMAGES

  1. Hereford Sixth form student wins essay prize

    essay competitions sixth form

  2. 2014 essay writing competitions in 2021

    essay competitions sixth form

  3. 27 Writing Competitions For High School Students In 2022

    essay competitions sixth form

  4. Creative Writing competitions bring out students' innovation

    essay competitions sixth form

  5. Eltham College Sixth Form student among top 5% of applicants for Essay

    essay competitions sixth form

  6. HMC Sixth Form Competitions 2014

    essay competitions sixth form

COMMENTS

  1. Oxford and Cambridge Essay Competitions

    This essay competition is designed to give students the opportunity to develop and showcase their independent study and writing skills. Unfortunately, for external reasons, the essay won't be running in 2023, but may well be running in 2024 so do keep an eye out so you don't miss it! Sample Essay Questions from 2020

  2. Essay Competition 2024

    The OxBright Essay Competition gives you the chance to think about the future, challenge yourself beyond the school curriculum, and consider your subject through a wider lens. All shortlisted entrants will be invited to attend one of our Online Conferences free of charge, and there are a variety of prestigious prizes for the winners.

  3. Essay Competitions

    St Hugh's essay competitions are open to Sixth Formers from the UK and across the world. These are a fantastic opportunity to explore a topic of interest in a particular subject in more depth, whether something you have studied at school has inspired you, or whether you are keen to broaden your horizons in a new academic discipline.

  4. 2024 Essay Competition

    Q1. Would justice be better served in the United States if more Supreme Court judges were women? Q2. Suppose that you were contemplating, in violation of the rules of this competition, submitting an essay written for you by artificial intelligence. What would be the difference between such an act and ordinary attempted theft? Q3.

  5. Julia Wood History Essay Competition

    Julia Wood History Essay Competition. Established in 1971, in memory of a St Hugh's College historian, the Julia Wood Prize is an annual History essay competition open to Sixth Form pupils who have not been in the Sixth Form of any school or college for a period of more than two years. The Principal and Fellows of St Hugh's College, Oxford ...

  6. Super-Curricular Opportunities

    English Connell Guides Short Story Competition, open to all year 11 students - details Commonwealth Essay competition, open to anyone between 14-18 years of age - details Christopher Tower Poetry Competition, open to 16-18 year old students in the UK to write a poem and is run by Christchurch College Oxford - details Humanities

  7. 2022-23 CSEP Essay Competition is Released

    Every year Cambridge Society for Economic Pluralism hosts its Essay Competition to encourage sixth form students to go beyond their curriculum and explore important questions society faces today.

  8. Essay Prize

    An excellent way for 6th form students to demonstrate that they have the makings of a scholar, the Libra Essay Prize offers a chance to prepare for the academic rigour required by university assignments and provides a great accomplishment to discuss on a personal statement or at an interview. With inspiration from the admissions process at All ...

  9. Student Essay Competition

    A short essay, of roughly 1,200 words, on one of the following questions: (a) ... No, you do not have to study A-level Economics, but you must be in Sixth Form or equivalent (last two years of high school). ... The 2021-2 essay competition is currently closed.

  10. Essay Competition

    Essay Submission Deadline: 10th May, 2024 Result Announcement: 25th June, 2024 Award Ceremony and Dinner at the University of Cambridge: 30th July, 2024 We welcome talented high school students from diverse educational settings worldwide to contribute their unique perspectives to the competition. Entry to the competition is free.

  11. History Essay Prizes

    This essay competition is for Lower Sixth Formers or Year 12 students (or equivalent). International applicants are welcomed but the essay must be written in English. There is a strict limit of five submissions per school for each essay competition. ... Entries are invited for a history essay prize for students in the sixth form during the 2023 ...

  12. Essay Competitions for Year 12 Students: A Complete Guide

    The Mary Renault Prize Queens College Year 12 Essay Contest The John Locke Institute International Essay Competition Ashbourne College English Literature Essay Competition The Betty Haigh Prize Gould Prize for English Literature Robinson College Essay Prize Lancaster Writing Award Why essay competitions are useful

  13. Essay Competitions

    These essay competitions are exclusively for students in their penultimate year of education (Year 12 in England and Wales, S5 in Scotland, Year 13 in Northern Ireland). They are open to students in any country but submissions must be written in English. ... Please note that this limit does not apply to Sixth Form Colleges where year groups are ...

  14. Essay Competition 2024

    The Immerse Education Essay Competition provides the opportunity for students aged 13-18 to submit essay responses to a question of their choice relating to a subject of interest.

  15. List of Essay Competitions/ Challenges for Year 12s

    [ISA] Sixth Form Essay Prize - March (Closed) Girton College Humanities Writing Competition - March (Closed) [Newham College] The Woolf Essay Prize - March (Closed) The Minds Underground World Literature Essay Competition - April (Closed) OMSG Reflection Essay Competition - May 8th (Open) The Dukes Education Essay Prize - June 1st (Open)

  16. Mary Renault Classical Reception Essay Competition

    Mary Renault Classical Reception Essay Competition. The Principal and Fellows of St Hugh's College, Oxford are pleased to be offering two or more prizes, worth up to £300 each, for the best essays on classical reception or influence by pupils who, at the closing date, have been in the Sixth Form of any school or college for a period of not ...

  17. Essay Competitions (Sixth Form)

    Essay Competitions (Sixth Form) Social sciences: New College of Humanities essay competition: nchlondon.ac.uk/essay/ Medicine essay competition: mindsunderground.com/medicine-competition Law essay competition: mindsunderground.com/law-competition History competition: mindsunderground.com/history-competition

  18. Competitions

    A great open-ended annual History essay competition open to Sixth Form pupils, run by St Hugh's College, Oxford University. The choice of historical subject is left to candidates. Essays should be between 2000-4000 words. Essays should be submitted by 5pm on Friday 30th July 2021.

  19. NCH London 2022 Essay Competition

    Competitions / By WizardryEli / October 4, 2021. We are delighted to launch our 2022 Essay Competition! Our popular and prestigious essay competition is an opportunity for students to show both their academic potential and passion in the humanities and social sciences with the chance to win a cash prize. We are inviting essay entries from ...

  20. Essay competition aims to develop entrepreneurial spirit among

    Dr Kamiar Mohaddes. An inaugural Entrepreneurship Essay Competition for Sixth Form students in the UK has been launched by the Entrepreneurship Lab (E-Lab) at King's College, University of Cambridge, which was founded by 2 faculty members at Cambridge Judge Business School.. The E-Lab founders are Kamiar Mohaddes, Associate Professor in Economics & Policy, and Thomas Roulet, Associate ...

  21. Humanities Writing Competition

    Humanities Writing Competition. This annual competition is an opportunity for students to research and write beyond the curriculum, using one or more of the Lawrence Room museum objects, as their focus. Essays or creative responses (such as dramatic monologues or short stories) are equally welcome. We are looking for the ability to connect ...

  22. Lloyd Davies Philosophy Prize

    Those who entered the 2022 essay competition answered the following questions: 1. 'If I know that something is true, I know that any evidence against it is misleading. ... Jiay Lin (Cardiff Sixth Form College) Lucy Richardson (Cranford House School, Wallingford) Haley Son (Seoul Foreign School) Nathan Steward (Marling School, Stroud)