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School Competitions And Prizes For Aspiring Medics

Learn about all of the competitions and prizes you can enter at school to boost your Medicine application.

If you’re an aspiring medic at school, you can boost your Medicine application by entering competitions and prizes. Regardless of whether you win or not, you’ll be able to include the experience in your Personal Statement and talk about it at Med School interviews . Here are some Medicine competitions you can enter to be proactive and make your application stand out.

Imperial College London – Science in Medicine School Teams Prize

Imperial College London has three team competitions to choose from:

• The British Heart Foundation Cardiovascular Prize – Submissions should focus on a topic with interactions between the cardiovascular system and the nervous system.
• The Lung Prize – Submissions can focus on any aspect of the prevention or treatment of respiratory disease.
• The Scleroderma and Raynaud’s UK Prize – Submissions should focus on promoting the health and wellbeing of individuals with Scleroderma and/or Raynaud’s.

For each competition, the challenge is to design an ePoster. A team can have up to six members (they recommend assembling a team with varied interests) and schools can enter one team per prize.

The top ten shortlisted teams in each contest will be invited to present their ePosters at an online finals event. In each stream, first, second and third prizes of £3,000, £2,000 and £1,000 will be awarded to schools in order to support science-related activities.

Deadline – midnight on 30th June 2023.

University of Cambridge – Robinson College Essay Prize

The Robinson College Essay Prize is open to Year 12 students in the UK, providing an opportunity to develop and showcase independent study and writing skills. It also allows students to experience the type of work that they might be expected to do at Cambridge.

Entrants submit an essay (no more than 2,000 words) answering a question from various options. Last year, one of the possible titles was ‘Can science tell us how we should live?’. Up to three entries can be submitted per school, so you should discuss your application with your school before entering.

Five prizes are awarded, with each winner receiving book tokens to the value of £50. Winners will also be invited to Robinson College for a prize-giving ceremony.

The 2023 prize will open with more info in June.

Specialist Application Advice

Want expert advice to navigate the Medicine application process?

Medic Mentor – National Essay Competition

Medic Mentor’s National Essay Competition requires students to write an essay (up to 1,500 words) from the perspective of a medical professional.

There are essay titles available for Medicine, Dentistry , Veterinary Medicine and Allied Health .

For 2023, the essay questions are:

• Medicine – Should the patient be viewed as part of the multidisciplinary team?
• Dentistry – How can the holistic approach minimise periodontal disease in patients?
• Veterinary – What is the importance of a holistic approach when caring for livestock?
• Allied Heath – How can the multidisciplinary team optimise the care of the older person in hospital?

Deadline – midday on 1st May 2023.

Minds Underground Medicine Essay Competition

Minds Underground Medicine Essay Competition is aimed at students in Year 12, but younger students are also welcome to enter, and there are various essay title options to choose from. For the 2023 competition, one of the possible titles was ‘Should all healthcare be free? Discuss.’

The competition is designed to give students an opportunity to engage in research, hone their writing and argumentative skills, and prepare for university interviews. Minds Underground also runs essay competitions for other science subjects like Psychology and STEM.

The submission deadline is typically around March/April. Get more info here.

The Libra Essay Prize

The Libra Essay Prize is for students in Years 12 and 13 who are looking to prepare for university. Inspired by the admissions process at All Souls College, Oxford, entrants write an essay (1,500-2,000 words) responding to a single-word title.

For the 2023 prize, the single-word options were: Control, Collaboration, Exchange, Freedom, Claim.

Entrants are encouraged to use imagination in their essays to build interesting links between their chosen title and their school learning. There are prizes available of £50 for first place, £30 for second place and £20 for third place.

The deadline has varied from year-to-year: it was June in 2022 and April in 2023, so keep an eye on their website for more details.

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Year 12 essay competitions for medicine (updated 2022), essay competitions you can enter to make your medicine application stand out..

Why should I enter an essay competition?

One unique way of making your medicine application stand out is by entering various essay competitions that are relevant to science, technology, or healthcare.

By entering (and winning) essay competitions, medical schools will see that:

• You take an interest in medicine and education beyond what you're taught in your curriculum
• You're very proactive and dedicated
• You have excellent time management skills as you can juggle this with other academic commitments
• You're interested in writing and research

You don't need to win the competition for this to look good in your application. The fact that you've gone through all the effort to apply is fantastic in itself. It's something you can write about in your personal statement and bring up in your interviews. It's also something your teachers can write on your UCAS reference too.

It's important to remember there are many other important skills admission tutors andinterviewers will be looking for during your application. Our Medmentor SuperPack is tailor-made to help track your progress and plug any gaps to ensure you're the holistic candidate that every medical school is looking for.

Essay competitions for Year 12 students applying to medicine

Throughout the year, there are different essay competitions open for sixth form students to enter. We've compiled a list of some of the ones that are most relevant for your medicine application. Some of the deadlines are soon, whilst others are in a few months, so be selective and make sure you're giving yourself enough time to write something that is of a high standard.

American Society of Human Genetics Annual DNA Day Essay Contest

https://www.ashg.org/dna-day/ - Deadline: 2nd March 2022

You're expected to write a 750 word essay answering the following questions:

• How do Mendel’s discoveries help us understand Mendelian disorders?
• How does the study of Mendelian disorders help us understand complex diseases?

Please note essays must be submitted by a teacher or administrator however if you are home schooled parent submission is acceptable.

Newnham College University of Cambridge Medicine Essay Prize

https://newn.cam.ac.uk/wp-content/uploads/2022/01/Medicine-Information-and-Questions-2022.pdf - Deadline: 11th March 2022 at 12pm

Open to all female students currently in Year 12 at a UK state school. Choose 1 question from:

• How realistic is it to develop a small molecule therapy for Covid-19? Could such a therapy be rolled out in a timeframe that it could have an impact on the current pandemic?
• Sleep deprivation in clinical health settings. Does it matter?
• Looking to the future. Will stem cell therapies be outpaced by machine-brain interfaces for the treatment of retinal disease?

Minds Underground Medicine Competition

https://www.mindsunderground.com/medicine-competition - Deadline: 31st March 2022

Choose 1 question from:

• If you could invent a new drug, what would it be and why?
• What will the impact of an ageing population on the NHS look like?
• "This idea must die: We can't find new antimicrobials fast enough to make a difference." Do you agree?

Minds Underground Psychology Competition

‍ www.mindsunderground.com/psychology-competition - Deadline: 31st March 2022

• What is more important: nature or nurture?
• Psychology Challenge: Design a research study.
• Does consciousness exist – how can we test for it?

Minds Underground Advanced Sciences Competition

www.mindsunderground.com/sciences-competition - Deadline: 31st March 2022

The questions you can choose from cover the different STEM subjects. Therefore, it may be preferable to select the one most closely related to medicine:

• Some people have argued that the discovery of DNA was the greatest scientific discovery of the 20th Century. Do you agree?

The Libra Education Essay Prize

‍ www.libraeducation.co.uk/essay-prize ‍ - Deadline: 24th June 2022

You have a lot more flexibility and autonomy with this competition, where you can choose any essay title inspired by the following words.

The words that are arguably most relevant to medicine, science, and healthcare include 'sustainability', 'memory', and 'senses', though you can definitely make links with any of the words. For example, somebody could choose to write an essay on "Why is sustainability important in healthcare?" or "How has the pandemic impacted healthcare sustainability ?"

For these types of essays, think boldly and be unique if you want your essay to stand out.

Essay competitions for Year 12 students that will open later this year

Various other competitions will open up throughout the year. Keep tabs on these two pages below as their competitions will open up later this year.

• Robinson College Essay Prize (University of Cambridge) - https://www.robinson.cam.ac.uk/prospective-students/essay-prize
• University of Oxford Sixth-form prize in Medicine - https://www.ndorms.ox.ac.uk/research/research-groups/oxford-trauma/university-of-oxford-sixth-form-prize-in-medicine

How important are essay competitions for Year 12 students? 

We would only recommend going out of your way to participate in essay competitions if you're quite comfortable with your academic grade. To write a good essay, you'll need to do extra reading and research in the topic area, and this can take some time. If your time is better spent revising and securing your grades, then please prioritise this. Essays are just another way to help your medicine application stand out, but they are by no means essential.

If you do have the time for it and you're not compromising your other commitments, then you've got nothing to lose - so give it your best shot!

Can I do anything else besides enter an essay competition? 

If you're not quite ready to commit to an essay, you can also consider submitting articles to particular magazines or news outlets. If you're lucky, your piece may feature on their magazine, and this is sure to impress medical schools.

These don't have to be related to medicine or healthcare, it can be about your life as a student and any challenges you're experiencing. Even though it may not directly relate to medicine, it's certainly impressive and will show the medical school that you're not afraid to put yourself out there. For example:

• Consider writing for the Llama magazine: https://www.llamamag.com/about-the-llama/
• Push yourself further and submit a pitch to the Guardian https://www.theguardian.com/education/mortarboard/2013/sep/23/blogging-students-how-to-pitch-and-blog

Discover more golden opportunities to help you stand out in our Blog , Navigator and/or Superhub.

Recommended articles: How to Become a COVID-19 Vaccinator , Summer School Opportunities for Medical School Applications & Online Courses for Medical School Applicants

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• Accessibility
• Research groups
• Oxford Trauma

University of Oxford Sixth-form prize in Medicine

This is an annual competition for Year 12 (Lower 6th) students who are considering applying to study medicine. The competition is open to all students currently studying at a state-funded school, college or sixth-form.

The Essay Prize aims to raise awareness of the interesting and multifaceted subject of medicine related to traumatic-injury. It is hoped that the Prize will encourage students with an interest in medicine to explore this further and to apply for a University course in this subject. In addition, the Prize aims to recognise the achievements of high-calibre students, as well as the achievements of those who teach them.

The competition carries a First Prize of a 7 day work-experience placement within the Major Trauma Centre, Oxford. In addition, up to three further essays of a high quality will be commended. For students living more than 20 miles from the John Radcliffe hospital, Oxford there is also a prize of £100, which will contribute to travel expenses anticipated in the attendance of the work-experience placement.  Accommodation will not be provided although some facilities are available when shadowing the ‘on call’ team.

The topic for the 2021 competition is as follows

"Sometimes when the broken bone heals, the trauma continues". Discuss the possible biopsyhchosocial effects of orthopaedic trauma in the first year after injury. 

Candidates are invited to submit an essay of between 750 and 1000 words. Essays should be submitted to the email address below by the deadline of  the end (23:59 BST) of 1 July 2021.  Late submissions cannot be accepted.   

All candidates will be notified with the results of the competition in early August.

Any queries should be directed to Mrs Jackie Harris at  [email protected]

How information about you will be used

Your email address will only be used for the purposes of contacting you in regards to your submission. It will not be used for any other reason or given or sold to any other company or organization.  

Notes for applicants:

This prize is hosted jointly by the University of Oxford and Oxford University Hospitals NHS foundation trust.

Clinical placements will be dependent on satisfactory completion of the trusts standard observership process.  Successful candidates will not be eligible to cite this award if clinical placements are not conducted.

Unsuccessful candidates should not refer to this prize in the prizes/awards section of applications.

Entry Guidelines 

• Only entries that are submitted via email, in word format to the published email address will be accepted. Submissions made in PDF format will not be accepted.
• Entries must be no longer than 1000 words. 
• Entries should be submitted in Arial size 12 font, excluding title .
• The word limit does not include the published title/question or references
• References should be presented as endnotes
• Entries will be judged by academic orthopaedic surgeons

The manuscript should be organised in the following format;

Authors name and email address

Body of text

References if appropriate 

• Entries will be judged on the following attributes:
• A clear, concise and well presented answer to the question posed by the essay title
• Style of writing
• Content / understanding
• Originality

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We use cookies to ensure that we give you the best experience on our website. If you click 'Accept all cookies' we'll assume that you are happy to receive all cookies and you won't see this message again. If you click 'Reject all non-essential cookies' only necessary cookies providing core functionality such as security, network management, and accessibility will be enabled. Click 'Find out more' for information on how to change your cookie settings.

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Student Prizes for Biomedical Sciences and Medicine 2022-2023

Awards and Appointments General Staff and student stories

1 June 2023

Congratulations to all our Biomedical Sciences students and Medicine students who have been awarded prizes during the 2022-2023 academic year.

John Potter Essay Prize

The prize, to the approximate value of £300, is offered annually and is open to clinical students working in Oxford for the Second Examination for the degree of Bachelor of Medicine.

The prize will be awarded for an essay on a clinical neurosurgical, neurological or neuropathological topic. The primary purpose of the prize will be the promotion of sound use of English and clarity of expression in medical writing. 

Joint winners:

• Gabrielle Cognacq, Graduate Entry, Year 3 (St Peter's College)
• Lena Zhu, Graduate Entry, Year 3 (Green Templeton College)

There were a record 13 entries for the prize in 2022/23.  The prize amount is £300 so the joint winners will get £150 each.

General Clinical Studies Prize

• Lottie Cansdal (St Hilda’s College)

Ledingham Prize in Medicine

Prize awarded for outstanding performance in Medicine in the General Clinical Studies Examination in Medicine and Surgery by the Examiners appointed for the Second BM examination:

• Afrose Dor (Wadham College)

Mortensen Prize in Surgery

Prize awarded for outstanding performance in Surgery in the General Clinical Studies Examination in Medicine and Surgery by the Examiners appointed for the Second BM examination:

• James Alden (Green Templeton College)

George Pickering Prize

Prize awarded for excellent performance in the Second BM examination:

• Scarlett Harris (Magdalen College)

John Freind Prize in Medical History

• Alexandra Knighton (Balliol College)

Sidney Truelove Prize in Gastroenterology

Prize, awarded annually to Clinical Medicine students, for an essay on a topic relating to diseases of the gastrointestinal tract:

• Srishti Rentala Venkata (Keble College)

JL Witts prize in Haematology or Gastroenterology

Prize, awarded annually to Clinical Medicine students, for an essay on a topic relating to diseases either of the blood or of the gastrointestinal tract:

• Beatrice Lander (Worcester College)

Renwick Vickers Prize in Dermatology

• Isabella Busa (Brasenose College)

MEAKINS McCLARAN MEDAL 2023

Prize awarded for the outstanding overall performance of a student admitted to the medicine course leading to the degrees of BM BCh (Oxon):

Sir Roger Bannister Neurology Prize 2022

Prize awarded annually for performance in the Year 5 Medical Student Neurology attachment:

• Desson Au-Yeung, Jesus College

Palliative Medicine Prize 2022-2023

The annual Palliative Medicine Prize is open to all Oxford clinical medical students who are invited to submit an essay on a current topic in Palliative Medicine.  Entrants are expected to demonstrate both a good grasp of the relevant philosophical, ethical and legal frameworks as well as using their experiences in practice as a lens through which to consider the clinical implications for individual patients and families.

• Malaika Ivey, St Anne’s College
• Iris-Mae Morse, Green Templeton College

Andrew Markus Essay Prize in Medical Ethics 2023

An annual student essay prize in Medical Ethics has been established in memory of Andrew Markus. Essays are invited from all medical students that contain an analysis of an ethical issue arising in medical practice, broadly conceived.

• Winner – Antoni Krupa, Corpus Christi College
• Second place – Ariff Castronovo, Pembroke College
• Runners up: Tolu Atilola (Worcester College), Tom Hatfield (Lincoln College), Rebecca Howitt (The Queen’s College), Tara Slade (St Peter’s College) and Morganne Wilbourne (St Peter’s College)

R.B. Duthie Prize 2022/23

This prize fund was established to mark the retirement of Professor R.B. Duthie as Nuffield Professor of Orthopaedic Surgery. A prize of £300 will be awarded annually to the best research, audit or quality improvement project undertaken by any clinical medical student in the field of Orthopaedics, Rheumatology, Trauma or Emergency Medicine.     

• Jesse Kimani, Green Templeton College

Peter Tizard Prize in Paediatrics 2022/23

The prize is awarded annually. The 3 to 5 students with the combined highest scores in the paediatric components of the end of year 5/GE year 3 exam (both MCQ and OSCE) will be invited to give a presentation to two examiners. The most outstanding student will receive the prize.

• Iwan Raza, Worcester College
• Isabella Busa (Brasenose College) and Rebecca Howitt (The Queen’s College) were awarded proxime accesserunt. 

Moher Prize in Primary Care 2022-23

The Moher Prize is the annual year 5 / GE year 3 student prize in Primary Care worth £300. The prize is awarded based upon a submission focusing on a topical Primary Care issue. There were a record 12 entries for the prize in 2022/23.

• Ryan Danvers (Oriel College) - Ryan’s project focused on creating a more equitable pathway for adult ADHD diagnosis in primary care, inspired by prolonged waiting times in the current NHS system.

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Medical School Expert

Medicine Essay Prizes (7 Competitions For Year 12 and 13’s)

Every article is fact-checked by a medical professional. However, inaccuracies may still persist.

Having a medical essay prize on your CV looks absolutely fantastic when it comes time for you to apply to medical school.

In such an overcrowded marketplace, anything that sets you apart from the crowd in a positive manner is sure to drastically increase your chances of getting an offer.

Although when I was applying to medical school I hadn’t managed to win an essay competition (despite my best efforts!) hopefully you’ll have more luck than me!

To save you some research time, I’ve compiled a list of 7 medicine essay competitions that you can enter this year.

Competitions that if you win will skyrocket your chances of application success.

INCLUDED IN THIS GUIDE:

The Libra Essay Prize

The Libra essay prize is an annual essay prize for all students in years 12 and 13 looking to prepare for university.

Libra Education themselves describe it as:

“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.”

Students are free to choose any subject from a list of categories (one of which being science) and then have to write an essay with a title containing a chosen word.

The small pool of words you can choose from change each year but are all generally quite abstract so you can connect and use them in creative ways.

The essay has to be between 1,500 – 2,000 words, with Harvard style referencing which isn’t included in the word count.

Libra accept entries from all over the world, but the essays must be written in English.

First prize wins £50, second prize £30, and third £20, all paid out in book vouchers. There’s also Commended and Highly Commended entries for each category.

Minds Underground Essay Competition

Minds Underground is an online learning platform, designed to support and enhance the learning and problem-solving of determined young students.

Every year they run a medicine essay competition, primarily aimed at year 12’s (although they do say younger or older students are also welcome to apply).

To enter, you have a choice of three questions, to which you need to write a 1,000 – 1,500 word answer.

“Should all healthcare be free? Discuss.” “What goes wrong for cancers to develop?” “Tell us about a key development/invention that you think has been most influential to medicine.” – Past Minds Underground medicine essay questions

If you’re feeling ambitious, students are permitted to enter an essay for more than one subject- so you could have a crack at the psychology or science one too!

Helpfully, under each question Minds also give you a few pointers to get your creative juices flowing.

Newnham Essay Prizes

Newnham College of the University of Cambridge runs a medicine essay competition with a twist:

Only female students are allowed to enter.

Again, students have a choice of three differing questions.

For example, the questions in the 2021-22 competition were:

• How realistic is it to develop a small molecule therapy for Covid-19? Could such a therapy be rolled out in a timeframe that it could have an impact on the current pandemic?
• Sleep deprivation in clinical health settings. Does it matter?
• Looking to the future. Will stem cell therapies be outpaced by machine-brain interfaces for the treatment of retinal disease?

Newnham do give you a bit more of a range when it comes to the word count, accepting anything from 1,500 to 2,500 words.

There’s a generous £400 prize for first place, £200 for second and £100 for third.

Unfortunately for you as an individual though, prize money is split 50:50 between the essay prize winner and the funding of resources for their school…

John Locke Institute Essay Competition

“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. “

The John Locke Institute arguably gives away the most generous prize out of any competition on this list.

You get a scholarship worth $2,000 towards the cost of attending any John Locke Institute program, as well as an invitation to their prize-giving ceremony in Oxford.

The essay questions for each subject are published in January, with the deadline for submission generally being in late June.

As well as the opportunity to secure the prize for medicine, the candidate who submits the best essay overall will be awarded an honorary John Locke Institute Junior Fellowship- which comes with a $10,000 scholarship to attend one or more of their courses!

American Society Of Human Genetics Essay Contest

Although this next essay competition comes from America, it’s open to students worldwide.

The American Society Of Human Genetics supports national DNA day through its annual DNA day essay contest: commemorating the completion of the Human Genome Project in April 2003 and the discovery of the double helix of DNA in 1953.

The contest is open to students in grades 9-12 worldwide and asks students to “examine, question, and reflect on important concepts in genetics.”

With a limit of only 750 words, not including reference lists, this is a short but sweet chance to bag yourself a considerable cash prize for your efforts.

In addition to the personal prize money, the ASHG will also provide you with a $1,000 grant towards genetics research or teaching materials.

Although it is a worldwide contest, so undoubtedly will have plenty of entries, there are also 10 honorable mentions up for grabs (in addition to 1st, 2nd and 3rd place) that all come with a $100 prize too.

Immerse Education Essay Competition

Immerse Education run summer programs for over 20 different subjects in Oxford, Cambridge, London and Sydney.

The reason why students get so much value from these courses is because they’re immersed in centers of academic excellence whilst learning from experts in their chosen field.

The good news for you is that their essay competition gives you the chance to attend one of their summer school programs for free.

10 winners receive a 100% scholarship and runners up are awarded partial scholarships of up to 50% to study their chosen subject.

According to Immerse, around 7% of entrants receive scholarship funding to attend a program- which is pretty good odds if you ask me!

“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.” – Pedro L (100% scholarship winner)

You can find the full list of essay questions, in addition to top tips for writing academic essays (as well as the terms and conditions for the competition), simply by signing up via Immerse’s website.

The RCSU Science Challenge

The Royal College of Science Union (RCSU) is a student union at Imperial College London and run an annual science challenge open to both home and international school students.

The focus of the challenge is communicating scientific concepts in a non-technical manner, so that people without a science background could still understand and enjoy the content.

The big twist with this essay competition is that you don’t actually have to enter an essay!

The idea is to produce a ‘short piece of science communication’ which can be an essay or can be a short video in answer to one of the four questions set by the judges.

Written entries must be less than 1,000 words, whilst video entries must be less than 3 minutes and 30 seconds long.

For this competition, it’s really all about short and snappy responses that will captivate the reader whilst answering the question in a precise but easy to understand manner.

We hope to inspire those who take part in the Science Challenge to explore, develop and use their scientific skills along with their passion for their corner of science to help others see what all the excitement is about.

Why You Should Enter Medicine Essay Competitions

I think it’s fair to say that competition to get into medical school in the UK is insanely high- and it’s only getting worse.

With such large numbers of incredibly qualified candidates, medical schools have to find some way of differentiating them.

One way to make it easy for a university to pick you is to stand out from the crowd by having a medical essay prize on your application.

An essay prize demonstrates your dedication to the subject, scientific knowledge and an ability to write expressively and persuasively- all ideal qualities when it comes to being a doctor.

You may surprise yourself.

Often, not as many people as you might think enter these competitions.

Simply by writing the essay, you’re also going to greatly increase your knowledge about that particular topic, which can still come in really handy at interview.

Even if you don’t win, just discussing the fact you entered still looks good in the eyes of an interviewer.

It shows that you’re willing to go above and beyond your school curriculum, to explore subjects you’re interested in and that you’re a highly motivated candidate.

How To Increase Your Chances Of Winning An Essay Prize

Although when I was applying to medical school I didn’t manage to win an essay prize, there are a couple of things I did that would have greatly increased my chances of doing so.

First and foremost, I think you’ve got to cast your net wide.

Don’t limit yourself to just one shot at the target: if you’ve got the time then I’d recommend trying to enter at least a couple of different competitions.

More entries will mean more chances for you to have your essay officially recognised.

Secondly, if you have the choice between entering a local or national competition, I’d always go with the local one.

Although a national prize would look slightly better on your CV, simply due to the number of entries, you’ll have a much higher chance of winning the more local competition.

By local I mean this could be a more regional charity, nearby hospital or university, or even your school.

Even better yet, you could always enter both!

Lastly, I think one of the best ways you can increase your odds of winning a prize is by entering a competition around a topic that you’re genuinely passionate about.

If you’ve no interest in genetics, then I wouldn’t enter the American Society Of Human Genetics’ contest!

Your interest in the subject will come through in your language, depth of knowledge and motivation to go above and beyond for your essay- all of which will put you in a much better position for winning.

Where You Can Find Further Essay Competitions

In addition to the essay prizes described above, there are tonnes of other opportunities available for you to distinguish yourself as a medicine applicant.

Loads of the Royal Colleges run an ever changing variety of prizes and competitions, usually to encourage interest in their specialty.

The opening dates and deadlines for these prizes are always changing so it’s worth keeping an eye out for the perfect essay question or new prize that’s just been announced.

Some of these organisations that run their own competitions include:

• The Royal Society of Medicine
• Royal College of Emergency Medicine
• British Orthopaedic Association
• British Society for Haematology
• Royal College of Pathologists
• Royal College of Psychiatrists
• British Association of Dermatologists

But there are many more out there. If you have a particular interest in one specialty or area of science then I’d definitely recommend doing a bit of digging to see if there’s a society or organisation related to that field that runs their own competitions!

Final Thoughts

There really aren’t many downsides to entering one of these competitions.

You get a shot at winning, gain a talking point at interview and develop your scientific knowledge (not to mention technical writing skills).

Although you might feel that some of the smaller prizes aren’t worth your time and effort to write the essay, the real value comes from the boost one of these prizes would give your medicine application.

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Essay  COMPETITION

2024 global essay prize, registrations are now open all essayists must register  here  before friday 31 may, 2024.

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 (moral) right to compete in sporting contests that exclude boys?

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

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?

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?

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?

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. To register, click here .  

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.

The candidate's name should NOT appear within the document itself. 

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, 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!

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

Q. I missed the registration deadline. May I still register or submit an essay?

A. No. Only candidates who registered before 31 May will be able to submit an essay. 

Q. Are footnote s, endnotes, a bibliography or references counted towards the word limit?

A. No. Only the body of the essay is counted. 

Q. Are in-text citations counted towards the word limit? ​

A. If you are using an in-text based referencing format, such as APA, your in-text citations are included in the word limit.

Q. Is it necessary to include foo tnotes or endnotes in an essay? ​

A. You  may not  include footnotes, but you may include in-text citations or endnotes. You should give your sources of any factual claims you make, and you should ackn owledge any other authors on whom you rely.​

Q. I am interested in a question that seems ambiguous. How should I interpret it?

A. You may interpret a question as you deem appropriate, clarifying your interpretation if necessary. Having done so, you must answer the question as directly as possible.

Q. How strict are  the age eligibility criteria?

A. Only students whose nineteenth birthday falls after 30 June 2024 will be eligible for a prize or a commendation. In the case of the Junior category, only students whose fifteenth birthday falls after 30 June 2024 will be eligible for a prize or a commendation. 

Q. May I submit more than one essay?

A. Yes, you may submit as many essays as you please in any or all categories.

Q. If I am eligible to compete in the Junior category, may I also (or instead) compete in another category?

A. Yes, you may.

Q. May I team up with someone else to write an essay?  

A. No. Each submitted essay must be entirely the work of a single individual.

Q. May I use AI, such as ChatGPT or the like, in writing my essay?

A. All essays will be checked for the use of AI. If we find that any content is generated by AI, your essay will be disqualified. We will also ask you, upon submission of your essay, whether you used AI for  any  purpose related to the writing of your essay, and if so, you will be required to provide details. In that case, if, in our judgement, you have not provided full and accurate details of your use of AI, your essay will be disqualified. 

Since any use of AI (that does not result in disqualification) can only negatively affect our assessment of your work relative to that of work that is done without using AI, your safest course of action is simply not to use it at all. If, however, you choose to use it for any purpose, we reserve the right to make relevant judgements on a case-by-case basis and we will not enter into any correspondence. 

Q. May I have someone else edit, or otherwise help me with, my essay?

A. You may of course discuss your essay with others, and it is perfectly acceptable for them to offer general advice and point out errors or weaknesses in your writing or content, leaving you to address them.

However, no part of your essay may be written by anyone else. This means that you must edit your own work and that while a proofreader may point out errors, you as the essayist must be the one to correct them. 

Q. Do I have to attend the awards ceremony to win a prize? ​

A. Nobody is required to attend the prize ceremony. You can win a prize without travelling to London. But if we invite you to London it is because your essay was good enough - in the opinion of the First Round judges - to be at least a contender for First, Second or Third Prize. Normally the Second Round judges will agree that the short-listed essays are worth at least a commendation.

Q. Is there an entry fee?

A. No. There is no charge to enter our global essay competition unless you submit your essay after the normal deadline, in which case there is a fee of 20.00 USD .

Q. Can I receive a certificate for my participation in your essay competition if I wasn't shortlisted? 

A. No. Certificates are awarded only for shortlisted essays. Short-listed contestants who attend the award ceremony in London will receive a paper certificate. If you cannot travel to London, you will be able to download your eCertificate.

Q. Can I receive feedba ck on my essay? 

A. We would love to be able to give individual feedback on essays but, unfortunately, we receive too many entries to be able to comment on particular essays.

Q. The deadline for publishing the names of short-listed essayists has passed but I did not receive an email to tell me whether I was short-listed.

A. Log into your account and check "Shortlist Status" for (each of) your essay(s).

Q. Why isn't the awards ceremony in Oxford this year?

A. Last year, many shortlisted finalists who applied to join our invitation-only academic conference missed the opportunity because of capacity constraints at Oxford's largest venues. This year, the conference will be held in central London and the gala awards dinner will take place in an iconic London ballroom. 

TECHNICAL FAQ s

Q. The system will not accept my essay. I have checked the filename and it has the correct format. What should I do?  

A. You have almost certainly added a space before or after one of your names in your profile. Edit it accordingly and try to submit again.

Q. The profile page shows my birth date to be wrong by a day, even after I edit it. What should I do?

A. Ignore it. The date that you typed has been correctly input to our database. ​ ​

Q. How can I be sure that my registration for the essay competition was successful? Will I receive a confirmation email?

A. You will not receive a confirmation email. Rather, you can at any time log in to the account that you created and see that your registration details are present and correct.

TROUBLESHOOTING YOUR SUBMISSION

If you are unable to submit your essay to the John Locke Institute’s global essay competition, your problem is almost certainly one of the following.

If so, please proceed as indicated.

1) PROBLEM: I receive the ‘registrations are now closed’ message when I enter my email and verification code. SOLUTION. You did not register for the essay competition and create your account. If you think you did, you probably only provided us with your email to receive updates from us about the competition or otherwise. You may not enter the competition this year.

2) PROBLEM I do not receive a login code after I enter my email to enter my account. SOLUTION. Enter your email address again, checking that you do so correctly. If this fails, restart your browser using an incognito window; clear your cache, and try again. Wait for a few minutes for the code. If this still fails, restart your machine and try one more time. If this still fails, send an email to [email protected] with “No verification code – [your name]” in the subject line.

SUBMITTING AN ESSAY

3) PROBLEM: The filename of my essay is in the correct format but it is rejected. SOLUTION: Use “Edit Profile” to check that you did not add a space before or after either of your names. If you did, delete it. Whether you did or did not, try again to submit your essay. If submission fails again, email [email protected] with “Filename format – [your name]” in the subject line.

4) PROBLEM: When trying to view my submitted essay, a .txt file is downloaded – not the .pdf file that I submitted. SOLUTION: Delete the essay. Logout of your account; log back in, and resubmit. If resubmission fails, email [email protected] with “File extension problem – [your name]” in the subject line.

5) PROBLEM: When I try to submit, the submission form just reloads without giving me an error message. SOLUTION. Log out of your account. Open a new browser; clear the cache; log back in, and resubmit. If resubmission fails, email [email protected] with “Submission form problem – [your name]” in the subject line.

6) PROBLEM: I receive an “Unexpected Error” when trying to submit. SOLUTION. Logout of your account; log back in, and resubmit. If this resubmission fails, email [email protected] with “Unexpected error – [your name]” in thesubject line. Your email must tell us e xactly where in the submission process you received this error.

7) PROBLEM: I have a problem with submitting and it is not addressed above on this list. SOLUTION: Restart your machine. Clear your browser’s cache. Try to submit again. If this fails, email [email protected] with “Unlisted problem – [your name]” in the subject line. Your email must tell us exactly the nature of your problem with relevant screen caps.

READ THIS BEFORE YOU EMAIL US.

Do not email us before you have tried the specified solutions to your problem.

Do not email us more than once about a single problem. We will respond to your email within 72 hours. Only if you have not heard from us in that time may you contact us again to ask for an update.

If you email us regarding a problem, you must include relevant screen-shots and information on both your operating system and your browser. You must also declare that you have tried the solutions presented above and had a good connection to the internet when you did so.

If you have tried the relevant solution to your problem outlined above, have emailed us, and are still unable to submit before the 30 June deadline on account of any fault of the John Locke Institute or our systems, please do not worry: we will have a way to accept your essay in that case. However, if there is no fault on our side, we will not accept your essay if it is not submitted on time – whatever your reason: we will not make exceptions for IT issues for which we are not responsible.

We reserve the right to disqualify the entries of essayists who do not follow all provided instructions, including those concerning technical matters.

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Article Contents

Brain 2023 essay competition.

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Masud Husain, Brain 2023 essay competition, Brain , Volume 146, Issue 7, July 2023, Page 2657, https://doi.org/10.1093/brain/awad160

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The response to our inaugural essay competition last year was remarkable. The impressive quality of submissions and diversity of subjects considered by the authors—who included researchers, clinicians, patients, carers, as well as people who have no immediate link to neurology—was extraordinary. The thoughtful and sometimes moving nature of those essays have encouraged us to launch a new competition this year.

We seek writing that stimulates, provokes and makes our readers reflect. We emphasize that essays for Brain are NOT scientific articles. Nor are they academic pieces, but rather writing that provides a broader perspective on life for the general reader. Essays do NOT have to focus on neurological topics or the brain but they should make our readers reflect. They can be opinionated, entertaining or amusing, but most importantly, they should be enlightening, illuminating some aspect of the human condition, and written well.

The best submissions will be published in our Essay section, highlighted on Brain’s website and social media, and made freely available to all readers. Last year’s winning essay was published in the January 2023 issue of Brain, while the two runners-up had their submissions published in February and March of the journal.

What are we looking for in an essay? Aldous Huxley famously began the Preface to his Collected Essays (1960) with: ‘What is true of the novel is only a little less true for the essay. For, like the novel, the essay is a literary device for saying almost everything about almost anything’. According to Huxley, essays often focus either on the personal or autobiographical; or the objective or factual; or the abstract and universal. ‘Most essayists are at home and at their best in the neighbourhood of only one.’ However, he concluded: ‘The most richly satisfying essays are those which make the best not of one, not of two, but of all the three worlds in which it is possible for the essay to exist. Freely, effortlessly, thought and feeling move … from the personal to the universal, from the abstract back to the concrete, from the objective datum to the inner experience’.

We want an essay to be a coherent, carefully crafted piece of writing that aspires to achieve all these elements, providing an absorbing experience that stays with our readers long after they have enjoyed the text.

If you’re interested to submit an essay, or know someone who does, please read the following carefully :

This competition is open to anyone who would like to write an essay.

Essays have a limit of 2000 words. Please provide a word count at the end of the text.

Essays do not have an abstract but must have an introductory paragraph (∼100 words) to set the scene or summarize the contents for the reader.

Ideally, they don’t have subheadings but could have breaks within the text to divide up sections.

To reiterate, Essays are NOT scientific articles or academic texts. They do not have to cover neurological topics. They are supposed to stimulate, provoke and make our readers reflect.

If necessary, you can add up to 10 references, but Essays don’t have to have any references.

Please consider adding up to two images, ideally without copyright, to accompany your text.

Submit your text to the Brain pre-submission email address: [email protected]

Please DO NOT put your name, affiliation or any other information that can identify you anywhere on the text. Submissions will be judged by a panel that is blind to who you are or where you come from.

Only one submission per author is allowed.

All the information you need is provided here—if you read the text carefully. Please don’t send in further questions about the competition.

Deadline for submission: 15 October 2023.

We’re very much looking forward to reading your essays.

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Last Updated: 29th May 2023

Author: Matthew Amalfitano-Stroud

Table of Contents

If your students are looking to take part in something that will give them valuable learning experiences and something impressive to put on their Personal Statement, then you should introduce them to the world of academic competitions, particularly those run by Oxford and Cambridge. 

Oxbridge applicants need to find ways to make themselves stand out from their competition, whether it’s through work experience, volunteering or research projects. However, one option that many applicants won’t be aware of is to apply for and take part in an academic competition. 

The benefits of taking part in these competitions are numerous even without winning, so this guide will show you some of the best competitions that you can recommend to your cohort. First, let’s take some time to discuss what these competitions are and why applicants should take part in them. 

What Are Academic Competitions?

Academic competitions are events or contests that assess participants’ knowledge, skills, and abilities in specific academic subjects or disciplines. These competitions often involve challenging tests, projects, presentations, or debates that require participants to demonstrate their understanding, critical thinking, problem-solving, and communication skills within a particular academic field.

Academic competitions are organised at all levels, including local, regional, national, and even international levels. Generally speaking, there are competitions that cover a wide range of subjects, such as mathematics, science, literature, history, social sciences, computer science, and more. These competitions aim to promote academic excellence, foster intellectual curiosity, and provide opportunities for students to showcase their talents and achievements in their respective fields of study.

What Types of Academic Competitions are there?

Across the world, these are some of the most popular types of academic competitions that students can take part in: 

STEM Academic Competition Types

Math Competitions: Math competitions assess participants’ problem-solving skills, mathematical reasoning, and ability to apply concepts in challenging scenarios. Examples include the Mathematical Olympiad, MathCounts, and the International Mathematical Modeling Challenge.

Science Olympiads: Science Olympiads focus on different branches of science, such as physics, chemistry, biology, astronomy, or environmental science. Participants may have to solve complex problems, conduct experiments, or demonstrate practical knowledge in these fields.

Robotics and Engineering Competitions: These competitions focus on designing, building, and programming robots using a variety of materials to complete specific tasks or challenges. Examples include FIRST Robotics Competition, VEX Robotics Competition and the International RoboCup.

Humanities Academic Competition Types

Model United Nations: Model United Nations (MUN) simulations involve participants representing countries or delegates in mock United Nations assemblies. They discuss and debate global issues, develop diplomatic skills, and engage in public speaking.

Language Competitions: Language competitions test participants’ proficiency in languages, such as spelling bees, vocabulary challenges, translation contests, or language proficiency exams like the DELE (Spanish) or DELF (French).

General Academic Competition Types

Quiz Bowls: These competitions involve teams or individuals answering questions in a fast-paced quiz format. They cover a wide range of subjects, including general knowledge, science, history, literature, and more. These will often be formatted into multiple rounds. 

Writing and Debating Contests: These competitions evaluate participants’ abilities in written composition, persuasive speaking, and critical thinking. They often involve essay writing, speech competitions, or debates on specific topics.

Academic Decathlons: Academic Decathlons are multi-disciplinary competitions that cover a wide range of subjects, including math, science, literature, social sciences, art, and music. Participants compete individually or as part of a team in written exams, speeches, interviews, and other activities.

Some of these competition types aren’t always that common to find in the UK, so here are some of the most well-known competition types that your students can take part in: 

UK Mathematics Trust (UKMT) Challenges : The UKMT organizes a range of mathematics challenges for different age groups, including the Junior Mathematical Challenge, Intermediate Mathematical Challenge, Senior Mathematical Challenge, and the British Mathematical Olympiad.

British Physics Olympiad : The British Physics Olympiad offers challenging physics competitions for students at different levels, such as the Physics Challenge, AS Challenge, A2 Challenge, and the British Physics Olympiad papers.

Royal Society of Chemistry Olympiad : The Royal Society of Chemistry organizes the Chemistry Olympiad, which challenges students’ chemistry knowledge and problem-solving skills through a series of challenging exams.

Royal Society of Biology Olympiad : The Royal Society of Biology conducts an annual Olympiad to assess students’ biology knowledge and understanding at different levels, including the British Biology Olympiad and Biology Challenge.

National Science and Engineering Competition : Organized by the British Science Association, this competition invites students to present their science, technology, engineering, or mathematics (STEM) projects for a chance to showcase their creativity and innovation.

National Schools’ Debating Competitions: These competitions focus on debating skills and critical thinking. Examples include the English-Speaking Union (ESU) Schools Mace, Oxford Schools’ Debating Competition , and the Cambridge Union Schools’ Competition .

UK Linguistics Olympiad : The UK Linguistics Olympiad offers competitions that test participants’ analytical and problem-solving skills in languages and linguistics.

Young Writers’ Competitions: Various organizations and publications in the UK host writing competitions for young writers, such as the Foyle Young Poets of the Year Award .

Of course, these are all competitions held on a national level by large organisations. Be sure to keep an eye out for competitions at a local level as these will be easier for your students to take part in while still offering the benefits of taking part. Speaking of which, why should your applicants apply for these competitions? Let’s find out. 

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Why Should Students Take Part In Academic Competitions?

As a teacher, you most likely already understand why students should be taking part in these competitions. However, they require a lot of time and effort and can often involve travel and other expenses. To a student, it may not seem worth it to do all this when they could spend their time studying for exams or taking part in volunteering and work placements for their personal development.  

These competitions aren’t for everyone but they should appeal to Oxbridge applicants. If they wish to attend Oxford or Cambridge, your students need to be motivated, inquisitive and have the desire to seek out opportunities and immerse themselves in their subject. Academic competitions are a great way to not only satisfy those traits but also impress the Oxbridge admissions tutors in the process. These are some of the top reasons for competing that your students should be aware of:

Application Advantages

The first and most obvious reason is the boost that the average application will receive when a student takes part in a competition. As we already mentioned, taking part in an academic competition is hard work, before even considering that most competitors will be doing this alongside their regular studies and potentially their university applications. 

A student who can follow through and complete a competition will have already shown a great deal of commitment to their subject on top of academic and time management skills. All of this will have already shown the admissions tutors at Oxbridge that the student is highly talented and has a genuine drive to study their subject. 

All of this is true no matter whether the student wins or not. Winning is obviously an even greater accolade to add to their resume, but simply entering a competition will provide a much-needed boost to their Personal Statement and interview discussion points. 

Extra Learning Experiences

Going into these competitions, a student isn’t going to know everything that comes up in the questions or everything that is required to complete a task. Therefore, they are going to learn plenty of new things when they take part. 

Whether it’s learning from error, researching issues that they had no prior knowledge of or discovering things from other contestants, they are sure to learn at least one interesting fact or new skill that will help them in their Oxbridge application.

Developing Teamwork Skills

Many competitions will see groups of contestants compete together rather than individually, so this is the perfect chance for your students to improve their camaraderie and teamwork skills. Sometimes contestants will need to apply as a team while other competitions will group contestants at random on the day. 

Either way, your students will be able to learn valuable skills such as verbal reasoning, group ideation, management, compromising and more. As some students may already have a lot of experience in group work through sports and other activities, this will be their chance to practice those skills in a high-pressure academic environment. 

Confidence Building

For students who are unsure of their skills or feel they aren’t good enough to attend Oxbridge, an academic competition may be exactly what they need to show themselves that they have the capabilities to succeed. 

Of course, this does depend on whether the student actually does have the necessary skills to be competitive, but you should be able to determine this as their teacher and advise them towards taking part in a competition should you feel it will help. 

Even if the student doesn’t win, being able to submit a high-quality piece of work or hold their own in a debate should be proof that they are more than capable of attending their desired course. 

High-Level Academic Experience

Most of your students will have not experienced academia at a higher level than their classes, which is a far cry from what they will experience at Oxbridge. While academic competitions aren’t a one-to-one simulation of the Oxbridge learning environment, students will still be able to experience the competitiveness and intellectual inspiration of being among other academics.

Many competitions are a place to experiment with new ideas while learning from others, exactly as students are expected to act when studying at Oxford and Cambridge. While this may come naturally to some, others may have difficulty adjusting so attending a competition will give them the experience they need to be prepared for Oxbridge. 

Winning Prizes

Of course, the overall goal of a competition is to win. Other than the acclaim and title of doing so, winners may also be able to win a variety of prizes that could have a massive impact on their life going forwards. Some examples include: 

• Awards (Trophies, Certificates, etc)
• Cash Prizes
• Scholarships and Bursaries 
• Internships Opportunities 
• Publication Opportunities
• Equipment and Resources

So, if any of these perks seem appealing to your students then they should definitely consider taking part in an academic competition. As we are speaking about Oxbridge applicants, let’s take a look at what competitions are run by Oxford and Cambridge.

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Oxbridge Academic Competitions

Oxford and Cambridge both host a wide variety of academic competitions, although they aren’t typically run by the universities as a whole. Instead, they are run by specific colleges, meaning many of the competitions are smaller scale. While this isn’t a comprehensive list of all Oxbridge competitions, we have selected some of the most well-known competitions that are aimed at Sixth Form students (and equivalents). Let’s start with the University of Oxford:

Oxford Academic Competitions

Oxford has a page available that is regularly updated with upcoming competitions , so be sure to check there to see what options your students have to enter. Here are some of the competitions that Oxford currently hold for students: 

The Lloyd Davies Philosophy Prize

College: 

Competition Type

Competition Date: 

The Lloyd Davies Philosophy Prize is an essay writing competition described as an opportunity for students to “write about a subject they are interested in” within the subject of philosophy. Students’ works are assessed by the following criteria:

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

The word limit for this essay is 2,500 and all submissions need to be sent digitally to [email protected] . Prizes available include £250 for the winner and £150 for the runner up. 

Theology Essay Competition

• 9th June (Deadline)

In the Theology Essay Competition , applicants must answer one of five questions relating to Theology. Answers are written as essays, with a maximum length of 1,500 words. It is stated that applicants must answer these questions individually and schools should submit no more than three essays. 

The essays are marked by a panel of theologians who are looking for “carefully researched, well-structured and well-presented” that also demonstrate verbal reasoning and critical awareness. The prize for the best essay is £300, with smaller prizes sometimes given to runner-ups.

The Oxford Scientist Schools’ Science Writing Competition

In this Science Writing Competition , run by the University of Oxford’s independent science magazine, students must write an essay based on a prompt relating to science. Previous questions have been fairly topical, tackling topics like COVID-19 and climate change, so your students should be sure to keep an eye on current trends in science if they wish to enter this competition. 

The essay must not exceed 700 words and the judges will be looking for quality in “topic, relevance, writing style and grammar, interest to a general audience, and factual accuracy”. Prizes for the winning essay change from year-to-year. 

The University of Oxford is less prolific when it comes to its annual competitions, although it does still run a wide variety of one-off competitions throughout the year. Be sure to check their website regularly to stay up to date on the current competitions that are underway. 

The University of Cambridge holds a lot more annual competitions, many of which are handled by Trinity College, so let’s take a look at some of them: 

Cambridge Academic Competitions

Gould prize for essays in english literature.

• 1st August (Deadline)
• Year 12/Lower Sixth

The Gould Prize was established in 2013 and sees applicants answer one of several questions. These questions can vary from analysis of passages to general statements to discuss. It is said that the award was created to increase students’ interest in reading, recognise achievements in writing and encourage students to apply for English at Cambridge. 

Essays can be between 1,500 and 2,500 words long and must be submitted via the entry form on the Trinity College website. The winner receives £600 while second place gets £400 although these cash prizes are split between the student and their school. 

Languages and Cultures Essay Prize

The Languages and Cultures Essay Prize sees students write an essay based on one of a series of topics relating to cultural and language-based topics. The prompts given to students include: 

“It is difficult to craft a form of protest using words that have been appropriated by power.” Discuss.

“It is easier to control the power and message of images than of words.” Discuss.

“Language is a more powerful indicator and agent of inclusion and/or exclusion than any image.” Discuss.

The essay must be a maximum of 3,000 words and should be submitted via an online application form. The top prize is £600 to be split between the student and their school, while 2nd place wins £400 with the same stipulation. 

Linguistics Essay Prize

Contestants of the Linguistics Essay Prize must write a 3,000-word essay discussing a prompt given by the college. There is only one prompt so applicants cannot choose what they answer. In 2023, the prompt is as follows:

“What are the implications for fairness or bias when an Artificial Intelligence system learns about language from online resources? Discuss with relevance to how language can be influenced by social variables such as age, race, gender, and social hierarchies.”

The college states that the competition is suitable for applicants from a wide variety of subjects, from Linguistics to Classics to Mathematics. Essays must be submitted via an online form on the college website, were students will also find a collection of free resources to help the research the topic of the essay. The prizes for this competition are £600 for 1st place and £400 for 2nd place, each split equally between the contestant and school.  

Philosophy Essay Prize

• 31st May (Deadline)

The Philosophy Essay Prize was created to encourage Sixth Formers to engage their interest in Philosophy in a way that will benefit their applications. Contestants must submit an essay discussing one of two prompts: 

“There is progress in science. Is there progress in philosophy, and is the field only successful if there is?”

“Can we love someone more than ourselves, and what does this imply about the human condition?”

Essays should be 2,000 words or less and should be submitted to the college via the online application form. The winner receives £600 to split equally between themselves and the school, while the runner-up receives £400 to also be split.

R.A. Butler Prize

The R.A. Butler Prize is an essay competition for those with an interest in Politics and International Studies. Contestants will write an essay that answers one of various questions provided by the organisers, where they will be expected to provide references in their work and “use a diverse selection of contemporary, historical or literary examples”. 

The essay should not exceed 3,000 words and needs to be submitted using an online application form. The top prize is £600, which will be shared between the student and their school. The second-place winner receives £400 under the same conditions.

Robert Walker Prize for Essays in Law

• 11th April (Deadline)

As the name suggests, the Robert Walker Prize for Essays in Law is aimed at students interested in Law. The award is named after Lord Walker of Gestingthorpe and was created to encourage students to explore their interests in Law and apply to study Law and Cambridge. Essays are judged by the “development of argument, the quality of expression and the appropriate use of supporting facts and material” .

The essay must be no longer than 2,000 words and should be submitted on the college website via an application form. There are winners in two divisions, UK and International, who each receive £300 for first place and £200 for runner-ups. As well as this, the top 10 writers from each division will be “invited to a Prize Ceremony at Trinity to see the College and to meet the Law Fellows” .

Robson History Prize

Like other Trinity College competitions, the Robson History Prize was created as a way to encourage students with an interest in History to interact with the subject and apply to study at Cambridge. Contestants must submit a 3,000-word essay answering one of over 60 available questions covering a wide variety of topics. Questions in 2023 include: 

“Why did divorce rise so dramatically over the course of the twentieth century in Britain?”

“Does the American constitution owe more to the ideas of whigs or of royalists?”

“What role did seventeenth-century natural philosophers regard experimentation as playing in natural science? Discuss with reference to one or more of Francis Bacon, Robert Boyle, and Isaac Newton.”

“Why, and how effectively, did the Roman authorities persecute Christians?”

Essays should include all references within the bibliography and must be submitted via the online application form found on the website. The top prize is £600 to split between the student and their school while 2nd place receives £400 to split as well. 

Fitzwilliam College Architecture Design Competition

• Fitzwilliam
• 1st March (Deadline)

The Fitzwilliam College Architecture Design Competition is an annual competition for those interested in architecture. This is a design task that sees applicants aim to design a new building and present a full project including a title, design narrative and various sketches. In 2023, the task was to design a building within Fitzwilliam College that would act as a place for students and teachers to interact. Applicants must register to take part in this competition before submitting work via [email protected] .

Registered contestants are typically invited to campus in February for a guided tour of the college campus to provide visual inspiration for their designs. Submissions are then due at the beginning of March. The top prizes are £300 and £200 as well as £25 book vouchers to commended applicants. 

Girton College Humanities Writing Competition

The Girton College Humanities Writing Competition isn’t strictly an essay competition but is rather a general writing competition. Contestants are required to write a piece focusing on one or more items from the Lawrence Room Museum. It is stated that this can be written in multiple formats, be it an essay, a short story or a monologue. 

The top prize is £200 and up to £200 worth of Cambridge Press books which will be shared out between the winner and their school. 

As we said, this list only scratches the surface of the competition available at Oxbridge. As well as even more annual competitions, you will also find a wide variety of one-off competitions held throughout the year. We would recommend additional research with your students to find competitors for various colleges that relate to their subject of interest. 

If you want to learn more about what you, as a teacher should know about the university admissions process for Oxford and Cambridge, be sure to explore our Teacher’s Hub today for guides covering every step of your student’s application. Alternatively, you can find out how UniAdmissions can provide you with the ultimate preparation programme for your Oxbridge applicants through our unique and comprehensive formula. 

Other Helpful Oxbridge Resources

Free CPD-Accredited Oxbridge Counsellor Course

This free online course is designed to equip you with the knowledge and skills needed to help your students secure a place at the world’s top universities. You’ll complete the course as an Oxbridge expert!

Teacher’s Oxbridge Learning Hub

Access all of our highly detailed written guides for teachers, as well as useful resources and information about our school support.

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Oxford Essay Competitions

Essay competitions are brilliant for a number of reasons!

You can use them to:

Here are some of the essay competitions currently open for submissions. Be sure to check any eligibility criteria, requirements and deadlines. This page will be updated when new competitions are announced, so check back regularly! The University also publishes a regularly updated page 🔗 on essay competitions.

Christ Church College, Tower Poetry Competition: English 🔗 🌟 This year, students aged 16-18 were invited to submit their original poetry based on the prompt ‘The Planets’. The competition offers a huge first prize of £3000! This year's competition closed at 12 noon on 24th February 2023. Remember to check back later in 2023 to find out when the 2024 deadline will be.

Oriel College, Lloyd David Philosophy Prize 🔗 Entrants are given a set of philosophical questions from which they will choose one to write an essay on. The judges look for evidence of originality, clarity and critical thinking. Check back to see when Applications open. You can read past winners' essays via the above link.

Faculty of Medieval and Modern Languages Flash Fiction: French and Spanish 🔗 These are open to any secondary school students (aged 11 to 18) studying French and/or Spanish. You need to write a complete story in French or Spanish, using no more than 100 words! Deadline: 12 noon on 31 March 2023.

Did you spot a typo or formatting issue? Let us know by emailing us at [email protected] .

Essay Competition FULL PARTICIPANT GUIDE | 2022 - Immerse ...

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The Oxford Scientist

The University of Oxford's independent science magazine

Schools Competition

The winners of The Oxford Scientist Schools’ Science Writing Competition 2023 have been announced here

[Update: In an evolving landscape with generative AI tools, such as Chat GPT, we have successfully reworded our marking procedures to maintain fairness and rigour. While some competitions have ceased, we are delighted to be able to offer an updated version of the Oxford Scientist Schools’ Science Competition with new rewards for the winners.]

We are very pleased to announce that the details of the next competition (2024) will be announced in the coming weeks. Please check this page for updates for information on this term’s essay questions and how to submit your entry.

The 2023 Oxford Scientist Competition, which was more competitive and rewarding than ever, featured a distinguished panel of senior judges, including Nobel Prize-winning physician scientist Sir Peter Ratcliffe, Environmental Researcher Dr Anna Murgatroyd, Senior Researcher in Translational Proteomics Dr Darragh O’Brien and Postdoctoral Researcher Dr Hannah Jones. The competition was proudly organised by the Oxford Scientist team and led by the Competition Leads Franziska Guenther and Gavin Man.

Examples of winning essays from previous competitions can be found here . If you have any questions about the competition, please email [email protected] .

Previous examples of competition essay questions are:

“How has Covid-19 changed public perception of Science?”

“Climate change: Science and Solutions”

Our Sponsors

This competition is proudly sponsored by UK Schooling is an education company based in Brighton and Hove, UK, which specialises in UK University preparation, subject tuition and Summer Exchange courses. UK Schooling runs many courses to help students to push beyond the curriculum and get ahead of the curve in their subject and classes for top school and university admissions in the UK. ukschooling.co.uk

We are also sponsored by Examable , a UK based educational firm that specialises in creating revision and learning resources for students applying to Top Independent Schools and for Leading UK Universities. Checked and approved by a team of Oxford University students, designers and GCSE & A level examiners. examable.co.uk

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Paul Kalanithi Writing Award

Paul kalanithi was a physician writer and neurosurgery resident at stanford university. in the final years of his training, he was diagnosed with metastatic lung cancer. his memoir,  when breath becomes air , beautifully chronicles his reflections on living with illness and the meaning of legacy. the paul kalanithi writing award was created in his memory. , open for submissions: november 8, 2023.

This short documentary by Stanford videographer Mark Hanlon captures Paul Kalanithi’s shifting perception of time while living with terminal cancer.

Lucy Kalanithi often visits the gravesite of her husband, Paul Kalanithi, with the couple’s daughter, Cady, to picnic and leave flowers. (Photo by Timothy Archibald)

Prize Winners

2023 prize winners.

First place essay:  A Good Death |  Heather Alva, MD

First place short story:  Home Videos | Tatyana Singh

First place poety:  Bulbs |  Lana Corrales 

First place poetry (tie):  Lunch Break/Brave Face |  Aidan Theepura Kunju

2022 Prize Winners

First place:  Sick Girl Goes on a Date  | Alyson Lee

Second place: To Sit With   | Brian Zhao

Third place:   What That Poem was About   | Fiona Miller

Fourth place: I Wear You Like a Memory | Nicolas Seranio

Honorable Mention

  Junk Journal  | James Hyun Lee

2021 Prize Winners

First place:  Sliding Down  | Michael Rabow, MD

Second place:   Silver   | Hannah Joyner

Third place:   Of Seeds  | Rachael Peckham, PhD Honorable Mention

How to Deal with Charon  | Brian Smith, Medical Student

2020 Prize Winners

1st Place: My Father's Brain is on the Kitchen Counter by Laura Pritchett

2nd Place: The Last Shower by Leilani Graham

3rd Place: Code Yellow by Kushal Kadakia

Honorable Mentions

Spilling Stardust  by Richard Wu

*** : Meditations of a Medical Oncology Scribe  by Brian Smith

2019 Prize Winners

1st Place: RUNNING MCCOY'S  by Heather Cariou

2nd Place: Time Like Water  by Grace Li

3rd Place: Dark Rides  by Amy Haddad

The Ward is the World  by Laurie Kutchins

2018 Prize Winners

1st Place: Pulseless  by David James Bell

2nd Place: How Fishele Died  by Nathan Szajnberg

3rd Place: Broken  by Lucia Gagliese

Hair  by Joanne Howard

2017 Prize Winners

1st Place: Borderline Disability: A Life Diagnose by Eli Cahan

2nd Place: In Photographs by Dorothy Rice

3rd Place: Under the Bridge by Tyson West

Recommendation by Marissa McNamara

Two Notes by Cassie Myers

2016 Prize Winners

1st Place: Perestroika  by Petr Vitkovskiy

2nd Place: Parlor Talk  by Catherine Wong

3rd place:  Mercy  by Erik Norbie

Submissions Open: November 8, 2023 - January 10, 2024

Medicine & the Muse is pleased to announce an open call for unpublished short stories, essays or poetry addressing patients and providers facing chronic or life limiting illness.

New this year!  Entries will be evaluated within their own genre: poetry, fiction and non-fiction. 

Contest Guidelines Short Stories/Essays/Fiction/Non-fiction: Less than 2500 words Poetry: Less than 50 lines

Dual submissions permitted, if they are in different genres. No more than two submissions. Simultaneous submissions permitted, but please withdraw your piece if it gets published elsewhere. Collections of poems are permitted, but please adhere to the line limit. The submission fee is $35 per entry. There is no charge for students, residents and fellows.

SUBMIT HERE

Submit here (students, residents, fellows).

Submission Deadline January 10, 2024 Winners announced March 29, 2024 (updated)

Judges have Included  Drs. Lucy Kalanithi and Daniel Mason, Stanford physician writers, Dr. Jay Baruch, Brown University Alpert School of Medicine physician writer, Dr. Irène Mathieu, Assistant Director, Program in Health Humanities,  University of Virginia, Grace Li, MD candidate and author, and Executive Director of Stanford Medical Humanities & Arts program, Jacqueline Genovese

Award Total of 3 winners, one from each genre will be awarded a cash prize of $300. 

Honorarium made possible by the generosity of a Stanford Palliative Care benefactor.

Winners will be published in Anastomosis , Stanford University School of Medicine’s humanities and literary journal. 

Open to all. Please share widely. 

Bookings Open for Online Summer Courses

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 15th April 2024 !

Awards Ceremony

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

Over £100,000 Worth of Academic Prizes

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 May 2024, where the winners will be announced.

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!

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.

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 deadline has been extended, and is now the 15th April 2024, at 9pm.

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 May 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.

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Winners of Chancellor's English Essay Prize 2022 Announced

We are delighted to announce that Francesca Gardner and George Adams have been named the joint winners of the Chancellor's English Essay Prize 2022. This year's subject was 'Light' and the two winning entries,  Making Light of Essays   (Francesca Gardner) and  Hail Holy Light, "Offspring of Heaven first-born"   (George Adams), are now available to read online.  

The Chancellor’s English Essay Prize is open to members of the University within four years of matriculation on the closing date for the receipt of submissions. Entries should not exceed 12,500 words in length.

2022 Essay Competition Winner – Anais W

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Take a look at one of this year’s winning entries to the Immerse Education Essay Competition from the Creative Writing category. Congratulations to all participants and in particular to those who have won 100% scholarships!

Which key attributes make a protagonist likeable?

Protagonists shape the way we interact with stories. They become our immediate association with a series or perspective – Harry Potter memorably recalled by its titular figure – and their memorable attributes accumulate iconic significance over time – such as the emergence of ‘Bah. Humbug!’ as a loveably universal aphorism.

Likeable protagonists form the eyes we see narratives through attracting our empathy and admiration through a mix of relatability, growth, and iconic memorability. These protagonists often embody a liminal dual role of relatable and aspirational quality. Author Amanda Skenandore cites a mix of ‘all-too human flaws and larger-than-life qualities’ [1] to construct a grounded, likeable protagonist. This hybridised concept is manifest quite literally in the mischievous student/talented wizard- ‘Chosen One’ Harry Potter. Sadie Hoagland extends this tenet through her assertation of powerful, ‘revealable’ characters [2]. Authors may also embrace a relatable image of ‘nuanced, human selves’ through initially complex or murky characterisation, leading to cathartic ‘reveals’ or vicarious self-discovery throughout a series; the magical backstory of Jackson and Potter intensifies and symbolises their own, otherwise relatable ‘coming-of-age’ arcs.

Contrasting consistently familiar qualities, to be likeable, protagonists must also be fluid. Protagonists, coined by Barthes as the ‘accomplices’ to discourse [3], mirror the progression of narrative: microcosmically modelling thematic change. Harry Potter’s role as a primarily relatable insert of the audience into the wizarding world expands as stakes grow higher- culminating in his self-realisation after Dumbledore’s death, and eventual legacy/family of his own. Scrooge initially commands little sympathy, yet in fable-like fashion comes to epitomise lofty ideals of Christmas cheer, courting the favour of both moralistic Christian and generally festive readers [4].

Conversely, gradually corrupted, less-reliable characters, consumed by Robert Garner McBrearty’s concepts of ‘strong longings’ [5], attract the adoration of immersed readers. Aristotle notes in Poetics that heroes should be ‘consistently inconsistent’ [6] with flaws, even fatal hamartia, which reads as engaging and, to some degree, justified. In Rebecca, the obsessive, morally grey unnamed narrator commands our loyalty through ambiguating resurged Gothic fantasy and deceptive reality- even as Mrs de Winter grows disconnected from logic and reality, her amplified human desires engender a likeability in her eventual self-determination- ‘I am Mrs de Winter’ [7]. Protagonists, as they evolve and shift, embrace an essentially human fluidity and fragility, captivating audiences to engage with their journey.

Ultimately, likeable protagonists are memorable: they encourage devotion and engagement in the reader. McBrearty notes effective protagonists ‘surprise us!’ [5]; even subtly, they subvert. In conservative Victorian Britain, Scrooge’s arc of humanist redemption embodies revolutionary empowerment and individual autonomy. Harry Potter’s adolescent struggles, recontextualised into fantasy fiction, achieve a memorable rendition of relatable human experience. In Rebecca, the distinctive voice of an ironically unnamed narrator – ‘Last night I dreamt I went to Manderley again’ [8] – constructs a dark, psychological reflection on self-determination [9].

Each protagonist exemplifies an essentially relatable body of social ideas through distinctive, iconic individual voice- resonating with readers, and inspiring likeability. The popularity of Harry Potter, A Christmas Carol and Rebecca is evidenced by countless contemporary engagements in fanfiction, and even reinterpretations in film. Each uniquely likeable protagonist – Harry Potter as an audience stand-in; Scrooge as an allegorical parable of redemption; and Mrs de Winter as an abject reflection of shadowed Romanic urges – exemplifies reliability, fluidity and memorability to impress their engaging narrative message, embodying a character ultimately ‘worthy of readers’ investment’ [10].

Bibliography

Aristotle. “Poetics”. In The Internet Classics Archive. Translated by S. H. Butcher. 350BCE. 2009. [classics.mit.edu/Aristotle/poetics.1.1.html last accessed: 26th August 2022].

Barthes, Roland. “The Reality Effect.” In The Rustle of Language. Transcribed by Richard Miller. New York: Hill and Wang, 1986.

Cox, Don Richard. and Gilbert, Elliot L. “Scrooge’s Conversion”. PMLA, 90:5 (1975): 922-924. Du Maurier, Daphne. “Rebecca”. London: Virago Press, 2018.

Hoagland, Sadie. “What makes a good protagonist?”. Interviewed by Jack Smith. The Writer. 15 Nov. [https://writermag.com/improve-your-writing/fiction/what-makes-a-good-protagonist/ last accessed: 26th August 2022].

Linkin, Harriet Kramer. “The Deceptively Strategic Narrator of “Rebecca””. Journal of Narrative Theory, 46:2 (2016): 223-253.

McBrearty, Robert Garner. “What makes a good protagonist?”. Interviewed by Jack Smith. The Writer. 15 Nov. 2021. [https://writermag.com/improve-your-writing/fiction/what-makes-agood-protagonist/ last accessed: 26th August 2022].

Rohan, Ethel. “What makes a good protagonist?”. Interviewed by Jack Smith. The Writer. 15 Nov.[https://writermag.com/improve-your-writing/fiction/what-makes-a-good-protagonist/ last accessed: 26th August 2022].

Skenandore, Amanda. “What makes a good protagonist?”. Interviewed by Jack Smith. The Writer. 15 Nov. 2021. [https://writermag.com/improve-your-writing/fiction/what-makes-a-goodprotagonist/ last accessed: 26th August 2022].

Why Apply To The Immerse Education Essay Competition? 

Are you a highly motivated student aged 13-18? Have you ever wanted to experience studying at Cambridge or Oxford? 

The Immerse Education essay competition allows you the chance to submit an essay for the chance to be awarded a scholarship to the award-winning Cambridge summer school . 

How To Apply To The Immerse Education Essay Competition? 

The Immerse Education annual essay competition is a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to win a scholarship to a Cambridge or Oxford summer school . 

If you’re aged 13-18 and you’re interested in applying to the Immerse Education essay competition then please visit our essay competition page for more details.

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