oxford essay competition 2022

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.

Essay  COMPETITION

2024 global essay prize, the short list for the 2024 global essay prize was released on wednesday, 31 july..

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 researchers at four British universities, for each 15-point increase in IQ, the likelihood of getting married increases by around 35% for a man but decreases by around 58% for a woman. Why?

In the original version of this question we misstated a statistic. This was caused by reproducing an error that appeared in several media summaries of the study. We are grateful to one of our contestants, Xinyi Zhang, who helped us to see (with humility and courtesy) why we should take more care to check our sources. We corrected the text on 4 April. Happily, the correction does not in any way alter the thrust of the question.

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.

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 the deadline to avoid any last-minute complications.  To submit your essay, click here .  

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.

• EDC Meeting Minutes
• E&D Training for the Law Faculty
• The Equality and Diversity Lecture Series
• Hogan Lovells Equality and Diversity Essay Competition
• Good Practice Guidelines to Diversifying the Curriculum
• Athena Swan Self-Assessment Team
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• Past Events

Hogan Lovells Equality and Diversity Essay Competition 2022

This essay competition is open to all undergraduate students in the Oxford Law Faculty, including those who were finalists in the 2021-2022 academic year.

Competition entries will be judged by a distinguished panel comprised of Rt Hon Lord Justice Singh ,  Kristin van Zwieten   and  Ciara Kennefick .

A prize of £1,000 will be awarded to the winner of the competition. This sum has been set with a view to enabling the prize-winner to take up opportunities for vacation work that might otherwise be inaccessible given travel and accommodation costs. The winning essay will also be published on the Oxford Law website.

A second prize of £250 will be awarded to the runner-up.

The judges may, at their discretion, select additional essays for special commendation. 

Essay question

This year’s question is: What is the role of law in ensuring equality of opportunity in society?

Submissions will be evaluated by reference to the clarity and cogency of the argument developed in response to the question.

Word limit and style

Your essay must be no longer than 2,500 words, including all footnotes/endnotes.

Footnotes/endnotes should be in OSCOLA format. Bibliographies are not required.

Essays should be typed and submitted in Word format, using size 12 font.

Submission process

Essays must be submitted to [email protected] by no later than midday on Monday 19 September 2022 . The winner and runner-up will be announced in the first three weeks of Michaelmas term.

Your covering email should include a statement that the essay you are submitting is entirely your own work, except for where otherwise indicated, as well as a statement of the word count (again, including footnotes/endnotes).

Essays will be anonymised before being given to any judge for evaluation.

Download the terms of the competition

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Generously supported by:.

St John's College Classics and Ancient History Essay Competition 2022/23

The St John’s College Classics and Ancient History Essay Competition will be running for the thirteenth time during the academic year 2022/23.

The competition is open to all students currently studying at a UK School or College, in Year 12 (Lower Sixth) or equivalent, whether or not they are currently studying a Classical or Ancient subject. Entrants will be invited to attend a Study Afternoon at St John’s College, Oxford on the 19th April 2023. We are able to cover travel expenses of all students eligible for free school meals or in care.

Each student may submit one essay (only) of up to 2,000 words on any of the following four questions: 1. Discuss the role of bad memories in ancient literature. 2. ‘So that human achievements may not become forgotten in time’ (Herodotus). Was Greek and/or Roman historical memory primarily about nostalgia for past achievements? 3. Did art and archaeology in the ancient world ever try to manipulate its viewers’ memories of historical events? 4. Sometimes we have false memories. So can we ever trust what we remember?

Prizes Awarded: A £100 book token will be awarded to the best essay in each category and an additional £75 book token to the overall winner. A further £75 book token will be awarded to the best essay submitted by a pupil who has not previously studied a Classical or Ancient subject. All applicants will receive a certificate of entry.

Aims and Guidelines: The competition gives students currently studying any subjects at a UK School or College, in Year 12 or equivalent, an opportunity to write an essay on the classical world. The organizers are interested in providing an occasion for independent research, to encourage curiosity and reflection in those who have studied the ancient world before and those who have not.

The essay titles have been chosen to take account of research interests of our tutors and to encourage the widest possible approach to investigation of the ancient world.

All primary texts can be considered in translation or in the original language. Where either primary or secondary sources have been used they should be acknowledged with full references given.

All essays should:  Be word-processed with double-spaced lines, and saved in a PDF format.  Include ONLY your initials and date of birth in your header or footer (to allow anonymous marking).  Be no more than 2000 words in length. To submit your essay, you should:  Complete a pre-submission cover form, by following this link: https://oxford.onlinesurveys.ac.uk/classics-ancient-history-essay-competition-202223

Please note, you will be asked to provide a name and email address for a parent or carer, and a teacher; please confirm this with them prior to submitting your form.  Submit your essay via email, as a PDF attachment, to [email protected] . Emails must include your Full name, School name and Date of Birth.

Both the pre-submission cover form and your email must be submitted before 4pm on Thursday 2nd March 2023.

To confirm we have received your essay, all pupils who submit an essay will receive a confirmation email shortly after the deadline. If you do not receive a confirmation email within two weeks of the deadline, please email the Access Team.

If you have any outstanding questions, please contact [email protected] .

Information on the Classics and Ancient History Essay Competition 2021-22, including the marker’s report, can be found on the St John's College website . 

Lucy Russell

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Latest News

Louis odgers (ppe, 2020) wins 2022 brandon wilson essay competition.

Congratulations to St Peter's student Louis Odgers (Philosophy, Politics and Economics, 2020), who is the winner of the 2022 Brandon Wilson Essay Competition. Every year, the editors of the College Record invite 1,500-2,000-word essay submissions to the competition from St Peter's College students of any subject. The writer of the winning entry is awarded a cash prize and their essay is printed in the College Record .

Louis's essay explores the concept of time travel in the form of a classical philosophical dialogue between a philosopher (Louis, the PPE student) and a science-fiction fan (Louie, his alter-ego). You can read Louis's winning submission, ‘If time travel were possible, I could kill my own grandfather. I can’t kill my own grandfather. So time travel is impossible', here and in the forthcoming 2022 College Record.

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Essay Question 2024

Most outstanding essay 2024.

We are very pleased to announce that Ophelia Ridgwell has won the award for the Most Outstanding Essay 2024, with an essay on the subject of Engineering. She has won a free place on the Oxford Scholastica Academy (our sister organisation) Oxford Summer School 2024, worth £6,995. Congratulations Ophelia!

Her winning essay is available to read below.

Your Title Goes Here

Your content goes here. Edit or remove this text inline or in the module Content settings. You can also style every aspect of this content in the module Design settings and even apply custom CSS to this text in the module Advanced settings.

Blurring the boundaries between Medicine and Engineering: Biomedical Engineering.

Collaboration is fundamental to biomedical engineering. As a relatively new academic field, biomedical engineering is set to grow well beyond what has previously restricted the development of a field. By combining most areas of STEM, it is a prime example of what the future of academia will look like. Biomedical engineering creates a harmonious blend of knowledge and an opportunity where everyone is welcome—inviting both biologists and physics alike, to create products which will increasingly have an immense impact on everyday life.

Every day we take for granted products which have been created by biomedical engineers to enhance our everyday life. Without these products, global productivity would be impacted as our life expectancy would be significantly lower. Take as a seemingly small example, contact lenses. It is estimated that around 16% of Adults in the US rely on these daily, equating to 40.9 million people (Jennifer R. Cope, 2015). First conceived in 1801 by the scientist Thomas Young, the idea of contact lenses has existed for centuries (Brewer, 2022). However, it wasn’t until a breakthrough in the late 1950s that contact lenses were made accessible to a wider population. The key innovation being the development of a new material which was softer than the traditional glass-blown lenses (A Family Optician, 2017). This product revolutionized the field of optometry allowing those needing correction to their vision to go without glasses for the first time. Take another relevant example, MRI (magnetic resonance imaging) machines. Providing images of the human body in far more detail than is possible with an X-ray, MRIs are a critical instrument used within hospitals for the scanning of the brain, spinal cord, muscles and orthopedic injuries (National Institute of Health, n.d.). By using this machine, doctors can identify, treat and prevent injuries which could life life-threatening. Currently, it is said that over 150 million people have had MRI scans globally, with the technology only having been developed in the 1979s (ISMRM , 2023).

Subject Category Winners

Prizes 2024

Prizes include:

• Most Outstanding Essay (prize: a place on our sister organisation, the Oxford Scholastica Academy’s residential Oxford summer school , worth £6,995)
• Best Essay for each subject category (prize: a place on an OxBright online course or internship , worth £995)
• Highly Commended (for the the top 20% of entries, who receive a Certificate of Achievement)

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

The Lloyd Davies Philosophy Prize for Year 12 students

Developing independent study.

The purpose of the Prize is:

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

Assessment Criteria

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

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

General Guidelines

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

How to Apply

The 2022 Lloyd Davies Competition is now closed for entries.

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

Previous Essay Questions

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

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

2. Is mathematics similar to morality?

3. Is the distinction between past and future fundamental?

2022 Competition Result

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

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

One essay was chosen as the close runner-up

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

The assessors wish to commend the essays written by:

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

2021 Competition Result

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

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

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

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

The essays by

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

were also highly commended.

2020 Competition Result

In 2020, two essays were chosen as joint winners:

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

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

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

further information

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

The Oxford Scientist

The University of Oxford's independent science magazine

• Schools Competition

Schools Writing Competition Michaelmas Term 2022

We are delighted to announce the winners and runners-up for the Michaelmas Term 2022 Schools Science Writing Competition on the theme of ‘ To what extent are the Humanities important to scientists? ’

The overall winner of the Hilary Term competition is:

‘ Frankenstein: A monster who saved lives ‘ by Mridul Shrestha, Year 12 at Lancing College.

Category winners

Year 12-13 category winner: ‘To what extent is Art important to scientists?’ by Maya Shah, Year 12 at Notting Hill and Earling High School.

Year 10-11 category winner: ‘ The Future of Science is Like Rice on a Chess Board ‘ by Hemlata Pant, Year 11 at Colston’s Girls’ School.

‘Digital Immortality’ by Khondoker Mehedi, Year 12 at King Edward VII School.

‘Xenobots—When Robots Start Living’ by Jacinda Collins, Year 12 at City of London School for Girls.

‘Quantum Computing and Fabricating the Future’ by Zachary Danzig, Year 12 at The Ferrers School.

‘Making Our Hearts Sing’ by Catherine James, Year 10 at Lady Eleanor Holles School.

‘The Great Future Innovations of Small-Scale Science’ by Manaal Khan, Year 11 at Chelmsford County High School for Girls.

‘Literature: one’s window to science?’ by Elizabeth Johnson, Year 11 at Lady Eleanor Holles School.

Dr Sir Peter Ratcliffe

Peter J. Ratcliffe , M.D. is a physician scientist who trained as a nephrologist, before founding the hypoxia biology laboratory at Oxford. His laboratory elucidated mechanisms by which human and animal cells sense oxygen levels and transduce these signals to direct adaptive changes in gene expression. For this work he shared the Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine in 2019 .

He holds appointments as Director of Clinical Research at the Francis Crick Institute, London, Director of the Target Discovery Institute at the University of Oxford, and is a Distinguished Scholar of the Ludwig Institute for Cancer Research in Brussels, Belgium.

His personal challenge each year is to complete the Oxford 10km Town and Gown Race in fewer minutes than his age!

Dr Hannah Jones

Dr Hannah Jones studied her PhD at the University of Bath in biophysics, on the thermodynamics of enzyme catalysis. Since 2019 she has worked as a postdoctoral research associate at the University of Oxford, within the Nuffield Department of medicine. There, she applies mass spectrometry based proteomics to investigate a potential drug target for the treatment of Parkinson’s disease.

Dr Alexey Kostyanovsky

Dr Alexey Kostyanovsky is Head of the Waynflete Programme at Magdalen College School in Oxford since 2009; beforehand he held the position as Head of Theology. He studied Theology at Moscow and holds a Ph.D. from Manchester University. His thesis was on the interpretation of the Royal Psalms. He has been teaching religious studies and theology in British schools for many years.

Emma Kennedy

Emma Kennedy is a scientist working at the Drug Discovery Institute of the University of Oxford, where she enjoys working in close collaboration with industry. She studied biochemistry at University College London before working in protein production of human disease targets at the ChemBioHub (University of Oxford) and later doing research in protein crystallisation and structural biology at Diamond Light Source. Emma has a deep passion for the interface between science and the arts. In her free time, she enjoys life drawing and completed the 30works30days 2022 challenge, making art in different media inspired by science and structural biology.

Home › Essay Competition

Essay Competition: Win a 100% Scholarship With Immerse Education

Participate in the Immerse Education Essay Competition for a chance to win a full or partial scholarship to our university and career preparation programs. Since 2020 the competition has offered ambitious students the opportunity to win a full or partial scholarship on our award-winning programmes.

• Submission Deadline:
 12th September 2024
• Free for 13-18 year old students worldwide
• Including 10 full and up to 75% partial Immerse Education scholarships to any location
• £1000 (residential), £500 (online 1:1), £250 (online group) voucher for every entry

Alumni globally

Participants would recommend Immerse

What is the Essay Competition?

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

Submission timeline

Feb 23, 2024.

Competition opens

Sept 12, 2024

Competition closes

Oct 17, 2024

Results announced

January, July & August 2025

Programme dates

Any student who submits a full-length essay , but doesn’t receive a scholarship, will be eligible for the option of a £1000 voucher for our residential programmes, a £500 voucher for our Online Research Programmes, or a £250  voucher for our Group Online Research Programme.

And Many Other Benefits...

Enhance your academic profile for university applications. Partial winners receive completion certificates – and those who write outstanding essays also receive comments from our remarkable guest judges.

University interviewers want you to discuss the subject you’re applying for with genuine enthusiasm. They look for depth of understanding and the ability to articulate your thoughts clearly. Writing an essay deepens your knowledge and improves your ability to present complex ideas.

Our essays are assessed against a mark scheme designed by academic experts. Completing an essay allows you to experience academic writing, promoting related skills like research, critical thinking and editing. Immerse provides support every step of the way.

Competition Details

You’re not on your own. To help your essay shine, Immerse Eduction provides guides, tips and support.

Open to 13-18 year old students

Students can submit an essay if they will be 13-18 years old when the programmes for which the scholarships are valid begin.

500-word academic essay

Register interest to access the Essay Competition Guide with all the questions, tips and guidance on plagiarism, AI & referencing. You can also attend one of our regular essay writing webinars to level-up your writing.

Graded by experts and guest judges

Expert judges assess the essays based on their content, quality of research and critical analysis. Elements like word choice and structure, evidence and inference, as well as vocabulary spelling, grammar and punctuation are also assessed. Student age groups are also taken into consideration.

A chance to win a scholarship for any programme you like

If you win a scholarship, you can use it toward one of our renowned online programmes or one of our award-winning residential courses in any of our locations including Oxford Cambridge, London, Sydney and New York to name a few.

Programmes Our Scholarship Can Be Redeemed Against

Participants will learn to explore the world around them with an architect’s eye, analysing their environment and identifying how each building, structure, and feature influenced by Britain’s long history with urban design.

Choose from a range of subjects to study in the historic city of Oxford. Embrace each college’s unique atmosphere and stunning surroundings, enjoy the vibrant cultural offerings, and feel your subject mastery blossom. Whilst the sun’s out, explore the city’s winding river on a punt.

Choose from a number of industries to explore in this densely packed capital. Experience the pulse of sectors like finance, fashion, and media, immersing yourself in key London hubs, from Canary Wharf’s financial centre to the West End’s theatre scene. Learn directly from industry professionals and get a sense of your future career.

Study in the vibrant city of Sydney, where modern skyscrapers meet iconic landmarks like the Sydney Opera House. Dive into one of many  subjects, explore the bustling markets, and relax on the world-renowned beaches whilst supercharging your subject mastery.

In New York, the city that never sleeps, engage with an industry-led programme —embracing iconic industry hotspots, from Wall Street finance to Broadway entertainment. Gain hands-on experience and network with professionals in the Big Apple, all while taking in the unmatched skyline and culture.

Study in the cosmopolitan city of Toronto, offering a rich tapestry of cultures, explore one of our career-led programmes. Experience the buzz of city life, skyscrapers, and historic districts. In your downtime, escape to nearby natural wonders like Niagara Falls whilst you accelerate your subject expertise.

In San Francisco, delve into the world of tech and innovation to explore one of our industry-focused programmes. Work alongside startups in Silicon Valley, or explore the sustainable practices of the city’s green businesses. The city offers a window into cutting-edge industries, all set against a backdrop of scenic natural beauty.

Singapore is a great summer programme destination for its vibrant multicultural atmosphere, cutting-edge educational institutions, and its status as a global hub for innovation and technology. With its blend of academic excellence, cultural richness, and modern amenities.

Tokyo offers a unique blend of tradition and modernity, providing students with a rich cultural experience and endless opportunities for learning and exploration, making it a great summer school destination. A summer programme in Tokyo means diving into the heart of Japanese culture and innovation.

Boston is an ideal summer programme destination due to its rich historical significance, vibrant cultural scene. Home to top-ranked universities, and offering an array of activities ranging from exploring Freedom Trail to enjoying performances at renowned theatres.

This online programme sees students work in a 1-1 or a group session with tutors from renowned institutions like Cambridge, Oxford, and Ivy League schools. Each student undertakes advanced research in a topic of their interest, culminating in a full-length academic research paper.

Our Guest Judges

Our guest judges and markers are chosen for their exceptional subject matter knowledge and the prominence of their organisation in industries aligned with our essay topics. Many of them come from a teaching or academic background with advanced degrees in political science, English, business, physics, medicine, creative writing and more. This diverse expertise ensures that our judging process is both rigorous and insightful. 

The essay competition assessment criteria look at academic writing qualities like research and evidence, word choice and critical analysis, in addition to spelling, grammar & punctuation. Student age groups and are also considered in this assessment.

Business & Economics Judge

Pamela O’Brien

Humanities Judge

Christina Bunce

Medicine Judge

Arnold Longboy

Business Management Judge

Tom Ireland

Biology Judge, Editor of The Biologist

Hear from our previous winners, register interest for these essay-writing resources, how to enter, essay questions, writing tips, referencing guide, submission guidelines, judging criteria, winning essays.

The Immerse Education Essay Competition is open to entries from young people aged 13-18 interested in all subjects, from Architecture to Medicine, Creative Writing to Film Studies. However, students aged 18 should only submit an essay if they will still be 18 when the programmes the scholarships are valid for begin.

Any scholarships or vouchers awarded during the current round of the essay competition will only be valid for 2025 Immerse Education Programmes

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

Funded scholarship to study abroad:  Our essay competition offers students like you the chance to win a full or partial scholarship to one of our Online Programmes or residential programmes in locations such as Oxford, Cambridge, Sydney, London and more.

Ongoing support from Immerse while you write:  Full support from our team as you write your essay, with free guides and top tips to help you along the way. Sign up to receive our full Essay competition Guide and free tips and tricks as you write. You can also follow us on Instagram and Tik Tok to get more useful essay writing tips.

Demonstrate what you know:  The competition is a chance for you to demonstrate your content knowledge by answering advanced university-style questions.

Build your skills and knowledge:  The opportunity to apply and advance your essay writing skills. You will likely learn something new in the process!

Develop your self-discipline:  A chance to strengthen your self-discipline as you commit to a challenging project and complete it from start to finish.

Essays are graded by expert markers and guest judges who assess the essays across the following criteria:

• – Content
• – Research & Critical analysis
• – Word choice & structure
• – Evidence and inference
• – Spelling, Grammar & Punctuation

Scholarship offers depend on the grades that students achieve. The higher the grade a student receives, the higher the likelihood of achieving a 100% or high partial scholarship. 

The essay competition receives thousands of entries each year, and with the vast number of high-standard entries, we acknowledge the efforts of all participants who have dedicated their time to completing an essay. As such, beyond our full and high-partial scholarships we provide further offers to entrants to facilitate access to our transformative programmes.

If you win a scholarship via the Essay Competition 2024/2025 you can use it toward any residential course in any of our locations. Use your scholarship to enrol on one of our renowned online programmes* or enriching in-person/residential summer school programmes in cultural melting pots such as Cambridge, Oxford, London, New York, Toronto, Sydney and more.

* Essay competition schorlaships cannot be redeemed against online Intensive programmes.

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

The deadline for the Immerse Essay Competition falls in early September and early January each year. The deadline for the next round is on Thursday 12th September .

Register to receive free Essay Competition guidance

The Immerse Education Essay Competition provides the opportunity for students aged 13-18 to submit essay responses to a pre-set question relating to their chosen subject. Register interest to receive your guide with the comprehensive list of questions including:

• A list of all topics and questions
• Essay Specifications
• Top Tips for Writing an Academic Essay
• Referencing Guide
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Brain Essay Competition

We seek writing that stimulates, provokes and makes our readers reflect. Essays 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. They can be opinionated, entertaining or amusing, but most importantly, they should be enlightening, illuminating some aspect of the human condition, and written well. They can be submitted by clinicians, scientists, students, or members of the public. 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 2024 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 expressed the view that 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 finished the text. If you’re interested in submitting an essay, or know someone who is, 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 which is blind to who you are or where you come from. Your essays will simply be given a number.
• 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: 31st October 2024

We’re looking forward to reading your essays.

Masud Husain Editor-in-Chief, Brain

Previous winning essays

Who am I? , Brian Routledge

Double vision , Stoyan Popkirov

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Classics and Ancient History Essay Competition 2021/22

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• Date 3 December 2021 - 11.00 a.m. - 29 April 2022 - 4.00 p.m.
• Location Virtual

The competition is open to all students currently studying at a UK School or College, in Year 12 (Lower Sixth) or equivalent , whether or not they are currently studying a Classical or Ancient subject. All entrants will be invited to attend a Study Afternoon at St John’s College, Oxford on one of two dates; Thursday 21st April or Friday 29th April 2022. We are able to cover travel expenses of all students eligible for free school meals or in care.  Each student may submit one essay (only) of up to 2,000 words on any of the following four questions:

• ‘No (wo)man is an island.’ How self-sufficient are characters in ancient literature?
• Was one’s community in the ancient world limited to one’s city?
• Many ancient philosophers emphasised the importance of friendship and community in the good life. What place do you think others have in the happy life?
• Does Greek and/or Roman art ever express notions of community, or is it simply a reflection of wealthy and powerful individuals?

  Prizes Awarded :

A £100 book token will be awarded to the best essay in each category and an additional £75 book token to the overall winner. A further £75 book token will be awarded to the best essay submitted by a pupil who has not previously studied a Classical or Ancient subject. All applicants will receive a certificate of entry.

Aims and Guidelines :

The competition gives students currently studying any subjects at a UK School or College, in Year 12 or equivalent, an opportunity to write an essay on the classical world. The organizers are interested in providing an occasion for independent research, to encourage curiosity and reflection in those who have studied the ancient world before and those who have not.

The essay titles have been chosen to take account of research interests of our tutors and to encourage the widest possible approach to investigation of the ancient world.

All primary texts can be considered in translation or in the original language. Where either primary or secondary sources have been used they should be acknowledged with full references given.

All essays should:

• Be word-processed with double-spaced lines, and saved in a PDF format.
• Include ONLY your initials and date of birth in your header or footer (to allow anonymous marking).
• Be no more than 2000 words in length.

To submit your essay, you should:

• Complete a pre-submission cover form, by following this link . Please note, you will be asked to provide a name and email address for a parent or carer, and a teacher; please confirm this with them prior to submitting your form.
• Submit your essay via email, as a PDF attachment, to [email protected] . Emails must include your Full name, School name and Date of Birth .

Both the pre-submission cover form and your email must be submitted before 4pm on Thursday 3rd March 2022 . 

To confirm we have received your essay, all pupils who submit an essay will receive a confirmation email shortly after the deadline. If you do not receive a confirmation email within two weeks of the deadline, please email the Access Team.

If you have any outstanding questions, please contact [email protected] . 

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Home → Study Here → Outreach → Essay Competitions

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

This year’s essay competitions are now closed. Entrants will be contacted in due course with the outcome of their entry.

To find out more about these competitions please click on the links below:

• Julia Wood – History
• Mary Renault – Classical Reception
• Kavita Singh – Politics, Philosophy, and Economics
• Gwyneth Bebb – Law

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