The Dukes Education Essay Prize is a competition inspired by the former entrance exam to All Souls College, Oxford. Students are given a selection of one-word prompts, from which they choose one and write an essay with their chosen title. They are free to discuss the title from any subject perspective, which encourages creativity, lateral thinking, and the opportunity to explore a topic beyond the curriculum.

This year, the competition received hundreds of submissions from schools across the nation. A panel of experts, including Oxbridge tutors, the heads of the Dukes Education Consultancy, and a member of our Education Advisory Board, read through every submission in an anonymous marking process. It was no easy task to pick the winning essays out of plenty of engaging and creative entries, but after three rounds of marking, we were very pleased to announce the following winners:

1st Place: James from Haberdashers’ Boys’ School, who wrote on ‘Perspective’

2nd Place: Pranav from Queen Elizabeth’s School, who examined the concept of ‘Transformational’

3rd Place: Abimbola from Haberdashers’ Boys’ School, who explored ‘Citizen’ discussing the right to have rights.

The shortlisted entries can be read be clicking below:

Well done to all winners, shortlisted essays, and every participant for taking up this challenging invitation. We are looking forward to next year’s competition!