Year 13 Essay Competition Awards Ceremony
On Monday 14 September 2026, we were delighted to celebrate our Year 13 Essay Competition with a special awards ceremony. The standard of entries was exceptionally high, and we are incredibly proud of all the students who took part. Their essays demonstrated outstanding scholarship, dedication and commitment alongside their studies. The judging process for the competition is deliberately rigorous. Each essay is read by multiple members of staff, whose views contribute to the final ranking. This year, the decision was particularly difficult because of the consistently outstanding quality of the submissions.
Competitions such as this are an important part of our commitment to encouraging students to be intellectually curious, ambitious and willing to challenge themselves. They embody some of the core values of King Edward VI School: to aspire, to have high expectations of ourselves, to be bold, to take intellectual risks and to push ourselves beyond what we initially think we are capable of achieving. It was particularly encouraging to see our Year 13 students embracing these values so enthusiastically.
The competition was generously supported by local businesses, with prizes awarded as follows:
- £100 First Prize Winner is Ansom who wrote 'How free are we to make our own decisions?' sponsored by Keelys Solicitors
- £50 Runner-Up Prize Winner is Jemima who wrote 'Is consciousness just a series of chemical reactions?' sponsored by Ballard Engineering
- £50 Runner-Up Prize Winner is Muntaha who wrote 'In what ways can the process of learning a foreign language deepen our understanding of ourselves, both culturally and cognitively?' sponsored by Vets for Pets
- £50 Runner-Up Prize Winner is Nikola who wrote 'Will a vaccine be developed to prevent cancer?' sponsored by Ansons Solicitors
- £50 Runner-Up Prize Winner is Xin who wrote 'In what ways can the process of learning a foreign language deepen our understanding of ourselves, both culturally and cognitively?' sponsored by Gibson Centri-Tech
- £30 Highly Commended Prize Winner is Alexa who wrote 'Could the works of Taylor Swift be considered as a literary work?' sponsored by Central Co-op
- £30 Highly Commended Prize Winner is Chloe who wrote 'Could the works of Olivia Rodrigo be considered as a literary work?' sponsored by Central Co-op
We would like to extend our sincere thanks to all of our sponsors for their generous support of this competition. We are also grateful to the representatives from Ansons Solicitors and Vets for Pets who joined us to present the awards and celebrate the achievements of our students. We are extremely grateful to all of our sponsors for their generous and enthusiastic support. King Edward VI School has a strong tradition of developing positive relationships with local businesses, recognising the reciprocal benefits that these partnerships can bring. Our students go on to contribute to the local community in a wide range of professions, while local businesses provide invaluable opportunities, advice, work experience and support for our students.
The presentation event emphasised the importance of intellectual curiosity, independent thought, extensive reading and critical thinking. These are qualities we value enormously at King Edward VI School, and the competition provided a wonderful opportunity for our students to demonstrate them. This was something that our Headteacher, Catharine Forster, was keen to recognise in her address to the students and sponsors.
Congratulations to all of our prize winners and to every student who entered the competition. Their hard work and academic excellence made this year's competition a tremendous success.
