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The College Fellowship is excited to announce its 2026 essay competition. This is an opportunity for undergraduates and students currently in their sixth form, or final 2 years of IB, or equivalent qualifications, to demonstrate their ability to write a convincing and well-structured essay. Emphasis should be placed on a sound explanation of the selected themed title and well-reasoned arguments, drawing on relevant evidence. The Maximum length is 1500 words and entrants are advised to write as concisely as possible.

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Please choose one question to write about. Submissions are limited to one essay per person.

 

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   1.   While climate activists believe the environment must be prioritised many policymakers believe economic growth cannot be compromised. Can the two be aligned, or are the interests of the economy and the environment mutually exclusive?

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   2.   “Bitcoin will do to banks what email did to the postal industry.” Do you think this is true, or is the current boom just a speculative bubble?

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   3.   Should the West return cultural artifacts to their former colonial territories?

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   4.   What is the importance of ethics in data science?

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   5.   Will the legacy of Covid be an economically more unequal world?

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   6.   Should robots have rights? Why or why not?

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   7.   Is UBI (universal basic income) an effective poverty-reduction strategy for highly developed countries?

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   8.   Is democracy experiencing a setback worldwide?

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Writing your essay

Your essay should be written in grammatically correct English. Try to structure your essay in an orderly way; you should build up your argument gradually by collecting evidence over the course of the essay so that when you arrive at your conclusion, you will have made an effective case.  At the same time, do not be afraid to explore the contradictions.

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In terms of references, you should cite all your sources along the way. Use the APA (Author, Date) style of citation in the text. (For example, “The persistence of high unemployment rates is mainly associated with rigidities in the labor markets (Bertola and Rogerson, 1997).”) You also have to provide a bibliography, where you list all your sources. Don’t worry too much about sticking to one citation format for this; spend your time writing your essay instead (although look to the APA format as a guide for this). Just make sure all the information needed to verify your sources is included.

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The limit is 1500 words (we will check!). Words in your bibliography and in any data tables do not count towards the limit, but everything else does.  We put a word limit so you can focus on the most mportant aspects of tyour chosen topic. Do your best to provide strong, well-articulated insights with pertinent facts to back them up.

Finally, some notes on style:

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• Include page numbers.

• On the first page, include the question, question number, your name, and your school.

 

 

Submitting

The deadline for submissions is EOD  Friday,  30th of January 2026.

Before submitting, please convert your file to a PDF and change the file name to “[your name] Q[question number].pdf”. (For example, “Mia Smith Q4.pdf”.) Use the following email to submit your essay (office@thecollegefellowship.co.uk). 

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Judging

Winners, runners-up, and shortlisted entrants will be contacted directly via the email address provided at the time of submission.

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Please note that by entering this competition, you agree to the following terms and conditions:

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• Your submitted essay must be entirely your own work. Any assistance received during its preparation must be declared in your submission email.

• Essays cannot be revised once they have been submitted.

• You do not have to be studying in the United Kingdom to enter.

• Any personal data relating to entrants will be used solely for the administration of this competition and will not be disclosed to third parties without prior consent.

• An essay submitted to this competition may not be entered into any other competition.

• The College Fellowship cannot respond to questions regarding the decisions of the judges or provide individual feedback on submissions.

• The College Fellowship reserves the right, where necessary, to amend these terms and conditions and retains the final decision in the selection of prize recipients.

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