world history essay competition

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10 History Competitions for High School Students

Are you in high school and looking to participate in a history competition? Check out this curated list below of opportunities from across the country!

Competing and performing well in a history competition can offer valuable exposure by indicating your interest in the subject of history to potential colleges. Competitions also grant the opportunity to improve one’s skills in writing, public speaking, or debate , for example. Additionally, you can also choose to conduct independent research on various topics that come under the umbrella of history, and publish them in prestigious journals like the Concord Review !

Below are 10 history competitions to consider, some of which are offered in the summer and others during the school year. The programs range from live quiz competitions to essay competitions to oratory contests , so there is something for everyone!

We’ve also covered some great history programs in this blog, and research ideas in history here !

1. International History Olympiad

One of the most popular competitions at the high school level, the International History Olympiad is a competition attended by hundreds of students from all over the world. The multi-day series of events features numerous competitions (as well as non-competitive events) that offer many opportunities for students to win awards and connect with other individuals. The Olympiad takes place in a new location around the world each year (with past editions being held at Honolulu, Berlin, Rome), deeming it also a great opportunity to take advantage of in terms of international travel. Qualification is conducted through participation in regional, national, and international qualifying events.

Application Deadline: July 2024

Location: TBD, 2023’s competition took place in Rome

Prizes: Prizes vary by rank and competition

Eligibility: All high school students are eligible through participation in regional, national, and international qualifying events

2. The National History Bee

This popular competition takes place on an annual basis in the capital of the United States. In order to qualify for participation at the national level of the competition, students must advance beyond rounds at the local and state levels in their respective districts. The History Bee is a buzzer-based history quiz that occurs at the individual level, without the help of teammates. Students compete 1-1 over many rounds where they answer paragraph-long questions about various historical topics . Visit the National History Bee’s website to learn more about specific competition rules and formatting. This is a very esteemed competition where you can network with other students, learn more about historical facts, and impress colleges.

Application Deadline: TBA

Location: Washington, DC and Arlington, VA

Eligibility: All high school students younger than 19 years old: Varsity (11th and 12th grade), Junior Varsity (9th or 10th grade)

3. Joseph S. Rumbaugh Historical Oration Contest

This contest is offered by The National Society of the Sons of the American Revolution (SAR) and is an oration competition. Each participant must draft and present an original oration between five to six minutes in length . Then, students must deliver the oration from memory without notes or props. The topic must be an event, personality, or document related to the Revolutionary War. The oration must also show a relation between the chosen topic and America today. This is a great way to simultaneously develop public speaking and writing skills!

Students must get through preliminary local rounds, state levels, and then advance to the national level at which place scholarships and prizes are awarded. The orations are evaluated on composition, delivery, significance, historical accuracy, and other secondary criteria. Winners on the national level in 1st, 2nd, and 3rd place receive cash prizes, as well as an Olympic-sized medal.

Application Deadline: TBA, varying by state and SAR chapter

Location: Virtual

Prizes: Varying cash prizes for 1st, 2nd, and 3rd place winners

Eligibility: Students in grades 9-12th

4. George S. & Stella M. Knight Essay Contest

Offered by The National Society of the Sons of the American Revolution (SAR), this essay competition invites students to submit an 800-1,200 word essay. The essay needs to be based on an event, person, philosophy or ideal associated with the American Revolution , Declaration of Independence, or the framing of the U.S Constitution. Essays will be judged on historical accuracy, clarity, organization, grammar, spelling, and documentation.

Like other competitions offered by the SAR, the contest is conducted in stages on the local, state, and national level. Contact your local chapter to enter into the competition. All essays must additionally include a title page, bibliography page, and a biography page. The prizes vary for the top 5 essay writers. However, the first place winning essay will be submitted in the SAR magazine and will have an opportunity to visit Washington, D,C. This is a great opportunity to strengthen one’s ability to conduct research and synthesize historical information .

Location: Virtual, through each SAR chapter

Prizes: Varying cash prizes for winners at each tier

5. The National History Day National Contest

The National Contest of National History Day is a massive gathering of nearly 3,000 individuals offered annually by the organization to student scholars and their families. National History Day invites successful winners of local and affiliate contests to share their research and other history-related work widely. Beyond competing in a variety of competitions, partnerships with local museums and cultural institutions offer students dynamic programming and professional development opportunities .

The gathering takes place in Maryland for a week-long series of events inviting students from all across the U.S., and the world. Students can also take the competition as a chance to explore Washington, D.C and benefit from the plethora of historical sites at the nation’s capital. This is a fantastic opportunity! To compete on such a national level is an amazing opportunity and very impressive feat that is sure to demonstrate your passion for history and historical reasoning to colleges.

Application Deadline: June 9-13, 2024

Location: University of Maryland, College Park

Prizes: Varying prizes per category of the competition

Eligibility: All high school students, teachers and parents are also invited

6. The National History Bowl

In a similar fashion to The National History Bee, The National History Bowl is offered once a year in the nation’s capitol to students who have advanced past local, regional, and state History Bowl competitions. The format is a buzzer-based history quiz with teams of up to 6 students . Students seek to answer questions faster than their opponents about topics covering: the history of the arts, sciences, religion, philosophy, language, historical geography, recent history, and even a bit of the history of sports and entertainment. Questions can reference all eras of history in all geographic regions of the world . Check out their website for specific information about the tournament format and how to advance in each round.

Note : We’ve covered the competition in depth here !

Application Deadline: TBD

7. World Historian Student Essay Competition

Offered by the World History Association, this international contest asks students to address a historical topic and its relation to student’s personal lives and world history at large. An example of a past paper topic is: “My ancestor walked with Abraham Lincoln from Illinois to fight in the Black Hawk War of 1832." The essays are judged based on the thesis, evidence of critical-thinking, organization, and other criteria. Overall, this written competition is a pretty good opportunity to assess your writing ability from a renowned organization in the discipline of history.

Application Deadline: May 1, 2024

Prizes: $500 Prize and a one year membership to the World History Association

Eligibility: An international competition for students in grades K-12

8. The American History Essay Contest

Presented by the Daughters of the American Revolution (DAR), this essay competition seeks to introduce younger students to employ creativity in thinking about the history of the United States . The DAR set out a unique topic for each competition cycle and the submissions are judged for historical accuracy, topic adherence, organization of materials, originality, and writing quality. The essays are evaluated on a local, state, divisional, and national level. The contest is carried out through participating chapters of the DAR organization.

Application Deadline: Varies, contact your local DAR chapter

Prizes: Certificate of participation for each student and varying medals and awards for winners at each division (local, state. national)

Eligibility: Students in 9th-12th grade

9. Write Your Own Historical Fiction Competition

The Write Your Own Historical Fiction Competition is offered by The Historical Association each year to students across the world. Although varying by year, the organization typically does not assign a firm theme for the entries to the competition. The essays, ranging from 400 to 3500 words, are evaluated for their historical accuracy, convincing storytelling, effective use of historical vocabulary, and creativity. Do note that entries must be submitted by a teacher on behalf of a school.

Although the competition’s premise is a bit unconventional for a history competition, this contest offers students a unique opportunity to channel their creativity through the lens of an important academic subject . This will prove very beneficial when writing applications to colleges, or other writing endeavors at large.

Application Deadline: TBA, likely June 2024

Prizes: Cash awards for winners as well as a specially-designed notebook

Eligibility: Students in Years 5-13. Internationally

10. The David McCullough Essay Prize

Named after the Pulitzer Prize-winning historian, this essay competition offered by The Gilder Lehrman Institute of American History , recognizes outstanding high school student research essays each year. Essays for the competition (between 1,500-2,000 words) are required to center primary source analysis of a document in American history from 1493 to 2000. This is a solid opportunity to conduct historical research very similar to collegiate writing , with citations, a bibliography and secondary sources attached.

Prizes: Cash awards for 1st, 2nd and 3rd place and a certificate of participation for all students

Eligibility: Students in 10th-12th grade part of the National Academy of American History and Civics

If you are interested in doing university-level research in history and politics, then you could also consider applying to the Lumiere Research Scholar Program , a selective online high school program for high school students. Last year, we had over 4000 students apply for 500 spots in the program! You can find the application form here.

Aisha is a student at Princeton University, studying Anthropology and Global Health. On campus, she is involved with student groups centered around health equity and cultural affinity. In her free time, she enjoys podcasting, learning languages, and trying new recipes.

Image Source: National History Bowl logo

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American History Essay Contest

The American History Essay Contest was established to encourage young people to think creatively about our nation's great history and learn about history in a new light.

This contest is open to students in public, private, and parochial schools, and registered home-study programs. Students in grades five through eight are encouraged to participate. Each year, a selected topic for use during the academic year is announced, and contest instructions are published online and sent to schools by participating DAR chapters. Essays are judged for historical accuracy, adherence to the topic, organization of materials, interest, originality, spelling, grammar, punctuation, and neatness.

Participating chapters send one winning essay from each of the four grades for judging on the state level. The state will send one winning essay from each of the four grades to be judged on a divisional level. The winning essay from each of the four grades will then be judged on the national level and the winners are announced.

Each student participant receives a certificate of participation from the chapter and the chapter winners receive bronze medals and certificates. State winners receive certificates and silver medals. National winners receive special certificates, medals, and a monetary award.

Click here for an informational PDF handout . For additional contest information or guidelines, please contact your local DAR chapter .

Patriots of the American Revolution High School Essay Contest

In preparation for the 250th anniversary of the nation’s founding, the DAR has launched the "Patriots of the American Revolution DAR High School Essay Contest.” This contest will focus on the men and women who figured in the events of the American Revolution (1773 – 1783), and it is hoped that students will find Patriots to write about who will interest and inspire them.

These Patriots may be one of our famous Founders, or an everyday man, woman, or child who supported the American Revolution in ways both large and small.  Students will be asked to discuss how their chosen Patriot contributed to the founding of the nation. Essays will be judged for historical accuracy, organization of materials, interest, originality, spelling, grammar, punctuation, and the quality and scope of references, particularly the use of primary sources.

This contest is open to students in public, private, and parochial schools, and registered home-study programs, in grades 9 through 12. Essays from students from all grades will be judged together, with one winning essay chosen at each level. Participating DAR Chapters will select one essay as the chapter winner, to be sent on to the State level; the State will select one essay winner to represent the state for judging at the Division level, and each Division level will also have one winner which will be sent on to the National contest. Each student participant receives a certificate of participation from the chapter and the chapter winners receive a bronze medal and certificate set. State winners receive a silver medal and certificate set. Division level winners receive certificates and a book. National winners receive special certificates, medals, and a monetary award.

The National Society will select first-, second- and third-place winners. The national winner will receive a National Winner Certificate, pin and monetary award, presented at NSDAR’s annual Continental Congress, and the winning essay may appear in official DAR communications. National second- and third-place winners will also receive a certificate and monetary award.

This essay contest is being launched to engage students during the 250 th anniversary of the American Revolution, and is designed to encourage students to think more about the many different people, known and unknown, who were a part of the American Revolution, and perhaps even see themselves in the figures they write about.

For additional contest information or guidelines, please contact your  local DAR chapter .

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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.

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Julia Wood History Essay Competition

Home → Study Here → Outreach → Essay Competitions → Julia Wood History Essay Competition

The Julia Wood prize is an annual History essay competition named in memory of a St Hugh’s College historian.

The Principal and Fellows of St Hugh’s College, Oxford offer a prize, worth up to £500, for the best historical essay submitted by a pupil who, at the closing date, has been in the Sixth Form of any school or college for a period of not more than two years.

The choice of historical subject is left to candidates. As the below examples suggest, essays which fare well in the competition tend to be specially researched and written for it.

Entries should be 2000 – 4000 words in length, including any material in the footnotes which is additional commentary or content related to your essay. References or citations in footnotes, and your bibliography, are not included in this word count. You are welcome to use whichever style of referencing you prefer. Essays must be submitted in PDF format.

The 2024 competition is now closed. Details of this year’s winning essays can be found to the right of this page.

Details of the 2025 competition will be published in late January/early February 2025.

Please direct any enquiries to [email protected]

2024 Julia Wood Prize Winners

This year, the number of entries to the Julia Wood Prize was 402. The prizes were awarded as follows:

Anna Batstone – Magdalen College School, Oxford (Year 12)

Treasure Trove or Fool’s Gold: To What Extent Can Literature Be Used as a Historical Source?

Alexandra Kochman – Wycombe Abbey, High Wycombe (Year 12)

The Odyssey: How did Polish refugees keep the idea of Poland alive during the Second World War?

Thomas Rowlands – St Leonard’s School, St Andrews (Year 12)

To what extent were the methods used to foster an East German national identity different under the regimes of Ulbricht and Honecker?

Dermot Christmas – St Paul’s School, London (Year 12)

The Pagan Period in Burma: to what extent did it influence Burmese resistance to the British Empire?

Mary-Ellen Dyson – St Michael’s Catholic Grammar School, London (Year 12)

To what extent was Henrietta Maria typical of a medieval woman?

The winners, runners up and a number of others who were highly commended were invited to a celebratory tea in College in September.

St Hugh’s College

Founded in 1886, St Hugh’s is now one of the largest colleges in Oxford. The College was established to offer an Oxford education to women, and it retains a strong sense of its radical tradition and of the importance of opening Oxford up to all who would do well here. St Hugh’s now accepts men and women, and welcomes students from every country and any kind of background.

St Hugh’s has a beautiful setting just to the north of the city centre, with Edwardian buildings and some of the largest college grounds. The College is known as the ‘island site’ because of its tranquil gardens, and it is a restful place to live and work.

St Hugh’s College admits about 11 undergraduates a year to read single Honours History; and a further two or three (in varying combinations) for the Joint Honours Schools of Ancient and Modern History, History and English, History and Modern Languages, and History and Politics.

What we are looking for is the ability to think imaginatively, a willingness to argue, a real interest in ideas, and a commitment to the subject. We have no preference for particular subjects at A-level, International Baccalaureate or other post-16 qualifications. Most candidates will usually have been studying History, but even this is not essential. However, languages (both modern and classical), English Literature, and Economics have, in their different ways, proved useful preparations for the course. We welcome both pre- and post- qualification applications; and we generally admit a few people each year from Scotland, Ireland, and further afield.

St Hugh’s provides excellent facilities for studying History: the library has unusually large and up-to-date holdings in all periods, and there is an active, sometimes rumbustious History Society. We encourage our undergraduates to travel in vacations. In recent years many of our historians have gone on to undertake research in History and related fields; others have got jobs in journalism, television, law, teaching, the Foreign Office, the UN, the City, Brussels, management and management consultancy, publishing, etc. The world has proved to be their oyster, with historical training at St Hugh’s providing them with the essential bit of grit.

More information about studying History at St Hugh’s College is available on our course and admissions pages .

Since the establishment of the Julia Wood History Essay Competition in 1994, 81 school students have been given prizes; many of these people went on to study History at Oxford and St Hugh’s. The names of the winners and their essay titles can be seen below.

Who was Julia Wood?

Julia Wood was an alumna of St Hugh’s College. She was born on 19th December 1938 and studied History and was an Exhibitioner at the College between 1957 and 1960. Tragically, she died in an accident whilst in Australia in 1970. The fund for the Julia Wood Prize was established by the parents and friends of Julia Wood in May 1971.

Privacy Overview

WHA Undergraduate & Graduate Student Paper Prizes

The World History Association and Phi Alpha Theta jointly sponsor two student paper prizes in world history. Separate cash awards in the amount of $250 are given for the best undergraduate world history paper and the best graduate-level world history paper composed in the academic year. A one-year membership in the WHA and a certificate will also be included with each prize.

A world history paper is one that examines any historical issue with global implications. Such studies can include, but are not limited to, the exchange and interchange of cultures, the comparison of two or more civilizations or cultures, or the study in a macrohistorical manner of a phenomenon that had a global impact. For example, world history topics might include a study of the trans-cultural impact of Eurasia’s Silk Road; a comparative study of the Ottoman and British empires; or the worldwide impact of the Influenza Pandemic of 1918.

The Committee will judge papers according to the following criteria: world historical scope; originality of research; depth of analysis; and prose style.

Eligibility

To be eligible, students must have composed the paper while enrolled at an accredited college or university during the 2021–2022 academic year, and either they or the faculty member who taught the course must be members of either the World History Association or Phi Alpha Theta.

Submission Guidelines

Submissions must be no longer than 30 typewritten, double-spaced pages of text, exclusive of the title page, endnotes, and bibliography.

Number all pages except for the title page.

Endnotes must conform to standard historical formats. Do not use parenthetical notes.

The author’s identity is to appear nowhere on the paper.

A separate, unattached page should accompany the paper, identifying the author, title of paper, home address, telephone number, e-mail address, college affiliation, graduating year and status (undergraduate or graduate student), and the association ( WHA or ΦΑΘ ) to which the person belongs. Phi Alpha Theta members must indicate the institution at which they were inducted and the year.

A one-page (250-word) abstract must accompany each submission. Abstracts of winning papers will be published in all announcements of competition results.

Additionally, a letter or e-mail from a relevant history faculty member (the supervising professor, the chair of the department, or the Phi Alpha Theta chapter advisor) must attest to the fact that the paper was composed during the preceding academic year.

Papers that do not adhere to these guidelines will be disqualified.

Winning papers are eligible for consideration for publication in the various journals of the World History Association and Phi Alpha Theta, but no promise of publication accompanies any award.

Submission Instructions

Send submissions via e-mail with the following attachments in MS Word format:

• the page with identifying information; and
• the abstract.

The faculty member’s letter must be e-mailed or posted separately.

Send the submission via e-mail to the Committee Chair, Jon Davidann <[email protected]> .

Send hardcopy materials to the Committee Chair at the address listed below. Hardcopy submissions must include four (4) printed copies each of the paper, the page with identifying information, the abstract, and the faculty member’s letter, by post to:

Jon Davidann Professor of History Hawai‘i Pacific University 1188 Fort St. , Rm. MP 325 Honolulu, HI 96813-2713

Submission Deadline

Entries can be emailed by May 31, 2023.

Past Winners

• Undergraduate division (winner): Estey Chen, University of Washington – Seattle, “Cracks in the Bandung Spirit: The 1962 Sino-Indian War and Decline of Third World Solidarity”
• Undergraduate division (runner up): Wendi Zhou, University of Washington, “’Translating Guilt to Commitment’: Racial and Queer Intersections in Afro-German Berlin, 1981 – 1992″
• Graduate division: Andrew Merz, Hawaii Pacific University, “’The British Middle East Campaign in World War I: A Brief Historiography of an Oil Origin Story”
• Undergraduate division: Noah Hull, Hawaii Pacific University, “Who Wants to Live Forever: Freddie Mercury’s Statue in Switzerland”
• Graduate division: Jian Gao, University of Texas Austin, “Political Mobilizations and Cultural Spaces: Transnational Chinese Associations in Mexico, 1922 – 1945″
• Graduate division: Julie van den Hout, San Francisco State University, “’The Seas But Join the Nations They Divide’: Connecting Science and Humanity on the Nineteenth-Century Atlantic through Messages in Bottles.”
• Undergraduate division: Julia Fine, Harvard University, “Growing British India: The Colonial Biopolitics of the Potato”
• Graduate division: Luke Scalone, Northeastern University, “ French Fascism & Empire : The Case of Tunisia”
• Undergraduate division: Whitney Spake, Troy University, “Among the Steppes: A Societal Study of the Soviet Past in Kyrgyzstan”
• Graduate division: Rachel Schrottman, Northeastern University, “ Françafrique : The French Role in Rwanda”
• Undergraduate division: Robert Nowland, University of North Carolina at Asheville, “The Game of United States Diplomacy within the Ottoman Empire: How the United States Interests in the Ottoman Empire Delayed Its Entrance into the Great War”
• Graduate division: Rachel Schrottman, Northeastern University, “Impact of Belgian Colonization on the 1994 Genocide in Rwanda”
• Undergraduate division: Beninio McDonough-Tranza, Freie Universität Berlin , “The Construction of ‘Self’ and ‘Other’ in a Semi-Colonial Community: The Case of Japan Punch, 1862–1883”
• Graduate division: No award made.
• Undergraduate division: Emilia Antiglio, University of Warwick, “The Diffusion of Porcelaine des Indes in Eighteenth-Century France: From Lorient to Paris and Beyond, 1720–1775”
• Matthew Wallin, Northern Kentucky University, “Intellectual Crosscurrents of the Black Atlantic: Pan Africanism and Civil Rights in the Time of the Cold War”
• Jakub Mscichowski, Simon Fraser University, “From Avalokitesvara to Guanyin and the Maria Kannon: Charting the Roles of Syncretism in East Asian Christianities”
• Priya Shah, Chapman University, “Language, Discipline, and Power: The Extirpation of Idolatry in Colonial Peru and Indigenous Resistance”
• Christopher Heap, University of Warwick, “Silks, Silver and Contraband: The Eastwards Manila Galleon in the Global Economy, 1571–1815”
• Graduate division: Kathryn Hain, University of Utah, “The Mediterranean Trunk Line to Slavery: The Early Medieval Slave Trade in Europeans”
• Undergraduate division: Hyeok Hweon Kang, Emory University, “Big Heads and Buddhist Demons: The Korean Military Revolution and the Northern Expeditions of 1654 and 1658”
• Andrew Christian Peterson, University of Hawaii at Manoa, “What Really Made the World Go Around? Indio Contributions to the Acapulco–Manila Galleon Trade”
• Adam P. J. Witten, University of Hawaii at Manoa, “Cross-Fertilizing the Botanical Sciences: Japan’s Role in the Formation of Disciplinary Science”
• Undergraduate division: Nathanael Cameron Hood, Ursinus College, “The Roots of Mahayana Buddism”
• Graduate division: Gregory Rosenthal, Stony Brook University, “Boki’s Predicament: The Material Culture and Environmental History of Hawaiian Sandalwood, 1811–1830”
• Undergraduate division: Samantha Huang, University of California, Berkeley, “Technologies of Chinese Smuggling: Migratory Knowledge and Networks, 1882–1924“
• Graduate division: no prize awarded
• Undergraduate division: Jonathan D. Garon, University of Rochester, “A Tainted Peace: The Failure of De-Nazification in Occupied Germany”
• Graduate division: Gail Marlow Taylor, California State University, Fullerton, “The Book of Secrets: Alchemy and the Laboratory Manual from Al-Razi to Libavius, 920–1597”
• Undergraduate division: Tim Davies, University of Warwick, “What Did Indian Merchants Do? Gujarat and the Trade to East Africa in the Sixteenth and Seventeenth Centuries”
• Graduate division: Preston Bakshi, University of California, Irvine, “Decolonizing Medicine: Professionalization and the Pharmaceutical Industry in Independent India”
• Taylor Burton, Columbus State University, “Bwiti: A Syncretic Faith of Modern Africa”
• Kevin Michael Smith, University of California, Irvine, “Coterminous Companions: Nationalism, Class, and Anational Arab–Jewish Cooperation in Mandatory Palestine”
• Graduate division: Jeffer Daykin, Portland State University, “Progressive Pedagogy in Rural China: Tao Xingzhi’s Xiaozhuang Experimental School as an Implementation of John Dewey’s Educational Philosophy”
• Undergraduate division: Robert Cole, University of Richmond, “Power and Performance in Bombay’s Victoria Terminus”
• Graduate division: Phillip Sinitiere, University of Houston, “Navigating the Indian Ocean: Exploring the Textures of an African Diaspora”
• Undergraduate division: Kyle Jackson, Simon Fraser University, “Preface to a Brief History of Modern Humans”
• Graduate division: Luke Clossey, University of California, Berkeley, “Distant Rites: The Jesuit China Mission and Its Global Ritual Community”
• Undergraduate division: Elizabeth Kamradt, Northern Kentucky University, “Colonial Jamestown and Cape Town: A Discussion of Early Changes and Lastinf Outcomes”
• Graduate division: Christopher J. Lee, Stanford University, “Current Concepts in the Red Atlantic: World History as Political Practice in Cape Town, South Africa, 1943–48”
• Undergraduate division: Kathleen Vazoulas, Marist College, “Complexity of Relations: Mexico and the United States, 1938–1942”
• Laurie Lahey, Rowan College, “Time After Time: China, Europe, and the Fate of the Mechanical Clock”
• Kirk Lawler, North Central College, “The Jesuit Incursion into Ming China: Science and Humanism in the Service of God”
• Graduate division: Mary Ann R. Gabbert, University of Texas, El Paso, “El Paso, A Sight for Sore Eyes: Medical and Legal Aspects of Syrian Immigration, 1906–1907”
• Undergraduate division: Thomas D. Pomenti, Ursinus College, “Genocidal and Non-Genocidal Cleansings: Why a Perpetrating Regime Will Choose Either Total Murder or Mass Expulsion as Its Means of Population Cleansing”

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Home Blog WORLD HISTORIAN STUDENT ESSAY COMPETITION

WORLD HISTORIAN STUDENT ESSAY COMPETITION

The World Historian Student Essay Competition is an international competition open to students enrolled in grades K–12 in public, private, and parochial schools, and those in home-study programs. Membership in the World History Association is not a requirement for submission. Past winners may not compete in the same category again.

The World History Association established this $500 prize to recognize young scholars. A one-year membership in the WHA will also be included with each prize.

Each competitor will submit an essay that addresses the issue:  In what way has the study of world history affected my understanding of the world in which I live?

The committee will judge papers according to the following criteria:

• clear thesis;
• elaboration on the thesis with specific, concrete, personal example(s);
• evidence of critical-thinking, such as synthesis and evaluation, when reflecting on the essay question;
• organization and fluency; and
• overall effectiveness of the student’s ability to communicate his or her personal connection with the study of world history—in other words, how well has the student described the experience of being changed by a better understanding of world history?

To view some of our past winning essays, please click on the links below.

2019 Paper Prize Winner

2018 Paper Prize Winner

2017 Paper Prize Winner

SUBMISSION GUIDELINES

Length & format.

Length:  Submissions for the  K–12  World Historian Award should be approximately 1,000 words.

Formatting:  Number all pages except for the title page. All pages are to be double-spaced. Use 12-point Times New Roman Font. Margins are to be 1 inch left and right, and top and bottom.

Submissions must be composed in Microsoft Word.

The author’s identity is to appear nowhere on the paper.

A separate, unattached page should accompany the paper, identifying the author, title of paper, home address, telephone number, e-mail address, and name of school.

Papers that do not adhere to these guidelines will be disqualified.

Entries must be emailed or postmarked by the annual deadline of 1 May.

Winning papers will be announced during the summer.

The  WHA  reserves the right to publish in the  World History Bulletin  any essay (or portion thereof) submitted to the competition. It will do so solely at its discretion, but full acknowledgment of authorship will be given. If someone’s essay is published in whole or in part, the author will receive three (3) copies of the  Bulletin.

E-mail submission

Send the following materials as separate attachments (formatted in  MS  Word) in the same e-mail, with the subject line  World Historian Student Essay :

• the paper, and
• a page with identifying information (author, title of paper, home address, telephone number, e-mail address, and name of school).

E-mail to: Susan Smith < [email protected] >.

Postal submission

Send five copies of the paper and five copies of the page with identifying information. In the lower left hand corner on the front of the envelope write:  World Historian Student Essay.

Susan Smith Maple Grove Senior High 9800 Fernbrook Lane  N. Maple Grove,  MN  55369-9747

WORLD HISTORIAN STUDENT ESSAY COMPETITION COMMITTEE:

• Susan Smith, chair
• Paul Richgruber

PAST WINNERS

• Amanda Zhao, Pacific Ridge School (Carlsbad, CA) “History: An Ode to the Bricks of Progress”
• Akram Elkouraichi, Yonkers Middle High School (Yonkers, NY) “The Realization of Impermanence: Ephemerality in World History as a Conceptual Framework”
• Steven Chen, Sir Winston Churchill Secondary School (Vancouver, BC, Canada) “A Human Story: World History as an Optimist”
• Juliana Boerema, Cary Christian School (Cary, North Carolina) “Brilliant Painting: How the Study of World History Changes Perspective”
• Ahmad Aamir, Lahore Grammar School (Lahore, Pakistan) “Learning from History: Cooperation, Belief, Scholarship, & Words”
• Vivian Liu, International School of Beijing (Beijing, China) “History: Bread of the World”
• Vanessa Yan, Saint Stephen’s Episcopal School (Bradenton, Florida) “World History: The Great Macroscope”
• Rachel Hughes, Webber Academy (Calgary, Canada), “Fostering a Universal Understanding of World History is the Key to a Brighter Tomorrow”
• Campbell Munson, The Episcopal School of Dallas, “How History Has Affected My Worldview: Economies, Migration, Causality and Disease”
• Jacob Cooper, North Oconee High School (Bogart, Georgia), “World History: The Basis for Self-Determination, Democracy, and Religion“
• Luke J. Hamilton, Sword Academy (Bridgeport, Nebraska), “The Present: Living History”
• David Kim, Wydown Middle School ( St.  Louis), “History: The Shadow of the World”
• Elizabeth Mello, Dartmouth High School (Dartmouth, Massachusetts), “Out of Many Threads, One Cloth”

Hi, my name is Amy 👋

In case you can't find a relevant example, our professional writers are ready to help you write a unique paper. Just talk to our smart assistant Amy and she'll connect you with the best match.

WORLD HISTORIAN STUDENT ESSAY CONTEST

WORLD HISTORY ASSOCIATION

Sponsoring Institution:  World History Association

Type: World History Essay contest

Eligibility: This world history essay contest is open to students enrolled in grades K–12 from anywhere in the world

Application Deadline:  May 1st

Highlight: Does the study of World History intrigue you? Are you amazed by various cultures and traditions? Are you interested in different peoples’ stories and struggles? If you could answer yes to these questions, here’s an opportunity for you! The World History Association (WHA) is offering a prize of $500 and a one-year membership in the WHA to young scholars who have the best world history essay response to their prompt: “In what way has the study of world history affected my understanding of the world in which I live?”. This world history essay contest is global and is open to students enrolled in grades K-12, in public, private, and parochial schools, and even home-study programs! Now, let’s talk about the requirements. The submission deadline is early May, and the recommended length for submissions is 1000 words. The judges grade your world history essay based on a clear thesis, elaboration of the thesis with specific, personal, example(s), critical thinking, organization and fluency, and more! There are plenty of examples of previous winning essays from past years to review, and there are clear instructions on formatting as well. So, please read them thoroughly, because any papers that don’t adhere to the guidelines will be disqualified! So, bring your fascination with the past into the present and check it out ; show the WHA what you’ve got!

It is our anual free funding event for high schoolers from all over the world

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World Historian Student Essay Competition 2022

Enter World Historian Student Essay Competition 2022. Learn how to submit your essay to the 2022 Competition essay

Submit To World Historian Student Essay Competition 2022

World historian student essay competition 2022 topic.

In what way has the study of world history affected my understanding of the world in which I live?

• clear thesis;
• elaboration on the thesis with specific, concrete, personal example(s);
• evidence of critical-thinking, such as synthesis and evaluation, when reflecting on the essay question;
• organization and fluency; and
• overall effectiveness of the student’s ability to communicate his or her personal connection with the study of world history—in other words, how well has the student described the experience of being changed by a better understanding of world history?

SUBMISSION GUIDELINES

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Essay Competitions Deadline

Each year, Fitzwilliam College runs essay competitions in a variety of subjects, allowing talented pupils to explore their interests beyond the school curriculum.

The University of Cambridge seeks out students with a passion for their subject and who have investigated it outside the classroom. Our essay competitions provide students with an opportunity to engage with their interests in this way, allowing them to demonstrate their enthusiasm for their subject.

2024 Competitions

This year we will be running essay competitions in Ancient World and Classics, Archaeology, Economics, History, Land Economy, Medieval World and Slavonic Studies. We will additionally be running an Architecture design competition. Further particulars and this year's questions can be found at the links below. Please read the competition rules and submission guidelines carefully before entering a competition.

Ancient World and Classics

Archaeology

Economics (for state-school UK students only - please see link for details on eligibility)

Land Economy

Medieval World

Slavonic Studies

Architecture – students wishing to enter the Architecture Design Competition may find this plan of Fitzwilliam College and information on the history of Fitzwilliam’s buildings useful

The deadline for all competitions is  6pm on  Friday 1st March 2024 .

Competition rules

These essay competitions are exclusively for students in their penultimate year of education (Year 12 in England and Wales, S5 in Scotland, Year 13 in Northern Ireland). They are open to students in any country but submissions must be written in English.

Submissions should strictly adhere to the word limit set out in the subject brief (2500 words for Archaeology, Classics & Ancient World, History, Land Economy, Slavonic Studies and Medieval World; 1500 words for Economics; 500 words for the Architecture narrative), and contain a bibliography at the end. The word count should exclude the bibliography, but include any footnotes. Each page should be numbered and contain the applicant's full name.

We understand that not all students will have previous experience of writing a bibliography, and may not have equal access to advice on doing so. We therefore include this link to guidance on how to correctly use the Harvard referencing system. Anyone who wishes to use a different referencing system is free to do so.

Students are only permitted to enter one competition and may only submit one entry to that competition. There is a strict limit of five submissions per school for each competition. If more than five students from the same school enter the same competition, a teacher from that school will be contacted and asked to select the five entries; failure to do so will result in all submissions from the school to that competition being disqualified. Please note that this limit does not apply to Sixth Form Colleges where year groups are over 1000 students in size. When submitting an essay, the student will be asked to provide the name and email address of a teacher who may be contacted in order to verify the submission.

The submission must be entirely the individual student's work and must not be submitted or have been submitted to an exam board as part of any coursework or extended essay, either in part or in full.

Submission guidelines

Anyone who wishes to enter an essay competition must complete the online form .

Submissions can be uploaded to the online form in a PDF format. If the file size is too big to upload to the form, please email your submission to [email protected] . We can also accept entries by post. Please address postal submissions to: Schools Liaison Officer, Fitzwilliam College, Storey's Way, Cambridge, CB3 0DG.

You should receive an email confirmation after submitting the form. If you do not receive confirmation within 24 hours, please contact us at the email address below. Any technical difficulties will be dealt with on the next day, and students affected may be allowed to submit late in some circumstances.

Writing Webinars

Students preparing submissions who would like advice on essay writing may wish to seek advice from our two essay writing webinars:

•   Webinar 1 - Initial Preparation - 12th January 2024  at 6pm

**Please note, due to an issue with recording, this is last years webinar. All the information is the same bar these two changes**:

• The deadline for the competition is Friday 1 st of March 2024 at 6pm
• We are running a Slavonic studies competition this year, in addition to the competitions listed in this webinar
• Webinar 2 - Finalising your Essay - 16th February 2024 at 2pm

The webinars are delivered by the Schools Liaison Officer - the first webinar focuses on initial planning, research, and structuring of an academic essay, while the second provides advice on how to finalise arguments, edit, and reference your essays. Please email [email protected] with any questions about this event. 

If you have any questions relating to the competitions please contact us on  [email protected]

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Programs & Events

Student opportunities, david mccullough essay prizes.

David McCullough at Trinity School in Manhattan, October 15, 2019

The 2024 David McCullough Essay Prize Contest is now closed for submissions.

This contest is named in memory of David McCullough (1933–2022)—a Pulitzer Prize–winning historian and Gilder Lehrman Life Trustee—and honors his career telling America’s stories and examining its histories. Learn more about his life and legacy here .

High school students attending schools in our Affiliate School Program are eligible and encouraged to participate. They are invited to submit an original essay, written independently or for a 2023–2024 class, that has been revised, expanded, and adapted to conform with the new McCullough Prize specifications. The two essay categories are as follows:

Research Essay: Students are invited to submit a research essay incorporating primary and secondary sources on a topic in American history from 1491 to 2001.

Interpretive Essay: Students are invited to submit an interpretive essay focusing on close reading and analysis of one primary source from American history, 1491 to 2001, in the Gilder Lehrman Collection of more than 86,000 historical documents.

More requirements for both essay categories can be found in these updated 2024 rubrics .

All participants will receive a certificate of participation suitable for framing. Prize winners in each of our two categories—research essays and a new interpretive essay category—will receive cash awards as follows:

• 1st Prize: $5,000 (plus a $500 prize awarded to the school)
• 2nd Prize: $1,500 (plus a $500 prize awarded to the school)
• Five 3rd Prizes: $500 each

 A panel of Gilder Lehrman master teachers will choose the pool of finalists, from which a jury of eminent historians will choose the winners. Essays will be evaluated for their historical rigor, the clarity and correctness of their style, their use of evidence, and their qualities of empathy and imagination. 

Winners will be notified and announced no later than Friday, September 13, 2024.

General Requirements

Font and Page Style: Papers should be submitted in 12-point, Times New Roman font with one-inch margins at the top, bottom, and sides. Essays should be free of teacher commentary or other notes.

Organization: Top essays have an introduction, body, and conclusion and a clearly stated, well-developed thesis statement with supportive historical evidence.

Essay Topics: Essays can be on any topic related to American history from 1491 to 2001. Essays in the interpretative category must feature a primary source (letter, broadside, art, political cartoon, speech, etc.) from the Gilder Lehrman Collection .

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Young Historian Awards 2025 – take part (Secondary prizes)

History competition for students

• Add to My HA

Young people researching and writing history – and getting recognised for it!

Researching, writing and presenting ideas about a historical theme or period is one of the best parts about studying history. We want young school and college aged students to get the bug for writing about history in an incisive, interesting and critical way.

That is why each year the Historical Association in collaboration with the Spirit of Normandy Trust has organised a series of awards for outstanding history scholarship. Young people aged from 11-19 years are asked to investigate, analyse and write about history. The subject categories cover local history, the modern world and especially aspects of 20th-century history. 

These awards and the partnership of over 25 years hope to encourage and produce the historians of the future as well as engaging young people with meaningful historical questions and issues of local interest.

So if you think you or your students could be the next Margaret MacMillan or Anthony Beevor, get thinking about the questions and subjects that matter and that meet the questions and topics below.

For the Primary competition see here

The closing date for entries is   25 July 2025 (4   July for overseas entries).

Please note: entries supplied by under 16s must be sent by a parent or teacher.

Young Historian Prizes 

• The Rev John Louis Petit Award (essay competition) – see below for details
• Spirit of Normandy Trust Prize for GCSE/A Level students: for individual work on any aspect of British involvement in the Second World War. 
• Spirit of Normandy Trust Prize for Key Stage 3: for individual work on any aspect of British involvement in the Second World War
• GCSE World War 1 Prize: for individual work on any aspect of the First World War
• Key Stage 3 World War 1 Prize: for any individual work on the First World War
• GCSE Modern World Prize: for individual work on any aspect of the Modern World
• 16-19 Local History Prize for Schools and Colleges: for individual personal enquiries into Local History
• GCSE Local History Prize: for individual work on a Local History theme
• Key Stage 3 Local History Prize: for individual work on any Local History theme
• Mid-Trent Historical Association Prize for the Best Secondary School History Magazine

The purpose of these Prizes is to encourage you to think, research and frame your own questions that you will answer from further reading and research. This might be the result of a piece of work your teacher has set you to do at home during the current situation, or it may be a piece of research you are carrying out for your own interest. It is also an opportunity to perhaps tell some of the untold stories around the themes. Good luck!

Rev John Louis Petit Award

The Rev Petit Society are once again funding an essay competition within the Young Historian Awards for work connected to the life and work of the Rev John Louis Petit (1801-1868).

Petit was an important 19th-century artist and architectural commentator. Essentially an impressionistic artist, his artistic legacy amounted to approximately 14,000 water colours and sketches.

His work can be explored on www.revpetit.com but interested schools will be given, on request, a copy of an informative and illustrated book – Petit’s Tours of Old Staffordshire –  the contents of which extend much further afield, within the Midlands but also nationally and internationally. Images of Petit pictures, churches and secular structures near to a school will be supplied.

Entries with a substantial focus on Petit’s work will be assessed by the regular Young Historian judging panel. The prize will be £40.00 for the winning student and £40.00 for their school.

Enquiries about these Prizes are most welcome and further particulars can be obtained from:

The Young Historian Project, 36 Heritage Court, Lichfield Staffordshire WS14 9ST.

Or phone to discuss the details with Dr Trevor James on 01543 258434.

The closing date for entries is 25 July 2024 (4 July for overseas entries). If you would like to submit your entry by email please send it to [email protected]  including details of which prize you are submitting for, the entrant name, date of birth, entrant's postal address and school name/address.

• Young Historian Awards - find out more