Essay Prizes for History
THE PETERHOUSE VELLACOTT HISTORY PRIZE
A great opportunity to start exploring your historical interests and get a taste of university-level research, the Vellacott prize is open to all students in year 12 or equivalent, regardless of nationality or school country. Essays must be between 2,000 and 4,000 words including footnotes and appendices.
THE ROBSON HISTORY PRIZE
An annual competition for Year 12 or Lower 6th students, the Robson Prize encourages ambitious and talented Year 12 or Lower Sixth students to apply to university to read History and recognises the achievements both of high-calibre students and of those who teach them. Candidates are invited each year to submit an essay of between 2,000 and 4,000 words.
THE ROBINSON COLLEGE ESSAY PRIZE
Open to all students currently in Year 12 (Lower Sixth, or equivalent) at a UK School, responses should be no longer than 2,000 words (including footnotes and captions). The questions may be discussed with reference to any academic discipline or area of interest. Up to three entries may be submitted per school.
JULIA WOOD HISTORY ESSAY PRIZE
Established in 1971, in memory of a St Hugh’s College alumna, the Julia Wood Prize is an annual History essay competition open to Sixth Form pupils who have not been in the Sixth Form of any school or college for a period of more than two years. The Prize, worth up to £500, is offered by the Principal and Fellows of St Hugh’s College for the best historical essay submitted by the closing date.
THE JOHN LOCKE INSTITUTE ESSAY COMPETITION
Entry is open to students from any country and any school. Each essay should address only one of the questions in your chosen subject category, and must not exceed 2000 words (not counting diagrams, tables of data, footnotes, bibliography or authorship declaration). There is a prize of £100 for the best essay, and the essay will be published (with the authors' permission) on the Institute website.
FITZWILLIAM ARCHAEOLOGY ESSAY COMPETITION
This essay competition is for Lower Sixth Formers or Year 12 students (or equivalent). International applicants are welcomed but the essay must be written in English. There is a strict limit of five submissions per school for each essay competition. Essays should be less than 2500 words long, and contain a list of works consulted and cited at the end. This bibliography is excluded from the world limit, but any footnotes are included.
HISTORY OF TOTALITARIANISM ESSAY PRIZE
Entries are invited for a history essay prize for students in the sixth form during the 2024-25 academic year. The subject this year is "Jung Chang and the Cultural Revolution" - with Jung Chang herself, author of Wild Swans, presenting the prizes. The winning prize is £1,500 and there are also prizes for the second, third and those highly commended. Length: 1,800 to 2,000 words. One entry per student but no limit to entries per school.
The Versus History Essay Prize
The Versus History Essay Prize (#VHEssayPrize) is an annual essay competition for Year 11-13 (or equivalent) students across the world. The #VHEssayPrize aims to promote history as an academic discipline and a popular pursuit amongst the future generation of historians, who will ultimately play a key role in preserving and interpreting our global past and heritage. Versus History is dedicated to democratizing access to, and inclusion in, the field of history, and offering essay prizes contributes to this goal. 2023 marks the exciting debut of the competition from Versus History.