ABOUT
The Sidgwick Prize, Cambridge is an annual essay competition for high-school aged students from around the world. Each year students can choose to respond to an essay question from a list of three questions in eight disciplines: Philosophy, Politics, Economics, History, Law, Theology, Psychology, and Art History.
Every submission receives substantive feedback from academic specialists, including Faculty at the University of Cambridge.
A prize is awarded for the best essay in each discipline and The Sidgwick Prize is awarded to the best essay in all disciplines.
The Sidgwick Prize supports the work of The Sidgwick Trust, a campaign to expand access to the humanities and social sciences for school-aged children in Britain.
Essay Competition 2027
Eligibility
The Sidgwick Prize essay competition is open to any student aged 13-18 years on the date of submission. Students may live in any country.
DEADLINES
Registration for The Sidgwick Prize opens on 19 September 2026.
The deadline to register for the essay competition is 23:59 BST on 30 June 2027. (Please note that late submissions are permitted before 15 July 2027; see LATE ENTRIES below.)
The deadline to submit your essay is 23:59 BST on 30 June 2027. You can submit your essay at any time from 19 September 2026.
WORD-LIMIT
The word limit for essays is 2,000 words. This word limit does not include the essay title, the author's name, footnotes, bibliography, tables, diagrams, graphs, or illustrations.
FORMAT
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You are welcome to use footnotes, endnotes, or in-text citation. You can use Chicago Style referencing for footnotes or endnotes or Harvard Style referencing, MLA referencing, or IEEE referencing for in-text citation. Our preference is for you to choose a consistent style of referencing that is intelligible to the reader; the referencing does not have to conform with Chicago Style, Harvard Style, MLA, or IEEE, but it can use these formats as the basis for a referencing system which you have devised.
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You are welcome to include a bibliography of works cited with your essay, but it is not required.
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Please submit your essay in .pdf format. If you are unable to submit in .pdf format, we would ask for submissions in .doc, .docx, or .rtf.
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Please include your full name at the top of the submission.
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Please name the file with your first name and surname (for example, 'Jane Smith Essay.pdf').
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Please identify the question you are answering at the top of your essay.
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Please use 12 point font size and Times New Roman, Calibri, Arial, or Verdana with your submission.
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You are encouraged to use 1.5 spacing, but it is not required.
entry fee
There is a fee of £12 (~USD $15) to register for The Sidgwick Prize. The fee is charged at the time of registration. The entry fee is non-refundable. If you do not submit an essay before the deadline, the entry fee will not be refunded. Please ensure you have the bill-payer's permission when paying your registration fee for The Sidgwick Prize.
registration and referee
You must register here before submitting your essay.
You can submit your essay here.
You can submit as many essays as you like to The Sidgwick Prize.
You must pay a registration fee for each essay that you submit (see above under ENTRY FEE).
You can update and amend your submitted essays at any time before the deadline. You can do so via the re-submission form here.
The authors of essays shortlisted for The Sidgwick Prize will be asked to provide the details of one academic referee. Your referee can be a teacher or an adult who is not a relative. We will ask your referee to attest to your academic abilities. If your essay is not shortlisted for The Sidgwick Prize you will not be asked for an academic reference.
late entries
You are welcome to register and to submit your essay after the deadlines above on the payment of a late entry fee of £20 (~USD $25). You must submit your essay by 23:59 BST on 15 July 2027.
For late submission please click here.
PRIZES
The author of the prize-winning essay in each discipline receives £100 and 75% discount to attend our one-week summer residential course in Cambridge.
The author of The Sidgwick Prize winning essay receives £100 and a Sidgwick Fellowship for free attendance (tuition, accommodation, and meals) at our one-week summer residential course in Cambridge.
The prize winning essays in each discipline and The Sidgwick Prize winning essay will be published on our website.
Every author of an essay receives a certificate of participation.
FEEDBACK
Every essay submission receives substantive feedback from an academic specialist.
Shortlisting and the assessment of the winning essays are undertaken by a panel of academic specialists.
The decisions of the panel are final. We are unable to correspond with candidates about the panel's decisions.
KEY DATES
Registration opens for The Sidgwick Prize: 19 September 2026.
Registration closes for The Sidgwick Prize: 30 June 2027, 23:59 BST.
Essay submission deadline: 30 June 2027, 23:59 BST.
Late submission deadline: 15 July 2027, 23:59 BST.
Shortlisted candidates notified and referees contacted: 15 August 2027.
Awards ceremony in Cambridge: 18 September 2027.
Feedback on essays returned to candidates: after 21 September 2027.
assessment criteria
Our essays are assessed according to modified assessment criteria used by the University of Cambridge in assessing essays in the humanities.
We consider the following four elements when assessing every essay:
1. Relevance to the question posed: Is the writing directly addressed to the question?
2. Authoritativeness: Is the essay underpinned by a sufficiently broad range of scholarship?
3. Strength of the argument: Is the argument coherent and compelling?
4. Articulateness: Is the writing elegant and intelligible?
DATA PROTECTION
For a copy of our privacy notice, please click here.