Cambridge & Oxford Summer School Essay Competition

Every year at BISL, we encourage students to enter a variety of competitions both locally and internationally, from debating to art, through music and creative writing. Competitions do not always have to be artistic, they can also be for academic writing. This is the third year at BISL where we have had students apply for the Immerse Cambridge and Oxford Summer School Essay Competition. Last year we had two students accepted on full scholarships for the two-week summer school, and we hope to repeat this luck once more this year.

The top 10 entrants will win a two-week summer school at Oxford or Cambridge University, 13 nights accommodation in a university form, breakfast and dinner at the university, plus have the chance to take part in a formal dinner at the university. They will receive 40 hours of academic sessions with carefully designed study and lecture materials. Students will also have 2 coach excursions including a trip into Oxford and have a graduation ceremony and a certificate on competition.

We think our applicants stand a good chance at being rewarded these scholarships. We have had 7 strong applicants this year from Year 9 to Year 12, writing about a range of topics from ‘What does Justice mean?’ to ‘What field of Medicine has the biggest impact on society?’.

In this competition students are split up into two age groups, 13-15 and 16-18, and get to choose one topic, to write a concise 500-word essay on the topic they chose. The essay must be fully referenced using the Oxford referencing system and have a complete bibliography. This competition is a great opportunity for our students to practise academic writing and learn how to reference. This experience will give them a head start at university, as referencing is a vital skill needed for every university course.

We hope to see even more applicants in the 2022 competition. For inspiration, here are some extracts from some of our current applicants.

We expect to receive results by the end of January and will keep you posted!