Essay Prizes

Thank you for accessing the Peterhouse web pages for the Vellacott History Prize, the Kelvin Science Prize and the Thomas Campion English Prize.

Please note that the Essay Competition is now closed for 2012.

History and Purpose of the Prizes 

For many years, Peterhouse has been proud to organise the Vellacott History essay competition and the Kelvin Science essay competition was set up in 1999 to try to duplicate its success.  In 2008 we instituted the Thomas Campion English essay competition, kindly funded by the Friends of Peterhouse. All three competitions have a top prize of £500 and a second prize of £250; several further essays will be highly commended.

All three prizes have the following aims:

• To give students in Year 12 or Lower Sixth who are considering applying to university an opportunity to write about a subject in which they are personally interested, developing and experiencing the independent study skills which they will need in order to do well at A-level and university.
• To support teachers by providing challenging extension work for talented students and by giving those students their first contact with Higher Education.
• To encourage high-flying students to consider applying to Cambridge by giving them a taste of the type of work they would experience here.
• To recognise the achievement and effort of the best of these students through prizes and commendations and to give them the opportunity of receiving feed-back from leading scientists, historians and English specialists.

How to Apply for the Essay Prizes

The 2012 essay questions and details about how to apply for each competition can be found using the links below but please note the following general guidelines:

• The application deadline is 23rd March 2012. Please note that essays arriving late due to insufficient postage will not be accepted.
• All essays must be accompanied by a completed application form AND cover sheet.
• Entry is restricted to students from Year 12 or Lower Sixth only.
• A maximum of two entries per school or college per competition is invited (i.e. six in total). More than two entries per school or college for the Vellacott History Prize and Kelvin Science Prize may be accepted by prior agreement with the Admissions Office, but two is the maximum for the Thomas Campion Prize.

Essay titles can be found using the links below.

Vellacott History Prize

Kelvin Science Prize

Thomas Campion English Prize

You can also find tips on essay-writing by following this link.

Winners and highly commended entrants will be notified by letter by 4th June 2012. Information will also be posted on this website.

How we Choose our Winners

The standard of entries is always high and the choice of winners difficult but the judges are particularly looking for originality of thought, a clear writing style, breadth of research and source materials (including books, websites and other sources) and a critical approach to those sources. They are also looking for a clear structure to the essay.

We are aware that websites that purport to offer to write or complete essays for this and other competitions exist. Entries composed in this way are fraudulent and will not be accepted. It is also worth noting that many of the websites themselves appear to be scamming operations.

Further details are available from the Admissions Office on 01223 338223 or email admissions@pet.cam.ac.uk.

Details of last year’s winners can be found below.

Last Year's Winners

The Vellacott History Prize 2011

WINNER

Hannah Todd (The King’s School) who considered whether the concept of ‘high politics’ has generated more problems for historians than it has solved.

JOINT SECOND PRIZE

Andy Gilbert (Sir John Lawes School) who considered whether the survival of Ethiopian independence in the ‘scramble for Africa’ was owed merely to the timely acquisition of firearms.

Dmitry Kirpichenko (Harrow School) who answered the question: “ ‘The flag follows trade’. Is that an adequate assessment of nineteenth-century British colonialism? “

HIGHLY COMMENDED

Jordan Kirkham (King Edward VI Grammar School, Chelmsford)

Elettra Ardissino (Sir James Henderson School)

Max Seely (Eton College)

The Kelvin Science Prize 2011

WINNER

George Thomas (Elthorne Park High School) for his essay entitled: ‘Suppose that you were able to send a letter back in time to reach Isaac Newton as soon as he had become President of the Royal Society in 1703. Suppose further that your objective was to advance science by the greatest possible amount in the shortest possible time. Here is your opportunity to write that letter.’

SECOND PRIZE

George Mather (King Edward VI Camphill School, Birmingham) who discussed whether scientific ideas have exerted a force on our civilization fully as great as the more tangible applications of scientific research.

HIGHLY COMMENDED

Carrie Beadle (Lancaster Girls Grammar School)

Melanie Etherton (Maynard School)

Tessa Garrud (Anthony Gell School)

The Thomas Campion English Prize 2011

WINNER

Alexandra Cussons (St Paul’s Girls’ School) who considered poetic form in light of the quote ‘Nuns fret not at their convent’s narrow room...’ (Wordsworth)

JOINT SECOND PRIZE

Caroline Dormor (Spalding Grammar School) who considered the communication of pain and suffering in literature in light of the quote ‘To have pain is to have certainty; to hear about pain is to have doubt’ (Elaine Scarry)

Emily Nearn (Emanuel School) who considered the communication of pain and suffering in literature in light of the quote ‘To have pain is to have certainty; to hear about pain is to have doubt’ (Elaine Scarry)

HIGHLY COMMENDED

Sophie Keating (Berkhamsted School)

William Kennaway (The Grammar School at Leeds)

We would like to reiterate how high the standard of entries was and how hard it was to choose our winners. We would not wish those not mentioned above to lose interest in applying to Cambridge on the basis of this competition. If you have any questions about applying to Cambridge, please do not hesitate to get in touch with the Admissions Office; unfortunately, we are unable to give feedback on the essays submitted to this competition.