1. Eligibility for Entry
The Pragmat Summer Essay Competition is open exclusively to students attending UK state schools, specifically those in Years 9 through 12. Students eligible for the Senior Category are will be those in Years 11 and 12 and those eligible for the Junior Category are those in Year 9 and Year 10.

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2. Verification of Eligibility
We will verify the eligibility of all shortlisted candidates by contacting their schools directly. Participants who do not meet the eligibility criteria will be disqualified from the competition.

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3. Prizes and Winner Announcements
We will contact the schools to verify our winners before officially announcing them. For each competition age group (Years 9-10 and Years 11-12), there will be an overall winner across the four subject categories of Business, Economics, Politics, and International Relations. Additionally, there will be four individual subject winners for each age group.

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Overall Winners (Years 9-10 and Years 11-12):

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🤝 1-to-1 Mentorship Session with a student studying your dream course at top UK universities like Oxford, Cambridge, LSE, and more.

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📖 £50 book voucher.

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🎙 Conducting an interview with a notable figure such as a CEO, diplomat, or politician to be posted on Pragmat.

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Individual Subject Winners (Business, Economics, Politics, International Relations):

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🤝 1-to-1 Mentorship Session with a student studying your dream course at top UK universities like Oxford, Cambridge, LSE, and more.

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4. Word Count Limit
The maximum word count for the essay is 1,500 words, there is no minimum word limit. Titles are not included in this word count.

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5. Key Dates

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Competition Start Date: June 21st at 12:00 BST (Registration portal goes live and an email will be sent to all registered participants).

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Competition End Date: August 2nd at 12:00 BST.

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Winners Announcement Date: September 4th at 12:00 BST.

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6. Competition Structure
The competition is broken down into two categories based on year groups for the academic year 2023/24:

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Junior: Years 9-10

Senior: Years 11-12

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7. Judging

The competition will be adjudicated by our in-house editorial team.

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​Whilst there is no fixed success criteria about what would make the winning article as it were, there are however some strong traits that we expect to find in the very top answers.

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Entrants are encouraged to break apart the terms of the question. Don’t be afraid to pick apart the phrasing and the background assumptions the phrasing of the questions may imply.

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Opinions are more than welcome. However, entrants are encouraged to avoid writing essays that are unnecessarily polemic. Be critical and have strong arguments and thoughts about the issues that you are discussing but also do apply sensitivity where it makes sense.

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Whilst, we understand that most entrants will be UK-based, entrants are encouraged to also make use of historical and contemporary examples to illustrate their arguments and if appropriate should feel free to expand on an international scope whether for the purposes of comparison between countries or to highlight that phenomenon has a global impact.

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In terms of background reading and bibliography. Entrants are encouraged to delve deep into research and explore the vast literature available either on article websites like JSTOR, pdf copies of books on line (which are easily accessible for older works) or to borrow some books from their local libraries. That being said it is important that entrants do not get carried away from and write essays that feel more like a literature review as opposed to using what they have acquired from the literature to better frame and substantiate their arguments.

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Crucially, it is important that students answer the question directly. Whilst it is tempting to stray from the heart of the prompt. The confines of the word count are designed to allow you to give a concise and cogent answer so resist the urge to go on a tangent. Complexity is lovely but in moderation, otherwise essays may read a little gratuitously.

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8. Citation Policy
All external references must be cited via in-text citations with NO foot-noting. Examples:

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Guy Berger (UNESCO Director for Strategy and Policy) states that “we cannot have genuine elections without having a free flow of information.”

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Psephologists have long understood that low voter turnout affects democracy as it can indicate that those from certain demographics aren’t participating in politics [Lijphart, Arend 1988].

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9. Rights to Submitted Essays
By submitting the essay, participants grant Pragmat the right to post the essay on the site in accordance with the "Article Submission" section found within the general Pragmat Terms and Conditions. 

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10. Single Entry Policy
Each participant is allowed to submit only ONE essay for the competition. Multiple submissions from the same individual will not be accepted.

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11. Age Requirements
To maintain fairness, we cannot accept entries from students who do not fall within the specified year groups (Years 9-12). We encourage younger students to apply in the appropriate year.

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12. Plagiarism & AI Check
All submissions will be screened for plagiarism and the use of AI using our internal systems to ensure originality. Essays that are found to be plagiarised or contain text that isn't cited appropriately will be disqualified.

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13. Confirmation of Essay Receipt
Participants will receive a confirmation email once their essay has been successfully submitted to the email that they filled in the registration form. (Please check Spam folder)

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14. Final Submission Policy
Once an essay is submitted, no further changes or updates can be made. We cannot accommodate requests to amend submitted entries.

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15. Strict Deadline Adherence
Our submission deadline is final, and no extensions will be granted. We encourage students to submit their essays well before the deadline to avoid last-minute issues.

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16. Notification of Results
Participants will be notified of their results after all entries have been thoroughly reviewed. Winners will be announced via email on September 4th and will be contacted privately regarding their prizes.

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17. Submission Method
Essays must be submitted through the official registration page right here. Email submissions will not be accepted.

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18. No Feedback Provided
Due to the high volume of entries, we are unable to provide individual feedback on submitted essays.