Winner of annual essay competition announced

The winner of the Richard Hillary Essay prize has been announced.

This prestigious annual event is named after Old Salopian Richard Hillary and is modelled on the historic competition undertaken to select Fellows of All Souls College, Oxford, said by some to be the toughest exam in the world. It provides an opportunity for Sixth Formers to use their creative skills pitting their wits over one hour against a single-word unseen essay title.

This year’s title was ‘power’. With over 30 entrants, there were some excellent essays, with six being shortlisted.

This year’s external judge, Ross Allen, is the UK Ambassador to the Republic of Estonia and leads diplomacy on the frontier between two of the great geopolitical entities of our time. He more than anyone knows the relevance of the word ‘power’ to our everyday lives. Of our winning entry Ross says “it has a clever structure and is nicely worded, with the fewest rhetorical flourishes. It starts with a look at the meaning of ‘power’ in mechanical terms, and then uses three lenses: might, right and money. And has a couple of clever observations at the end. So it is the most gripping, most persuasive and most mature.”

Overall Winner – who will be presented with the Hillary Medal at Prize-Giving in June

John L (R, UVI)

Runner Up

Matthew W (SH, UVI)

Highly Commended

Alanood A (MSH, LVI)

Bella S-B (MSH, LVI)

Max W (SH, UVI)

Dr Kowenicki,

Deputy Head (Academic)