Skip to content

The Philosophy Essay Prize is open to Year 12 or Lower 6th students. The aim of the Prize is to encourage able sixth formers to pursue their interest in Philosophy, with the hope that they will be encouraged to read this or related subjects at University.

The questions for the 2024 competition are as follows:

‘It is impossible to fit values into the world described by natural science.’ Is it?

Can machines have minds?

You should answer one question only.  The deadline for entries is 12.00 noon UK time on Friday 31 May 2024.

Candidates are invited to submit an essay of up to 2,000 words.  Entries must be submitted online by the end of May using the form below. 

The competition carries a First Prize of £600 and a Second Prize of £400, to be split equally between the candidate and his or her school or college; the school or college’s portion of the prize to be issued in the form of book tokens.

All candidates will be notified with the results of the competition around the end of August.  Any queries should be directed to the Admissions Administrator, Ms Stacey Smith, at admissions@trin.cam.ac.uk.

About you

Name(Required)
DD slash MM slash YYYY
Address(Required)

About your school

School Contact(Required)
School Address(Required)

Your Entry

Accepted file types: doc, docx, pdf, Max. file size: 2 MB.
1. I hereby give permission to Trinity College, Cambridge (‘the College’) and those authorised by the College to use the essay I submit (‘Essay’) (with due acknowledgement of my authorship) throughout the world for the full period of copyright, including all renewals, reversions, extensions and revivals of such period, in the following ways: a) storing, publishing or transmitting the Essay in College internal archives and databases; and b) exhibiting, publishing or transmitting the Essay in print, on DVD or other digital media and on the Internet at College websites and College-affiliated websites; and c) distributing the Essay to the press, media organisations and other interested parties for publication, transmission or broadcast.] 2. The information provided in this form is used for the administration of the Philosophy Essay Prize and is managed and stored in accordance with UK Data Protection regulations http://www.admin.cam.ac.uk/univ/information/dpa/. 3. This agreement shall be governed in all respects by English law.
This field is for validation purposes and should be left unchanged.

Past Prize-winners

2023:

1st Prize: Anjali Reddy (Wimbledon High School)
Joint 2nd Prize: John Paul Cheng (Winchester College); Dimitrije Golubovic (Gimnazija “Bora Stankovic”, Serbia)

2022:

1st Prize: Ms Isabel Rumfitt (James Allen’s Girls’ School)
2nd Prize: Sam Wolffe (University College School)

2021:

1st Prize: Mr Fucheng Warren Zhu (Harrow International School, Hong Kong)
2nd Prize: Mr Jacob Tidmarsh (Home-schooled)

2020:

1st Prize: Catherine Brewer (Sharnbrook Sixth Form)
2nd Prize: David Levy (JFS)

2019:

1st Prize: Dilara Smyth (The Abbey School, Reading)
2nd Prize: Dalir Kosimov (Harris Westminster Sixth Form)

2018:

1st Prize: Nicole Souter (The King Edward VI School)
2nd Prize: Jack Chong (Wellington College)

2017:

1st Prize: Omodunni Bello (Sherborne School for Girls)
2nd Prize: Max Johnston (Uppingham School)

2016:

1st Prize: Conor O’Shea (Harrow School)
2nd Prize: Lila Mendoza (Sevenoaks School)

2015:

1st Prize: Harry Lloyd (Monmouth Comprehensive School)
2nd Prize: Kartik Prabhu (Westminster School)

2014:

1st Prize: Christopher Banks (King’s College School, Wimbledon)
2nd Prize: Eleanor Holton (The Stephen Perse Foundation Sixth Form, Cambridge)

2013:

1st Prize: Jeremy Khoo (Raffles Institution, Singapore)
Joint 2nd Prize: Phoebe Bright (St Paul’s Girls’ School)
Joint 2nd Prize: Rory Turnbull (Hereford Cathedral School)

2012:

1st Prize: Keith Wynroe (De La Salle College, Macroom)
2nd Prize: Nina Maras (Latymer Upper School)

2011:

1st Prize: Kacper Kowalczyk (Dulwich College)
2nd Prize: Alice Carter (Canford School)

2010:

1st Prize: Ding Hui (Raffles Institution)
2nd Prize: Timothy Wickenden (The Sixth Form College, Farnborough)

2009:

1st Prize: Rosie Illingworth (Oundle School)
2nd Prize: Joshua Brown (University College School)

2008:

1st Prize: Annie Hawes (Henrietta Barnett School)
2nd Prize: Robert Dixon (Oundle School)

Back To Top
College Crest


Contact us

        MyTrin | Student Hub

Access and Outreach Hub