The School of English Prize

The School of English is delighted to announce the winner of its 2021 Prize Competition is Sophia Beadle from Emmanuel College, Gateshead.

With runners up: Francesca Carter from Bedford Modern School, Eleanor Griffin from Dronfield Henry Fanshawe School and Lilian Agbi from Colchester County High School for Girls.

Congratulations to you all - and well done to all of our entrants, we look out for next year's competition, launching Spring 2022.

Deadline: 5pm on Monday 2nd August 2021

The competition is open to all UK students who are in Y12/Lower Sixth in the academic year 2020-21.

There is a prize of £50 for the winning entry, and £25 for three runners-up.

The intention behind the prize is:

•  to encourage A-Level students to develop their skills;
•  to give these students the opportunity to see how the study of language, literature, film and theatre relates to the world around them;
• to provide schools and colleges with a "stretch and challenge" exercise for their most talented students;
• to recognise the talents of aspiring English Language, Literature, Film, Theatre, and Creative Writing students.

Submission Criteria

• Submissions must be no more than 500 words/ 30 lines of poetry/ a 5-minute performance;
• Submissions must be on one of the four topics in the list below;
• Entrants must be in Y12/Lower Sixth in the academic year 2020-1 and be studying one of the following A Levels: English Language, English Literature, English Language and Literature, Drama and Theatre, Film Studies.

Please note that we are unable to provide feedback on unsuccessful entries. Entrants must be in Y12 in the academic year 2020-1 and from a school/being home-schooled in the UK. Winners and runners-up will be informed and the results announced by the end of September 2021.

Topics 2020-1

Choose one of the following options.

1. Do primary school children need to know what a fronted adverbial is?

When thinking about this question, you may find it helpful to read the following articles:
https://www.theguardian.com/education/2021/jan/23/dear-gavin-williamson-could-you-tell-
parents-what-a-fronted-adverbial-is

https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2021/feb/08/parents-child-grammar-home-
schooling

2. Write an analysis of how a literary text of your choosing represents the themes of contact and/or distance.

3. Write a creative piece in response to the themes of contact and/or distance. This creative piece can be poetry, prose, or drama. You may submit your creative piece as either a document or a performance. Click here for advice on devising an original piece of theatre.

4. Choose a literary text, film, or play which isn’t studied at school and make a case for why it should be included in the A-Level curriculum.

How to apply

• Deadline 2021: 5pm on Monday 2nd August 2021
• No more than one submission per student.

If you are submitting an essay:

(1) Save your essay as a word document or pdf;
(2) Complete the coversheet and email it along with a copy of your essay attached to 
      English-Prize@sheffield.ac.uk with "English Prize" in the subject field.
(3) Copy a teacher, parent, or guardian into your email so that they can verify your entry.

If you are submitting a recording of a performance:

(1) Save a recording of your piece in MP4 format and upload it to www.wetransfer.com;
(2) Complete the coversheet and email it to English-Prize@sheffield.ac.uk with "English Prize" in the subject field;
(3) On the coversheet, don't forget to include details of the wetransfer link to your piece;
(4) Copy a teacher, parent or guardian into the email so they can verify your entry.

If you have any questions, or issues, please get in touch with us at
English-Prize@sheffield.ac.uk.