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Our Competitions for High School Students
Every year, Immerse Education provides a global academic competition platform for ambitious learners and elevate their profiles. Our competitions for high school students offer you the opportunity to step beyond the school curriculum, explore the subjects you love at an undergraduate level, and pitch your ideas to world-class judges.
Whether your passion lies in crafting a definitive academic research paper, delivering a moving public speech, solving industry-specific case studies, or publishing insights on global trends, there is a pathway built for your voice. This is your chance to test your critical thinking, showcase your dedication, and compete for life-changing academic scholarships.
Each year, Immerse Education’s global academic competitions give ambitious high school students the chance to explore their chosen subjects beyond the classroom and present their ideas to world-class judges.
Whether through research, public speaking, case studies, or insightful writing, participants can showcase their critical thinking, strengthen their academic profiles, and compete for life-changing scholarships.
Why Should I Enter The Competition?
- Win prestigious scholarships
Outstanding entries across our competition categories are awarded fully-funded or partial scholarships to our premium residential programmes in global academic hubs and our online research streams.
- Build application evidence
Every competition requires a tangible output – an essay, a recorded talk, a project pitch, or a structured article. Entering gives you a credible piece of work you can explicitly reference in university personal statements, references, and interviews.
- Master 21st-Century Competencies
Moving through our entry frameworks explicitly sharpens future-proof skills like critical thinking, communication, creativity, and conscientiousness – giving you a measurable head start before university.
- Support from Oxbridge experts
As soon as you register interest in a competition, we’ll share resources crafted by subject matter experts to help you put your best foot forward. On top of that, you’ll receive invites to masterclasses with our world-leading tutors to further support your entry.
- Gain expert validation
Whether entering our essay competition, public speaking competition or innovation contest, your ideas will be judged against rigorous criteria reviewed by accomplished academics and industry practitioners who know exactly what elite universities look for.
Open to curious learners aged 13–18, worldwide
Our academic competitions for high school students are open to motivated, curious learners aged 13–18 from all over the world. Where relevant, the prompts for our competitions are split by age to ensure the perfect level of challenge.
No prior specific qualifications are required – we value promise, original insights, and a genuine motivation to grow.
Discover & explore
Discover foundational academic themes, practise structured argument, and express your subject curiosity.
Research & reason
Build university-level research depth, deploy advanced evidence-based reasoning, and tackle complex global or professional issues.
What can I win?
- Certificate of participation
All participants who complete and submit a valid entry receive a certificate of participation, providing authoritative evidence of academic enrichment to share with your school teachers and college counselors.
- Partial tuition awards
High-scoring finalists receive partial tuition scholarships (up to 75%) to secure their place on an Immerse Education programme.
- 100% scholarships
Top entrants win fully-funded places on our flagship residential summer schools — Cambridge, London, New York, San Francisco, Singapore — or the Online Research Programme.
Watch our past competition winners share their journeys, scholarship experiences, and advice for future applicants directly on our YouTube channel.
Competition calendar
Our competitive tracks run throughout the academic year, aligned with specific pathways and learning formats:
The Immerse Essay Competition
- Launch: August 3, 2026
- Deadline: October 25, 2026
Write an undergraduate-style essay on a prompt from your favourite subject, inspired by Oxford and Cambridge syllabi.
Scholarship prize
Academic Insights programme
The TED Summer School Competition
- Launch: November 2, 2026
- Deadline: January 16, 2027
Built with the TED-Ed team: submit a short talk or script on an idea worth spreading. For storytellers and future leaders.
Scholarship prize
TED Summer School
place
The Future Innovators Scholarship
- Launch: 1 February 2027
- Deadline: 28 March 2027
Identify a market gap and pitch an innovative solution by video or in writing. Our platform for STEM and innovation contests.
Scholarship prize
Career Insights programme
The Immerse Blog Competition
- Launch: April 5, 2027
- Deadline: May 30, 2027
Our most flexible track. Submit a structured article or short review to win a funded place on the Online Research Programme.
Scholarship prize
Online Research Programme
Hear from past winners in their own words
Watch scholarship winners share their journeys, experiences and advice for future applicants.
The Admissions & Entry Sequence
Participating in an Immerse competition follows a structured path designed to prepare you for high-level academic performance:
Select your competition track and complete the free registration form to access your prompt pack and submission brief. Top tip: explore our four pathways first, and select the competition that aligns with the programme you’d most like to win a scholarship for! Here’s a quick guide
Identify your focus area or winning idea – one you’re enthusiastic about, as you’ll be exploring it in depth. For the Future Innovators competition, you’ll also have to decide between a video or written entry. If you need help picking, keep your eyes peeled for our webinars and emails – they’ll contain a lot of advice to help you get started.
Develop your response using our clear structural entry guidelines, focusing on original insight and rigorous argument.
Upload your final paper, article, or recorded talk to the secure Immerse submission portal before the round deadline.
Your entry undergoes anonymized review by our academic panel. All valid entrants receive official certificate recognition, and scholarship awards are issued to top-performing profiles.
FAQs
Are these competitions open to international students?
Yes. All Immerse Education competitions are entirely global. We welcome high school students from any country, provided you have a level of English fluency sufficient to research, write, or present your ideas clearly.
How much does it cost to enter an Immerse competition?
Entering our competitions is completely free. There are no registration or submission fees at any stage of the competitive rounds.
Can I enter more than one competition in a year?
Yes. You are welcome to submit entries to different competition rounds within the same year (e.g., submitting an academic essay in October and a public speaking entry for the TED competition in November), provided you meet the age eligibility requirements at the time of submission.
Important Note: Your most recent competition result will overwrite any previous results. If you have already won a scholarship, you must utilise it before entering another competition round, or your new result will replace it.
How are submissions evaluated?
All entries are evaluated through a rigorous, anonymized grading process. Submissions are assessed against predefined criteria including structure, clarity of argument, original thinking, effective deployment of evidence or narrative data, and academic or professional relevance.
