Essay Competition:
Win a 100% Scholarship With Immerse Education

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Participate in the Immerse Education Essay Competition for a chance to win a full or partial scholarship to our university and career preparation programmes. Since 2020, the competition has offered ambitious students the opportunity to win a full or partial scholarship on our award-winning programmes.

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150+ Scholarships Yearly
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20,000+

Alumni globally

97%

Participants would recommend Immerse

What Is the Essay Competition?

Prizes

40 runners-up will be awarded partial scholarships of 75% to study their chosen subject with Immerse.
10 winners will receive a 100% scholarship for their exceptional work. Take a look at previous essay competition winners.
The last category of 150 entrants receive partial scholarships worth 50%.
Merit Awards

Top ranking essays that don’t receive a scholarship will be eligible for the option of a £1000 award for our residential programmes, a £500 award for our Online Research Programmes, or a £250 award for our Group Online Research Programme.

Why Participate?

The competition is extremely competitive, receiving thousands of entries annually. Even if you don’t win a scholarship or merit award, every participant who submits a qualifying essay will:

• Develop advanced academic writing and research skills through an exclusive online workshop

• Build a stronger academic portfolio ahead of university applications

• Receive a £500 voucher towards residential programmes (or £250 towards select Online Research Programmes)

And Many Other Benefits...

Academic Recognition

Enhance your academic profile for university applications. Partial winners receive completion certificates – and those who write outstanding essays also receive comments from our remarkable guest judges.

Interview Preparation

University interviewers want you to discuss the subject you’re applying for with genuine enthusiasm. They look for depth of understanding and the ability to articulate your thoughts clearly. Writing an essay deepens your knowledge and improves your ability to present complex ideas.

Skill Development

Our essays are assessed against a mark scheme designed by academic experts. Completing an essay allows you to experience academic writing, promoting related skills like research, critical thinking and editing. Immerse provides support every step of the way.

Competition Details

You’re not on your own. To help your essay shine, Immerse Eduction provides guides, tips and support.

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Open to 13-18 year old students

Students can submit an essay if they will be 13-18 years old when the programmes for which the scholarships are valid begin.

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500-word academic essay

Register interest to access the Essay Competition Guide with all the questions, tips and guidance on plagiarism, AI & referencing. You can also attend one of our regular essay writing webinars to level-up your writing.

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Graded by experts and guest judges

Expert judges assess the essays based on their content, quality of research and critical analysis. Elements like word choice and structure, evidence and inference, as well as vocabulary spelling, grammar and punctuation are also assessed. Student age groups are also taken into consideration.

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A chance to win a scholarship for any programme you like

If you win a scholarship, you can use it toward one of our renowned online programmes or one of our award-winning residential courses in any of our locations including Oxford, Cambridge, London, Sydney and New York to name a few.

Programmes Our Scholarship Can Be Redeemed Against

Our Guest Judges

Who Judges Your Essays?

Our guest judges and markers are chosen for their exceptional subject matter knowledge and the prominence of their organisation in industries aligned with our essay topics. Many of them come from a teaching or academic background with advanced degrees in political science, English, business, physics, medicine, creative writing and more. This diverse expertise ensures that our judging process is both rigorous and insightful. 

Judging Criteria

The essay competition assessment criteria look at academic writing qualities like research and evidence, word choice and critical analysis, in addition to spelling, grammar & punctuation. Student age groups and are also considered in this assessment.

Hear From Our Previous Winners

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Register Interest for these Essay-Writing Resources

FAQs

Who can enter the Immerse Essay Competition?

The Immerse Education Essay Competition is open to entries from young people aged 13-18 interested in all subjects, from Architecture to Medicine, Creative Writing to Film Studies. However, students aged 18 should only submit an essay if they will still be 18 when the programmes the scholarships are valid for begin.

Any scholarships or vouchers awarded during the current round of the essay competition will only be valid for 2025 Immerse Education Programmes

Immerse provides a full essay-writing guide which is sent to your email address once you register your interest in the competition. This guide includes a full list of essay questions, our essay specification, top tips for writing an academic essay, referencing guidance, our terms and conditions and guidance on plagiarism! Registering interest also ensures that you’re on track to submitting your essay on time, through a series of helpful reminder prompts.

To support further you can register for our webinars, which offer top tips and guidance with essay writing from our experts. You are also welcome to explore our creative writing resources.

Funded scholarship to study abroad: Our essay competition offers students like you the chance to win a full or partial scholarship to one of our Online Programmes or residential programmes in locations such as Oxford, Cambridge, Sydney, London and more.

 

Ongoing support from Immerse while you write: Full support from our team as you write your essay, with free guides and top tips to help you along the way. Sign up to receive our full Essay competition Guide and free tips and tricks as you write. You can also follow us on Instagram and Tik Tok to get more useful essay writing tips.

 

Demonstrate what you know: The competition is a chance for you to demonstrate your content knowledge by answering advanced university-style questions.

 

Build your skills and knowledge: The opportunity to apply and advance your essay writing skills. You will likely learn something new in the process!

 

Develop your self-discipline: A chance to strengthen your self-discipline as you commit to a challenging project and complete it from start to finish.

Essays are graded by expert markers and guest judges who assess the essays across the following criteria:

  • – Content
  • – Research & Critical analysis
  • – Word choice & structure
  • – Evidence and inference
  • – Spelling, Grammar & Punctuation
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Scholarship offers depend on the grades that students achieve. The higher the grade a student receives, the higher the likelihood of achieving a 100% or high partial scholarship. 

The essay competition receives thousands of entries each year, and with the vast number of high-standard entries, we acknowledge the efforts of all participants who have dedicated their time to completing an essay. As such, beyond our full and high-partial scholarships we provide further offers to entrants to facilitate access to our transformative programmes.

If you win a scholarship via the Essay Competition 2024/2025 you can use it toward any residential course in any of our locations. Use your scholarship to enrol on one of our renowned online programmes or enriching in-person/residential summer school programmes in cultural melting pots such as Cambridge, Oxford, London, New York, Toronto, Sydney and more.

No, there is no entry fee and you do not need to have already enrolled onto any of our programmes to take part in the essay competition.

The deadline for the Immerse Essay Competition falls in early September and early January each year. The deadline for the current round is January 16th, 2025.

To submit your essay, create an account or login to Succeed.

Visit the Competitions section and complete the submission form.

Your essay is automatically saved if you are connected to the internet but you must click ‘submit’ to finalise your entry.

Register to receive free Essay Competition guidance

The Immerse Education Essay Competition provides the opportunity for students aged 13-18 to submit essay responses to a pre-set question relating to their chosen subject. Register interest to receive your guide with the comprehensive list of questions including:

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