King’s Senior Essay Competition 2019 – Winner Announced

The Senior School were tasked with submitting an academic essay of between 1,800 and 2,000 words. They could choose the topic from a list of titles given to them.  The results are in, and a big congratulations goes to Martha Mulliner (L6WER) who wrote the winning essay titled ‘Is faith rational?’

When asking Martha about winning she said: “I was really shocked to have won, especially considering the academic strength of my year group. I greatly enjoyed the process of writing the essay and look forward to further similar challenges in the years to come.”

Deputy Head of Sixth Form, Ali Hollingworth, has said: “I was very pleased with the all of the entries this year – 18 students entered, nearly 20% of the cohort. Titles are designed to stimulate higher thinking, moving beyond the curriculum and traditional subject boundaries: to examine ideas from a more holistic point of view. Students gain experience of many of the skills they need to be successful at university and beyond, including independent research, methodical planning and referencing skills. The essays are marked independently by a leading academic. The judge commented that the quality of entries was particularly strong this year. Martha’s essay particularly impressed the judge as her title required her to pin down a potentially very subjective issue into something rationally explorable – which she achieved with a series of simple, sensible discussion points which not only examined the premise but challenged it through the lens of a range of faiths and belief systems.”

A huge well done also goes to the two runners up, Max Wood (L6DUT), who chose the title ‘Is the general understanding of mathematics necessary in the computer age?’ and Hannah Peters (L6WAL) who considered ‘Is the rise of China good for America and Europe?’

Max and Hannah will receive their £75 prize at Prizegiving, as will Martha who will receive her prize of £150.