This year has been a record-breaking year for the Commonwealth Essay Competition. Not only has the competition received in excess of 11,000 entries, but over 70 judges have been involved in the judging process and the standard of entries has been excellent.
As the competition celebrates its 130th anniversary, it is evident that the competition remains an important means of expression for young people across the Commonwealth, as over 830 schools across 55 Commonwealth countries and territories participated.
For 2013 the theme of the competition was ‘Opportunity through Enterprise’. The judges were impressed at the creativity and research that entrants displayed in approaching the topics.
As ever, there was an extremely high standard of entry as participants competed with their peers from every corner of the Commonwealth, so to win an award is a big achievement.
We are delighted to announce that over 2,000 entries won awards, with the top prizes going to New Zealand, Guernsey, Canada and Hong Kong. The judges also selected a number of excellent Gold entries from both the Junior and Senior Categories to receive special commendations.
The top two Prize Winners will be flown to London for a special awards ceremony in the autumn and the Runners-Up will be invited to local awards ceremonies.
All Gold, Silver and Bronze winners will receive certificates before the end of 2013 and entrants who didn’t receive an award this year are entitled to certificates of participation.
Congratulations to all winners and thank you to the Commonwealth Essay Competition 2013 sponsors Cambridge University Press for their support in this record-breaking year!
Awards
Special Commendations
These are Gold entries that the judging panels felt were in contention for the title of Prize Winner and Runner-Up and deserve special commendations.
Senior Category
- Kavya Deshpande, 14 years old, India
- Vernise Wong Yun Lin, 15 years old, Nanyang Girls’ High School, Singapore
- Liew Ying Ching, 15 years old, Malaysia
- Lauren Palmer, 18 years old, South Africa
- Cecilia Wang, 16 years old, Endeavour College, Australia
- Karisma Maheswari, 15 years old, Aditya Birla World Academy, India
- Mbali Shongwe, 16 years old, Durban Girls’ High School, Durban, South Africa
- Yi Ning Chang, 15 years old, Nanyang Girls’ High School, Singapore
Junior Category
- Ishani Mukherjee, 13 years old, India
- Thomas Hodson, 14 years old, Baobab College, Zambia
- Aidan Blakney, 9 years old, Queenstown Primary School, Singapore
- Charisse Kwong, 11 years old, The Learning Lab, Singapore
- Desiree Ng Yu Qing, 14 years old, Tanjong Katong Girls’ School, Singapore
- Dulani Hannadige, Ladies College, 15 years old, Sri Lanka
- Kaw Khin Kant, 13 years old, Temasek Junior College, Singapore
- Nuzhat Biswas, 14 years old, Lakehead Grammar School, Dhaka, Bangladesh
- Shenali Wijesinghe, 14 years old, Sri Lanka
Special Mentions
These are entries from students with learning difficulties that the judges felt deserved a special mention.
- Samuel Preece, 18 years old, Crosskeys Campus Coleg Gwent, UK
- Danielle Oak, 18 years old, Crosskeys Campus Coleg Gwent, UK
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To contact the competitions team email competitions@thercs.org