Ready to win the Commonwealth essay competition 2024? This article explores the effective tips and tricks for you to ace your paper and stand first in the contest.
The 50th anniversary of this contest is coming up: if you have good writing skills and you want to try your luck, the Queen’s Commonwealth Essay Competition is open at the moment. Scholarship Roar mentions that among the 2.5 billion population of Commonwealth countries, almost 60% are under the age of 30 years. This essay contest is a top-notch opportunity if you consider yourself an exceptional young person who wants recognition for his dynamic youth force ideas.
In 2023 alone, the Royal Commonwealth Society received a record-breaking number of 34,924 entries from Malaysia and India. The entrants ranged from 14-year-old students to 18-year-olds. If you are starting to panic, please don’t – you still have time.
Before the deadline of this competition i.e. June 30, 2024 ends, prepare yourself fully and utilise as many scholarly sources as you can. Read more, practise creative writing and review the essays of previous winners. Getting professional support from an expert essay writer online shall also be a game changer as such writers have a knack for stellar writing abilities.
Even if you win a certificate of participation in this contest, it shall be a level up for your resume and help you hone your writing skills further. Let’s study the details of this scholarship program.
Contents
What Is the Commonwealth Essay Competition?
The Royal Family mentions that this essay competition is the oldest competition in the world that involves the test of the writing skills of international students. The full name of this contest is the Queen Commonwealth Essay Competition (QCEC) and it has been conducted by the Royal Commonwealth Society for many decades. The contest first started in 1883.
Who Won the Commonwealth Essay Competition in 2023?
The senior winner of the Commonwealth Essay Competition 2023 was Siddhi Deshmukh from India. She is a 17-year-old student, who is passionate about studying History, English Literature, Political Science, Psychology and more. She won the contest by crafting a piece of writing titled, ‘An Angel that Burns’.
The names of the other three winners are also mentioned here:
- Shreeya Sahi – 12 years old junior winner
- Yong Sin Kong – 15 years old senior runner-up
- Mitali Ragtah – 11 years old junior runner up
What Awards Do You Get for the Commonwealth Essay Competition?
The following awards are given to the winners of Commonwealth essay competitions:
- The runners-up and winners (from senior and junior categories) are brought to London for a week of cultural and educational events.
- They are made to attend a special Awards Ceremony.
- The excellence in writing of both winners and runner-ups is awarded by Gold, Bronze and Silver awards.
What Is the Word Limit for the Commonwealth Essay Competition?
After School Africa shares the maximum word limits for the essays for Commonwealth essay competitions. The essays from senior entries should have 1500 words and the word count limit is 750 words for the junior categories. There are no minimum word count requirements for these essays to be submitted by the participants.
Who Is Eligible for the Commonwealth Essay Competition?
The Commonwealth Foundation specifies these requirements for eligibility to participate in a powered Commonwealth essay contest:
- The writers must be below 18 years of age.
- The entrants should be the residents or nationals of commonwealth countries.
- The students from Zimbabwe, Ireland, and Hong Kong also participated in the Queen’s Commonwealth essay.
How Do You Write for Commonwealth Essay Competition?
1. Begin With a Compelling Hook
The best hack for preparing your essays for the Commonwealth Essay competition is to start with a compelling hook in your work. A hook is one or two sentences at the start of your essay that capture the attention of the audience and make them keep reading. Give them a snapshot of your character and they will be eager to know more about you.
2. Follow the STAR Rule
Your Commonwealth essay competition structure must follow the STAR rule. The written work is all about demonstrating how your leadership and youthful abilities made you learn intriguing lessons in life. This four-part acronym helps you craft a strong essay:
- S – Describe the situation (what, when, where, who)
- T – Explain your task (the objective)
- A – State your actions (what you did, how and when)
- R – Mention the result (was it qualitative or quantitative?)
3. Make Your Impact
Demonstrate your natural creative abilities and interesting life stories in your essay in a manner that leaves an impact on the minds of readers. Think about how your leadership qualities impacted your work and explain that in your essay. Your readers will be, most definitely, drawn to you.
4. Follow the Writing Guidelines
Follow the writing guidelines of the Commonwealth essay contest and ensure that you adhere to all the formatting guidelines. The presentation of your essay must be top-notch and there should be no kind of mistakes in your work. Do not write too little – also, do not exceed the word count limit when you are crafting your essay.
5. Make It Interesting
Well, this one is quite a no-brainer – your essay must be unique and interesting so that it retains the attention of your audience. Study the list of topics provided by the competition body and choose the topic which resonates with you the most. Put your heart and soul into the writing process and do not forget to get critical feedback on your work from your friends and family.
Commonwealth Essay Competition Topics for 2024
The best Commonwealth essay competition ideas to prepare for the 2024 contest are the following:
- Throughout fiction and history, young people have performed acts of heroism. Pick your favourite hero and write about why you admire them.
- Who do you consider a youthful superpower for you and how do you think it can make a difference in the world?
- Do you think that age really matters?
- Did 2023 bring any significant social change in you? How can you use that change to impact the people around you?
- Write a script between two people who have contrasting perspectives on a controversial topic.
Conclusion
In summary, you must check the submission guidelines of your Commonwealth essay competition before you click send on your work. Entries must be submitted online because offline submissions are very hard to process. Be as natural & innovative as you can while crafting your essay and let your creative juices flow. When you genuinely enjoy crafting your papers, the work reflects your passion and appeals to the readers.
During the preparation phase of this contest, students feel lost because they are not of the age where they have read plenty of extracurricular books. Their reading experience is mostly based on the successful comprehension of course books. They can seek wonderful Commonwealth essay competition help from expert writers to facilitate their quest for recommended prep sources. The Academic Papers UK has a team of world-class writers who have a penchant for writing winning scholarship essays per the needs of clients.