1^st William Powell, St John Rigby College, Greater Manchester.

  2^nd Sophie Moody Stuart, Benenden School, Kent.

  3^rd Mathieu Yap, King’s College Wimbledon, London.

Highly commended:

Nye Steele, D’Overbroecks, Oxford

James Wellings, Haberdashers’ Boys’ School, Borehamwood

Jemima McDuell, Newstead Wood School, Orpington

Olivia Stephens, Colchester County High School for Girls

Saskia Edwards, King’s College Wimbledon, London

Chloe Lam, Cheltenham Ladies’ College

Commended:

George Thomas – Tonbridge School

Conrad Chung – Abingdon School

Andrew Sergeef – Tonbridge School

Henry Collins – Tonbridge School

Max Lee – Highgate School

Yusuf Khand – The Liverpool Bluecoat School

Ethan Penny – The Blue Coat School, Oldham

Congratulations to all who completed their 2,000 word essays. To have done that is an achievement in itself.

The prize money for the essay competition is: First – £1,500; Second – £600 and third – £300. This prize money will be divided equally between the students and the schools. Students whose entries are “highly commended” will receive £50 each. The awards ceremony will take place at the Athenaeum Club in London in the late afternoon of 4^th May. The winners and those highly commended will be invited to attend. Professor Timothy Garton Ash, who was himself monitored by the Stasi, will present the prizes.

The essays were anonymised before the judges saw them. The judges did not know who wrote the essays or which school they attend. This was to prevent any unconscious bias. The judges included the director of the Stasi Museum in Berlin.

The subject for the 2022-23 essay prize has now been announced. It will be the 1956 Hungarian Revolution. Please see the full announcement below.