University of Oxford Life Sciences Essay Competition winner!
Back in March, 11 Lower Sixth Biologists entered the Lincoln College, University of Oxford, Life Sciences essay. This involved them choosing from three titles and writing an essay of 1,500 words, demonstrating their ability to think scientifically. We are very proud of all our pupils who entered and a huge congratulations to Isabelle H and Daniel Q for achieving bronze, Hayley L, Chloe A and Fitnet Q for achieving a silver award and to Victoria S for achieving gold! Victoria wrote her essay about non-coding DNA, coined ‘junk DNA’ in the 1970s, it makes-up about 98% of the human genome and our understanding of its role is constantly changing. The college received over 400 submissions, so this is a considerable achievement- congratulations! As part of her prize Victoria has been invited to Lincoln College during half-term, to explore the College, and speak with the tutors, as well as receive her certificate. Miss Harry is especially excited as Lincoln was her old college! We look forward to hearing all about the visit after the half-term break.
Independent Research Prize 2026
Runner-up: Sara K
Winner: Anders M
Thank you to all the pupils across the Family of »»ÆÞ¾ãÀÖ²¿s who took part. It was a joy to see such a wide range of topics explored with such enthusiasm, creativity and scholarly ambition, and it was a privilege to work with so many curious and engaged learners.
Our thanks also go to the judges for their thoughtful reports and support throughout the competition, particularly our Finals Judges: Adrian Floyd (Headmaster, Hawthorns Prep), Nicola Stone (Head of Academic Excellence, Copthorne) and Joshua Parker (Head of EDGE, Caterham »»ÆÞ¾ãÀÖ²¿).
We now look forward to next year’s competition — with the theme to be revealed in March 2027.
Harriet Datta, Junior Enrichment Tutor & Head of German
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