1. Eligibility
(a) Age
Entrants must be pupils in any of the year groups specified at the time of submitting their entry.
The competition is divided into two year groups, i.e. Group 1 will cover Years 10 and 11 *(S3 - 4 in Scotland); Group 2 will cover Years 12 and 13 (S5 - 6 in Scotland). There will be one winner from each age group in each region (see (b) below), i.e. a total of two winners per region. In addition there will be one overall competition winner per age group, selected from amongst the regional winners.
(b) Regions
The competition is open to residents of the UK (including the Channel Islands) and will be conducted regionally as follows:
England: London, East of England & the South East, Midlands, North East, North West, South West, Yorkshire & the Humber
Scotland
Wales
Northern Ireland
There will be one winner from each year group (see (a) above), in each region i.e. a total of two winners per region. In addition there will be one overall competition winner in each age group, selected from amongst the regional winners.
The Parliamentary Press Gallery reserves the right, if necessary,
to adapt these regions to reflect the geographical distribution of the entries received.
not to make an award in any section of the competition if, in the opinion of the judges, the standard of entries does not match the required criteria.
2. Verification All entries must be accompanied by a separate cover sheet giving the entrant’s
- Name
- Age and date of birth
- Year group
- Contact address and telephone number
- E-mail address (if applicable)
- School, including address, and education authority
This sheet must be endorsed by the entrant’s teacher, parent or guardian to verify that the details given are correct and that the essay is solely the work of the student concerned. Entries are limited to one per entrant.
3. Length Years 10 and 11: the essay must be not substantially less than 800 and not substantially more than 1,000 words in length.
Years 12 and 13: the essay must be not substantially less than 1500 and not substantially more than 1,700 words in length.
4. Publication Winning entries may be published either on-line or in the printed media. Copyright will rest with the Parliamentary Press Gallery.
5. Qualification Any entrant who in the opinion of the judges has not met the criteria laid down in these rules will be disqualified automatically.
6. Judging In reaching a decision the judges will take into account relevance to the title set and the strength and logic of the case put forward. There will be individual judging panels in each region which will choose that region’s winners; a national judging panel will then choose the overall winners in each age group from amongst the regional winners. The decision of the judges is final. The Parliamentary Press Gallery will not enter into any correspondence about the results or individual entries.
The winners will be announced in January 2008 and a list published on the Parliamentary Press Gallery’s web site.
7. Prizes Each prize winner will be invited to spend a day in London when there will be an opportunity to meet leading journalists and politicians. The visit is likely to take place in February/March 2008 on a date to be confirmed.
No cash alternative to these prizes will be offered.
All reasonable expenses incurred by the winners in travelling to London will be met. Overnight hotel accommodation will be provided where necessary. Winners may be accompanied by one parent or guardian, whose reasonable expenses will likewise be met by the Parliamentary Press Gallery. Reimbursement of expenses will only be made against receipts.
