Armstrong Arts and Humanities Essay Competition Winner Announced 2026

Magdalene College is delighted to announce the winners of the Armstrong Arts and Humanities Essay Competition 2026.
The competition invited Year 12 students from UK state-maintained schools to submit a response to one of twelve essay questions, which encompassed a variety of Arts & Humanities subjects available to study at undergraduate level at the University of Cambridge. 

This year, the competition received 149 entries of fantastic quality. The best 30 essays were shortlisted for consideration by the judging panel, comprised of Fellows Prof Silke Mentchen, Dr Simon Ravenscroft, Dr Sara Caputo, Dr Michelle Taylor, and Dr Niamh Bridson Hubbard.

First Prize was awarded to Amelia Beckett from Sheffield whose essay discussed the question:

“… what we call ‘social knowledge’ and ‘natural knowledge’ are hybrid entities: what we know of comets, icebergs, and neutrinos irreducibly contains what we know of those people who speak for and about these things, just as what we know about the virtues of people is informed by their speech about things that exist in the world.” (Steven Shapin, 1994). Discuss in relation to the validity of science. 

You can read Amelia’s winning essay here, or via the link on the right hand side. 

The Second Prize was awarded to Sarah Ashcroft from Manchester. She responded to the following question:

“Language is the road map of a culture. It tells you where its people come from and where they are going.” (Rita Mae Brown, born 1944). Discuss this quote with reference to studying languages.

Zaheen Farook from Hertfordshire won the Third Prize for his reflection on the question:

“Critical theorist Andre Gorz calls for a ‘politics of time’, which reflects that autonomy over time is central to human freedom. Discuss the importance of self determination in time-use compared to other aspects of freedom .”

Honourable Mentions were also awarded to Jacob Richards from Gateshead, Eleanor Willett from East Sussex and Keren Ren from Bromley for their highly commendable work. 

As a mark of their achievement, all winners and their guests have been invited to a prize-giving celebration at Magdalene College in September 2026. This will prove a wonderful opportunity to congratulate these young scholars on their hard work. 

The judging panel were delighted by the scope and quality of work this year, and have provided the following feedback to entrants:

“The Armstrong Essay Competition enjoyed another successful year. We received a large number of entries, collectively showing an enormous amount of thought, research, enthusiasm, and industry. The winning and honourably mentioned essays were of an excellent standard, and this fierce competition prevented us from acknowledging other work of merit. Each of the twelve questions was tackled and many of the answers took very original and creative paths, drawing upon vast research. We would like to thank everyone who put sustained labour and thought into their entry; we hope that you found completing the essays at least as rewarding and enjoyable as it was for us to judge them.”

The College is hugely grateful to the donor whose generosity has made this annual competition possible, and everyone involved is already looking forward to next year’s competition. 

Thank you and congratulations to all who took the time to enter the Armstrong Arts and Humanities Essay Competition 2026.