Essay Competition
Peckard Prize
Magdalene College invites undergraduate students at the University of Cambridge to submit entries for the annual Peter Peckard Memorial Prize.
Entries are welcome from individual students, University and College societies, and from work produced as part of an undergraduate degree.
Background
The Peter Peckard Memorial Prize was established through the generosity of two Magdalene Members to honour the legacy of Peter Peckard, who served as Master of Magdalene in the eighteenth century.
In 1784, as Vice-Chancellor of the University, Peckard set the undergraduate essay prize topic: Is it ever right to make slaves of others against their will? Thomas Clarkson, then a scholar at St John’s College, won the prize with an essay that exposed the brutal realities of slavery. The research he undertook for this work had a profound impact on him. Clarkson went on to devote his life to the abolitionist cause and later encouraged William Wilberforce to take up the issue in Parliament.
The prize was created to commemorate Peckard’s role in these events and to encourage critical engagement with issues of modern-day slavery and exploitation.
Brief
A research-based essay or equivalent (research paper, report, short film, podcast, blog post, or other media) on some egregious form of human exploitation in the world today and the actions needed to eliminate it.
- competition open to University of Cambridge undergraduate students
- work produced for undergraduate degrees welcomed
- collective entries by a University or College Society welcomed
- entries must be between 6,000-10,000 words (excluding the bibliography)
- figures, tables, etc., will count at 250 words per page
- all debts to other scholars, including teachers, books, articles and websites, should be acknowledged
- submissions must be in English and submitted using the Peter Peckard Memorial Prize Entry Form
- in the case of a tie, the judges will split the prize
Prize
Prize: £1,500
Winner announced: 22 July 2026
Prize-giving Ceremony
The winner will be invited, with a guest and the Head of House or Senior Tutor from their College, to a prize-giving ceremony in October. This will be followed by a dinner at Magdalene, hosted by the Master, Senior Fellows, and members of the prize-giving committee.