Word Count: 600 words. Deadline: Friday 29th August 2025.
Entrants: All students in Year 10 and Year 11 from the Blackpool and Fylde area.
HISTORY ESSAY COMPETITION
Read the following Item and answer the question that follows. Using material from the Item, your knowledge and historical examples, do you agree with the claim that we do not learn from history?
Item
German Philosopher George Hegel (1770-1831) said:” We learn from history that we do not learn from history.”
This quote has been applied to multiple historical events and reused and adapted by authors such as George Bernard Shaw and even former Prime Minister Winston Churchill.
The AKS Lytham History Essay Competition is open to all students currently in Year 10 and Year 11 from any school in the Blackpool and Fylde area. It is designed to give students the opportunity to think and write about historical issues that are relevant in their own lives, their local community, and nationally. The competition may be of interest to those planning to study A level History in the future.
The AKS Lytham History Essay Competition will have a £100 Amazon gift card first prize, with a number of highly commended and commended certificates also awarded. The winning entry will be published on the AKS Lytham website
Submission
Entrants are invited to submit a response which should be approximately 600 words. All entries must be submitted by Friday, 29th August 2025. The winning entry will be announced on Thursday, 11th September 2025. Each candidate will be required to provide the email address of a school teacher who is familiar with the candidate's written academic work. AKS Lytham will email referees to verify that the essays submitted are indeed the original work of the candidates. Essays will be judged on the following criteria: Knowledge and understanding of the topic
The use of appropriate historical examples to support the argument Evidence of personal engagement and opinion in the task. All research undertaken must be cited in the submission form
Entrants should submit their entry here: https://forms.office.com/e/P7DKManQKd
For any queries not answered here, please contact the Head of History at AKS Lytham Sixth Form Hannah.jenkinson@akslytham.com.
SOCIOLOGY ESSAY COMPETITION
£100 Amazon giftcard FirstPrize
Word Count: 600 words.
Deadline: Friday 29th August 2025.
Entrants: All students in Year 10 and Year 11 from the Blackpool and Fylde area.
SOCIOLOGY ESSAY COMPETITION
Read the following Item and answer the question that follows:
Using material from the Item and your knowledge, do you agree with the claim that traditional media no longer serves a purpose in society?
Traditional Media (Television, Newspapers, Magazine, Radio) is seen as one way the norms* and values* of society are transmitted to its citizens For example, British traditional media reinforce British values such as democracy, the rule of law, mutual respect and tolerance of different faiths and beliefs. The number of young people engaging with traditional media is in decline, and New Media (the internet, social media, strweaming services) is the preferred choice for news and information
The AKS Lytham Sociology Essay Competition is open to all students currently in Year 10 and Year 11 from any school in the Blackpool and Fylde area. It is designed to give students the opportunity to think and write about historical issues that are relevant in their own lives, their local community, and nationally. The competition may be of interest to those planning to study A level Sociology in the future. The AKS Lytham Sociology Essay Competition will have a £100 Amazon gift card first prize, with a number of highly commended and commended certificates also awarded The winning entry will be published on the AKS Lytham website
Submission
Entrants are invited to submit a response which should be approximately 600 words. All entries must be submitted by Friday, 29th August 2025. The winning entry will be announced on Thursday, 11th September 2025. Each candidate will be required to provide the email address of a school teacher who is familiar with the candidate's written academic work. AKS Lytham will email referees to verify that the essays submitted are indeed the original work of the candidates. Essays will be judged on the following criteria:
Knowledge and understanding of the topic
The use of appropriate historical examples to support the argument
Evidence of personal engagement and opinion in the task
All research undertaken must be cited in the submission form
Entrants should submit their entry here: https://forms.office.com/e/P7DKManQKd
For any queries not answered here, please contact the Head of History at AKS Lytham Sixth Form kevin.maund@akslytham.com.
Word Count: 600 words. Deadline: Friday 29th August 2025.
Entrants: All students in Year 10 and Year 11 from the Blackpool and Fylde area.
ENGLISH ESSAY COMPETITION
The AKS Lytham English Essay Competition is open to all students in Year 10 and Year 11 from any school in the Blackpool and Fylde area It is designed to give students the opportunity to critically engage with a range of texts either for English Language or English Literature. The competition may be of interest to those considering A level English Language or A level English Literature in the future.
Either AKS Lytham English Essay Competition will have a £100 Amazon gift card first prize, with a number of highly commended and commended certificates also awarded. The winning entries will be published on the AKS Lytham website.
Submission
Entrants are invited to submit a response which should be approximately 600 words. All entries must be submitted by Friday, 29th August 2025. The winning entry will be announced on Thursday, 11th September 2025. Each candidate will be required to provide the email address of a school teacher who is familiar with the candidate's written academic work. AKS Lytham will email referees to verify that the essays submitted are indeed the original work of the candidates. Essays will be judged on the following criteria: knowledge and understanding of the topic the use of appropriate examples to support the argument evidence of personal engagement and opinion in the task. All research undertaken must be cited in the submission form. Entrants should submit their entry here:
Entrants should submit their entry here:
English Language https://forms office com/e/XCsTBm4j7P
English Literature https://forms office com/e/P6a7txujhU
For any queries not answered here, please contact the Head of Sociology at AKS Lytham Sixth Form deboarah.mayhew@akslytham.com.
The AKS Lytham English Literature Essay Competition 2025
What beliefs about gender might your reading of these poems support and what specific literary and cultural sources do they appear to draw on? OR Should literary texts that offend still be studied and why? E N G L I S H E S S A Y C O M P E T I T I O N
Read the following two poems by American poet Robert Frost (1875-1963).
Never Again Would Bird’s Song be the Same He would declare and could himself believe That the birds there in all the garden round From having heard the daylong voice of Eve Had added to their own an oversound, Her tone of meaning but without the words. Admittedly an eloquence so soft Could only have had an influence on birds When call or laughter carried it aloft Be that as may be, she was in their song. Moreover her voice upon their voices crossed Had now persisted in the woods so long That probably it never would be lost. Never again would birds’ song be the same And to do that to birds was why she came
The Aim Was Song
Before man came to blow it right
The wind once blew itself untaught, And did its loudest day and night In any rough place where it caught. Man came to tell it what was wrong: It hadn’t found the place to blow; It blew too hard the aim was song. And listen how it ought to go!
He took a little in his mouth, And held it long enough for north To be converted into south, And then by measure blew it forth. By measure It was word and note, The wind the wind had meant to be A little through the lips and throat. The aim was song the wind could see.
The AKS Lytham English Language Essay Competition
Below is an extract from an online article about ‘correct’ English. It was published by Prospect Magazine in 2015. In the article two writers debate their opposing views on ‘correct’ English.
The Duel: Is there such a thing as correct English? Does it matter if we split infinitives or fuse particles? Campaigners for “correct” English think that it does.
Write a lively opinion article for a magazine or newspaper concerning views about using standard or ‘correct’ English. E N G L I S H E S S A Y C O M P E T I T I O N
PHILOSOPHY & ETHICS ESSAY COMPETITION
£100 Amazon giftcard FirstPrize
Word Count: 600 words.
Deadline: Friday 29th August 2025.
Entrants: Open to all students in Year 10 and Year 11 from the Blackpool and Fylde area.
PHILOSOPHY AND ETHICS ESSAY COMPETITION
Read the following Item and answer the question that follows:
Do you agree with Ivan, do you agree that there is too much evil in the world for a God to truly exist?
Use your knowledge and evaluation skills to write an essay in response to this claim.
Item
Fydor Dostoevsky in his book The Brothers Karamazov, writes as Ivan (character from the book) is angry with God for all the evil and terrible suffering in the word
‘I hand my ticket back to you God’ Ivan no longer wants to be in the ‘game’ of this world as he believes the evil and suffering that is clearly evident, is too vast and too painful. He believes Heaven is not worth all the suffering one must endure.
The AKS Lytham Philosophy and Ethics Essay Competition is open to all students currently in Year 10 and Year 11 from any school in the Blackpool and Fylde area It is designed to give students the opportunity to think and write about Philosophical and Ethical issues that are relevant in their own lives, their local community, and nationally.
The competition may be of interest to those considering A level Religious Studies or A level Philosophy
The AKS Lytham Philosophy and Ethics Essay Competition will have a £100 Amazon gift card first prize, with a number of highly commended and commended certificates also awarded The winning entry will be published on the AKS Lytham website
Submission
Entrants are invited to submit a response which should be approximately 600 words. All entries must be submitted by Friday, 29th August 2025. The winning entry will be announced on Thursday, 11th September 2025.
Each candidate will be required to provide the email address of a school teacher who is familiar with the candidate's written academic work. AKS Lytham will email referees to verify that the essays submitted are indeed the original work of the candidates. Essays will be judged on the following criteria: knowledge and understanding of the topic the use of appropriate examples to support argument evidence of personal engagement and opinion in the task. All research undertaken must be cited in the submission form.
Entrants should submit their entry here: https://forms.office.com/e/afgC383pAU
For any queries not answered here, please contact the Head of Religious Studies at AKS Lytham Sixth Form liam.donovan@akslytham.com