Year 12 pupils at schools and colleges across the UK can now enter the 2026 Rex Nettleford Essay Prize on Colonialism and its Legacies. There are two cash prizes of £250 for the best entries and the prize winners as well as entrants whose essays are highly commended will be presented their awards at the 2026 Rex Nettleford Lecture in May.

The prize is named after Rex Nettleford, a Jamaican scholar, choreographer, social critic and activist who became a student at Oriel College on a Rhodes Scholarship in 1957, before later serving as Vice-Chancellor of the University of the West Indies. It forms part of Oriel’s work to focus on its association with Cecil Rhodes and promote engagement with the legacies of colonialism.

Previous winners have submitted essays dealing with a range of issues, including how Arrian’s account of Alexander the Great’s campaigns influenced British colonialism and the role of the arts in challenging racialised hierarchies in Tell Me How Long the Train’s Been Gone by James Baldwin.

All year 12 pupils at a UK school or college are eligible to enter the prize.

To enter, pupils are required to submit an essay that answers one of four questions. British colonialism provides the specific context for the essay prize. However, essays can address any relevant aspect, historical phase, cultural manifestation or geographical centre of colonialism, ancient or modern.

At least one of the cash awards, however, will go to a year 12 pupil from a non-selective state school in the Oriel College’s seven link regions where it focuses its outreach activities (Walsall, Wolverhampton, Dudley, Herefordshire, Worcestershire, Kensington and Chelsea, and Richmond upon Thames).

To enter the prize, pupils are required to submit an essay that answers one of four questions. The deadline for submissions is 12pm on Monday 23 February 2026.

Further details about the 2026 Rex Nettleford Lecture will be shared in due course.