Lloyd Davies Philosophy Prize
Established in 2006, the Lloyd Davies Philosophy Prize is an essay competition open to students in Year 12 or the Lower 6th. The first prize is £250, and there may also be a second prize of £150.
The purpose of the Prize is:
- To give students in Year 12 or the Lower 6th who are considering applying to a University an opportunity to write about a subject they are interested in. This should enable them to develop their abilities for independent research and thought in Philosophy.
- To support teachers of able pupils by providing interesting and challenging further work in Philosophy and by bringing such students into contact with Higher Education.
- To encourage able students to consider applying to study Philosophy, either at Oxford or at another university, by giving them some experience of the type of work involved.
- To recognise the achievement and effort of the best of those who apply through prizes and commendations. Note: the judges are not able to provide feedback on any essays.
Assessment Criteria
Entrants should be in Year 12 (or equivalent) at their school or college. The judges will look for originality of thought, a clear grasp of the issues, clarity in presentation and a critical approach to what has been read. They will also look for a clear structure to the essay.
How to Apply
The 2020 competition is now open for entries. Essays should be no more than 2500 words in length and should be on one of the topics listed below. Essays should be word processed and submitted by email in either Word or PDF format to admissions@oriel.ox.ac.uk. A font size of 12pt or greater should be used, and the page margins should be set to no less than 1 inch. Entries must be sent with a completed entry form, which is available to download here. Please include a bibliography (note: this does not count towards the word limit).
Essays must be received by 12 noon on Monday 22nd June.
The prize money for the essay competition is £200 for the winning entry/entries.
Titles for 2020 Entries
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Should vaccines be compulsory?
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Is it rational to believe in the existence of viruses but not to believe in the existence of dark matter?
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Could you survive the transplant of your brain into another body?
2019 Competition Result
The joint winners of the 2019 competition were Matthew Drury (Loughborough Grammar School) and Tom Francis (Twyford CofE High School). Matthew and Tom each received prizes of £200 and you can read their winning essays below:
Matthew Drury
Loughborough Grammar School
Tom Francis
Twyford CofE High School
The standard of competition was high this year and, in addition to the joint winners, our tutors highly commended the essays of the following three entrants:
- Alessandro Coppola, Malvern College (Title 3)
- Kai Kobashi, Kaetsu Ariake High School (Title 2)
- Shrinidhi Prakash, St Olave's Grammar School (Title 1)
We would like to thank everyone who took part and we wish you all every success in your future studies.
2018 Competition Result
The joint winners of the 2018 competition were: Francoise Nel and Lucy Psaila. Francoise and Lucy each receive prizes of £200 and you can read their winning essays below: