Students in years 12 and 13 are invited to submit a 1,500 word article, in the style of a newspaper feature, providing a balanced view on the following subject:

Does the cost of going to University represent value for money?

Information for Teachers:

The WCIB 2011competition will function on the following lines: 

• There is no cost to schools / colleges to enter this competition.

• The competition is open to all members of years 12 and 13 (whatever subjects they are doing) and to others if they wish to participate.

• Schools / colleges entering students into the competition must register their names with the contact person by email by September 30th, 2011. (For contact details see below).
• Entries must be 1,500 words +/- 10% and prepared in digital format compatible with MS Word. Longer or shorter entries will be disqualified. Word count must be stated on the entry.
• Each entry must have a cover sheet stating the name of the author, the name of the school / college and the date it was delivered to the teacher for assessment together with the word count.
• The teacher at each school / college will decide the winner and runner-up (if there are 5 entries at least) at the school / college by November 11th, 2011. The teacher will then send the winning entry with its completed cover sheet and a statement of the number of entries actually received to the contact person by November 18th, 2011 who will add the entry to a pool of winning entries from participating schools / colleges.

• On November 22nd, the pool of winning entries will be submitted to the WCIB Awards Committee who will assess the entries and select the overall winner and highly commended entries by December 1st.

• Every entrant will receive a certificate from the WCIB to record participation in this competition.

• Diary Date: Awards will be made to all winners at a City of London venue on December 5th, 2011 starting at 6pm. Teachers and one guest per student will also be invited.

The awards are:

• £100 to each individual school / college winner
• £50 to each individual school / college runner-up provided there were at least 5 entries from that school / college as determined by the number of entries actually submitted to the teacher (not the number of individuals who sign up with the intention to participate)
• £100 for the overall pool winner and £50 for the three highly commended entries in the pool. This means the overall winner will receive a total of £200 and the three individuals having highly-commended entries will receive a total of £150.

In addition the WCIB will match the prize money won by the students at each school / college as a single grant for departmental use.

The overall winner’s entry will be published in the WCIB newsletter and may, with the author’s consent, be sent to the editors of selected newspapers for consideration for possible publication.

On all matters relating to this competition, the WCIB’s decision is final and binding.

Contact: Frank Funnell
Email: frank@the brokerage.org.uk
Telephone: (020) 76289904