Aim

Oxbridge essay competition provides a chance not only for serious Oxbridge applicants but also serious applicants to top universities in other countries. Award in the competition acts as a great plus point in the student’s application but participation itself is much valuable in demonstrating academic passion and commitment and excellence to the university admissions officer.

Research and explore a particular subject area to a mini-thesis level
Produce an excellent piece of writing that has an award potential

Curriculum

Following the Oxbridge tutorial system, the student reads the book chapter/journal article set for the week and writes an essay on a title/topic set by the mentor. Given the difficulty level of the readings, it takes time to read a page in comparison to prior readings and to look up any unfamiliar concepts. As a result, degree subject readings is a class with a low number of hours but a broad and vast amount of readings.

Essay Selection

Brainstorm and discuss topics and concepts involved in different essay titles with further reading and research to pick the most suitable essay title

Research

Full learnings and research on the essay topic selected with organisation of reference materials for bibliography

1st Draft

Use the reading and research materials to plan content layout and write up the 1st draft

Revision

Series of writing, feedback and editing of the ad hoc write up until the final draft

Competition List

Below are some of the competitions held by different colleges of Oxford and Cambridge available

Cambridge, Peterhouse

Cambridge, Trinity

Oxford, Corpus Christi

Class materials & self-study

The resources behind award-winning entries — model texts we study in class, plus a structured essay programme on iBGuru with notes, past questions and AI feedback.

In-class materials

Books and thesis PDFs — key texts and past prize-winning essays and theses, supplied as PDFs, so you can study exactly what distinguishes an award-worthy piece of writing.

Beyond class with iBGuru

Master every question with iBGuru

The iBGuru essay programme breaks each competition question into structured notes — what the prompt is really probing, how to argue it, the key concepts and thinkers, the current evidence, referencing, and the mistakes that lose marks. Practise on past essay questions and receive AI grading feedback designed strictly around each competition’s marking criteria.

Open in iBGuru

Essay Competition

Aim