<p>Many opportunities to prove academic excellence are available in the 1st year of A-Levels/IB. These opportunities are academic competitions designed to challenge students beyond A-Levels/IB in either test or essay form. Science subjects are often test based while art subjects are essay based. The competitions further distinguish the top A* (A-Level) /7 (IB) grade students into more levels of excellence. These are organised by reputable organisations and therefore recognised by the universities to a different level to intra-school competitions. Proving oneself to be excellent beyond A*/7 grades is a big plus point when it comes to impressing university admissions officers, especially of the top universities like Oxbridge. Thus, a well prepared applicant can spend a very busy 1st year of A-Levels/IB.</p><p>&nbsp;</p><p>N.B.// there is one important eligibility condition of studying within the UK at the time of participation which is applicable to some competitions but not all. Therefore, it’s important that overseas applicants check and confirm their participation eligibility beforehand.</p><p>&nbsp;</p><p>Essay competitions available are mostly organised by Oxford and Cambridge universities at college level. Essay competitions provide opportunities for high school students to pursue their studies beyond high school level and, also, in subjects beyond offered at high school. Common Oxbridge essay competitions include philosophy, theology, politics, law as well as history and english that are studied at high school. However essay competition is not limited to arts subjects and is also offered for sciences subjects that include medicine, engineering and biomedical sciences. Each year around January, organising colleges publish several essay titles per subject on their websites from which a participating student can pick one. Deadlines are different for each competition but generally between March and July.</p><p>&nbsp;</p><p>Essays are 2000~4000 words long, almost resembling a university thesis and usually taking weeks background reading/research and writing to complete. &nbsp;For this reason, participating students are often those with honest interests and passion in the subject who are willing to commit time and efforts. For this reason, unlike test based competition that is supervised, essay competition is not supervised and candidate is given the freedom and independence of the write-up process until the set deadline date.</p><p>&nbsp;</p><p>Winning an award is difficult and competitive. Unlike test based competitions where gold/silver/bronze format awards are given to candidates who score above certain grade bands, essay competitions have less awards and are offered to winner/runner up/commended. However, participation itself can be a merit. There isn’t any section on UCAS to claim competition awards. These awards are to be discussed in your personal statements. Therefore, participation alone can demonstrate that the applicant has been actively pursuing academic studies with passion.</p><p>&nbsp;</p><p>Example essay competitions are</p><p>Cambridge, Peterhouse <a target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer" href="https://www.pet.cam.ac.uk/essay-prizes">www.pet.cam.ac.uk/essay-prizes - </a>Science, English, History</p><p>Oxford, Corpus Christi <a target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer" href="http://www.ccc.ox.ac.uk/Schools-Science-Prize/">www.ccc.ox.ac.uk/Schools-Science-Prize</a> - Science</p><p>&nbsp;</p><figure class="table"><table><tbody><tr><td>Test</td><td>Essay</td></tr><tr><td><p>UK Mathematics Trust (UKMT)</p><p>American Mathematics Challenge (AMC)</p><p>British Biology Olympiad (BBO)</p><p>Cambridge Chemistry Challenge</p><p>Royal Society of Chemistry (RSC)</p><p>Isaac Physics and Cambridge Senior Team Challenge</p></td><td><p>Cambridge, Peterhouse Essay Competition - Science, English, History</p><p>Cambridge, Corpus Christi Essay Competition</p><p>Oxford, Regent’s Park STATON ESSAY PRIZE</p><p>Oxford, Corpus Christi's Science Essay Prize</p><p>ETC.</p></td></tr><tr><td>Competitions take place generally between late November and January but some may take place outside this range, e.g. Cambridge competitions in Summer</td><td>Deadlines are different for each competition but generally between March and June</td></tr></tbody></table></figure><p>&nbsp;</p>