W W W . I M M E R S E .

E D U C A T I O N

Essay
Competition
FULL PARTICIPANT GUIDE | 2023
Why
Enter?
THE 2023 IMMERSE ESSAY
COMPETITION

01 A chance to win a full or partial

scholarship to one of our programmes in
Oxford, Cambridge, Sydney or London.

02 Full support from our team as you write

your essay, with free guides and top
tips to help you along the way.

03 A chance for you to demonstrate your

content knowledge by answering
advanced university-style questions.

04 The opportunity to apply and advance

your essay writing skills. You will likely
learn something new in the process!

05 A chance to strengthen your self-

discipline as you commit to a challenging
project and complete it from start to
finish.

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Immerse Essay Competition 2023: Guide for Participants

Essay Competition
Guide | 2023
Immerse Education are excited to open
Round 2 of our 2022-2023 Essay
Competition, where participants like you
get the opportunity to showcase your
subject knowledge and essay writing
skills, with the opportunity to win a full or

WWW.IMMERSE.EDUCATION | ESSAY COMPETITION FULL GUIDE 2023

partial scholarship to one of our 2023
summer programmes in Oxford,
Cambridge, London or Sydney. Each year
we receive thousands of essays and this
year we expect to receive further record-
breaking numbers.

To help you on your journey to writing a

scholarship-winning essay, we have put
together this useful guide to answer all of
your competition questions and more.
Whether you're considering joining the
competition or are already in the process
of writing your essay, we recommend that
you read this guide to help you understand
what we're looking for in a winning
submission.

After reading this guide, if you still have

unanswered questions, don't hesitate to
reach out to one of our advisors at:
advisor@immerse.education.

We wish you good luck and look forward

to receiving your essay very soon!

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For more guidance visit www.immerse.education
 Within
This Guide
Explore the contents below to find
answers to our most commonly asked
essay competition questions.

Essay Competiton Deadline P4

Essay Questions (13-15) P6-7

Essay Questions (16-18) P9-11

Essay Specifications P12

Referencing Guide P13-17

More Resources P19

Frequently Asked Questions P20

Immerse Essay Competition 2023: Full Guide for Participants Page 3

Immerse Essay Competition 2023: Deadline for Submissions

Essay Submissions
Deadline
Wednesday 4th January 2023

23:59 BST Time

Submit your essay here

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Essay Questions
13-15 Year Olds
Immerse Essay Competition 2023: Essay Questions for 13-15 year olds

Architecture
What are the foundations of good architecture?

Business Management
Which functions are needed to make a business
run and why?

Coding
Why is coding needed to engineer software?

Computer Science
How has the internet transformed our modern
world?

Creative Writing
How would you make non-fiction writing
persuasive?

Earth Science
How has earth changed overtime?

Economics
What is economics at its core?

Encryption & Cybersecurity

What is the difference between Encryption
& Cybersecurity, and how do they ensure online safety?

Engineering
In your opinion, what have been the most significant engineering
innovations to date, and why?

Game Design
What are the principles of creating an engaging game?

Essay Questions for 13-15 year olds

Choose the subject you are most interested in studying with us in the summer. If you will be 16
years old by June 2023, we recommend you choose an essay question from the 16-18 category.
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Immerse Essay Competition 2023: Essay Questions for 13-15 year olds

International Relations
How do nations maintain peace in the 21st century?

Law
Would the legal system benefit from terminating the use of juries in
court cases?

Medicine
What are the principles of medical ethics, and
why are they important?

Physics
Why is gravity so important on earth?

Politics & Debate

What are the attributes that make a great
public speaker?

Psychology
How does psychology impact an individual's
personality?

3D Animation
How has 3D animation developed over the
last 30 years and where do you see it going?

Open Question
Create your own question using one of the available subjects for your
age group and write your essay response to it.

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Essay Questions
16-18 Year Olds
Immerse Essay Competition 2023: Essay Questions for 16-18 year olds

Architecture
What makes light so important in architecture?

Architecture & Design

Where does inspiration come from in architecture & Essay
design?
Questions
Artificial Intelligence for 16-18
Does the future of AI scare or excite you? Explain.
year olds
Biology
To what extent is DNA significant to living Choose the subject you are
organisms?
most interested in studying

Business Management with us in the summer.

What are the key qualities of a leader in business?

If you will be 16 by June

Chemistry
2023, we recommend you
How does plastic packaging affect the environment?
choose an essay question
Coding from the 16-18 catagory.
How has the creation of code impacted us as
humans?

Computer Science
Can computers really understand humans and
natural language?

Creative Writing
What key attributes make a protagonist likable?

Earth Sciences
How do the changes in the climate affect farming and agriculture?

Economics
Explain the role of the government in managing the economy and
economic growth.

Encryption & Cybersecurity

How do encryption and cybersecurity protect people online, and why
are they so important?

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Immerse Essay Competition 2023: Essay Questions for 16-18 year olds

Engineering
How would you demonstrate the difference between AR & VR?

English Literature
Which literary features do you find to be most powerful and why?

Female Future Leaders

What are the benefits of having greater female representation in
leadership roles?

Film Theory
What are the key considerations when adapting literature to film?

Fine Art
How does art reflect values in culture?

Game Design
Do computer games help or harm young people?

History
Which factors led to industrialisation?

International Relations
What are the leading causes of international war and how can they be
avoided?

Law
Examine the meaning and significance of ‘fault’ within criminal law.

Mathematics
Find a connection between mathematics and the arts.

Medicine
“You are what you eat” - to what extent is this true?

Nanotechnology
How could nanotechnology save our lives?

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Immerse Essay Competition 2023: Essay Questions for 16-18 year olds

Philosophy
Is knowledge a result of learning or experience?

Physics
Which scientist made the most significant contribution to the field of
physics?

Politics & Debate

How would you persuade your audience about
the reality of the climate crisis?

Politics, Philosophy and Economics (PPE)

How do politics, philosophy and economics interconnect?

Psychology
Describe the ways in which playing is used to promote children's
development.

Sustainability
Is it possible to reverse global warming?

3D Animation
Where can we find animation in our daily life?

Open Question
Create your own question using one of the available subjects for your
age group and write your essay response to it.

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Immerse Essay Competition 2023: Essay Specifications

Essay
Specifications
Entrants should ensure they have read these specifications prior to submission
as failure to comply with these specifications may result in disqualification.

Your answers should be no more than 500 words +/- 10% (excluding references,
headings and title text )

Only one entry is allowed per person.

Essays should be submitted directly via the competition entry form. Essays received
by email will not be considered.

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Immerse Essay Competition 2023: Referencing Guide

Referencing
Guide
Entrants should ensure they have read these
specifications prior to submission as failure to
comply with these specifications may result in
disqualification.

What Is Referencing?
When constructing your essay, you should show your research through your sources. It
is important to use books and other texts to support your arguments and that these are
recorded through referencing.

References act as a record that you have used another person’s words or ideas. All
points taken from other authors should be referenced accordingly. Bibliographies list
the texts and other sources that you have used for your work.

References and bibliographies allow the reader to identify the exact sources of what
you have written, and ensure that you have not plagiarised in your work.

References are used throughout work (for example, a book, article, image, etc,). It
shows readers where specific pieces of information came from and how readers can
find it themselves. It acknowledges, or gives credit to the author who actually created
the content being used.

The opposite of a citation is plagiarism, or not giving credit to others for their ideas,
concepts, or images.

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Immerse Essay Competition 2023: Referencing Guide

Plagiarism is considered taking the work of others and presenting it as one’s own.
Source citations give work credibility. In other words, it shows the information is not
simply made up.

In this essay, we would like you to use the Oxford referencing style. This consists of two
elements: footnote citations and a bibliography at the end of the document. It is
important that you follow the guidelines laid out in this document exactly, to ensure
good academic practice and consistency throughout your work.

How to Use Oxford References

When creating footnotes, you will need to indicate a reference by putting a superscript
number directly following the source material - this number is called the note identifier.
This is followed up through a footnote citation at the bottom of the page.

The note identifier, also referred to as the in-text citation, and the footnote should have
the same number, to ensure that the reader knows which source the identifier is
referring to. Citations should be listed in chronological order.

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Immerse Essay Competition 2023: Referencing Guide

Bibliography
Your bibliography should include the names of the authors, title and the date of
publication, the name of publisher and the place of publication. All sources referenced
in your footnotes should be included in your bibliography, as well as any other sources
that informed your work which you didn’t necessarily quote or paraphrase. Your
bibliography should be organised alphabetically by author, then by title. Films referred
to in the text should be included in the list, alphabetically by title.

Oxford Referencing Example

Below is an example of the Oxford referencing system. It is a two part system

that has a reference as a footnote at the bottom of the relevant page as well as a list of
references, also known as a bibliography, at the end of the essay. Example:

According to a recent study, food waste recycling could be

contributing to the increase in antibiotic resistance.

The information provided here is not something that you, the writer, knew before you
read the study, it is therefore important to show exactly where you found this
information and who is responsible for the research. An example of a footnote
refernece is:

M. Furukawa., N. Misawa. and J. Moore, “Recycling of domestic food

waste”, British Food Journal 120:11 (2018): 2710

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Immerse Essay Competition 2023: Referencing Guide

Bibliography example:

Furukawa, M., Misawa, N. and Moore, J., “Recycling of domestic food waste”,
British Food Journal 120:11 (2018): 2710-2715

The first part of the reference provides the names of the authors, the second part is the
title of the article. The next part, in italics, is the name of the journal, then the volume
number and issue number. The section in brackets shows the year that this was
published. Finally, the page number where this information can be found is provided in
the footnote, and the page range of the article is provided in the bibliography.

Referencing Different Formats

Different sources will require different referencing formats. Examples of how to cite this
information within your bibliography are shown below.

Article Solé, Yolanda. “Valores aspectuales en español.” Hispanic

Linguistics 4 (1990): 57–85.

Chapter Murphy, Robert. “A Revenger’s Tragedy—Get Carter.” British

Crime Cinema. Eds. Steve Chibnall, and Robert Murphy.
London: Routledge, 1999: 123-133.

Magazine Wilson, Edward O. “Back from Chaos.” Atlantic Monthly Mar.

Article 1998: 41–62

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Immerse Essay Competition 2023: Referencing Guide

Book Naremore, James. More Than Night: Film Noir in its Contexts.
Berkeley: California UP, 1998.

Film Harry Potter and the Philosopher’s Stone. Dir. Chris Columbus.
UK-US. 2001

Webpage The Walt Whitman Hypertext Archive. Ed. Kenneth M. Price and
Ed Folsom. 1997–1998. 27 Apr. 2003.
[https://whitmanarchive.org/ last accessed: 1st May 2020]

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Page 18
Immerse Essay Competition 2023: Essay Resources

More Resources
Don't forget to take a look at our other helpful resources to help
you on your journey to writing a scholarship-winning essay.

How to Write an Academic Essay: 9 Amazing Steps

Essay Writing Top Tips Guide

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Immerse Essay Competition 2023: Essay Resources

Frequently
Asked
Questions
Got more questions? Visit our FAQ's page following the link below
to find answer to more common essay competition questions.

Essay Competition FAQ's

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