School Essay Competition 2024 winners announced

The Society and the Financial Times are delighted to announce the winning and highly commended entries to our joint School Essay Competition. This year’s competition asked students to answer the following question: Drawing on information from your daily life, what sustainability action points would you prioritise?

The competition was open to all students aged 16-18 studying A Level geography or equivalent, and the judges were looking for clear essays or ArcGIS StoryMaps that were well-evidenced and reached a clear conclusion. 

We received many excellent submissions that have not made the final awards list, and we congratulate everyone who entered for the exceptionally high standard of entries.

The overall winner of this year’s competition is:

• Santiago Souto, Hastings School, Madrid

In addition, the Society and the Financial Times have recognised 14 of the essays submitted with highly commended awards:

• Maariyah Alli, Bancroft's School, Woodford Green, Essex
• Felix Gibbons, Exeter School
• Jessica Harrison, Esher Sixth Form College
• Nafeesah Kamal, The Grey Coat Hospital School, London
• Megan Lam, Diocesan Girls' School, Hong Kong
• Eden McCartney, The Grey Coat Hospital School, London
• Desola Omonijo, Downe House School, West Berkshire
• Alice Osborne, Eastbourne College
• Lara Ricard, Sydenham High School
• Nathan Smith, Chellaston Academy, Derby
• Sara Urdaneta, The Marlborough Science Academy, St Albans
• William Vinecombe, Lord Wandsworth College, Hampshire
• Calla Whitby, Cokethorpe School, Oxfordshire
• Roni Xie, Guildford High School

Congratulations to Santiago and all the highly commended entrants on their engaging and well-evidenced submissions.

Read Santiago’s winning essay in the online edition of the Financial Times. It is also available via a link on our website.   

Santiago received an Amazon voucher and we are planning to hold a celebration event at the Society in February.