Essay Competition
2025 Entrepreneurship Essay Competition
We are delighted to introduce the third edition of our Entrepreneurship Essay Competition. The purpose of the competition is to encourage UK-based school students (in Years 11, 12, and 13 in England and Wales; S4, S5 and S6 in Scotland; Years 12, 13, and 14 in Northern Ireland) to pursue entrepreneurial aspirations and understand better how to launch an enterprise. We are particularly keen to foster this entrepreneurial spirit among students who might not traditionally consider entering the world of business and further hope this competition encourages more young people, who might not think about it, to apply to Oxbridge and Higher Education.
The competition is organised and run by the Entrepreneurship Lab (E-Lab) at King’s College, University of Cambridge. More details about the E-Lab can be found on our About page.
Students should choose between one of the three essays questions, below, exploring the importance of entrepreneurism and the challenges that business-people face. This essay should be written independently by the student but with input from a teacher or mentor. UK-based students from all backgrounds and regardless of subjects studied are welcome to enter the competition.
A winner, and two runners up, will be selected by our panel of E-Lab Judges. The winners will be invited to a prize-giving ceremony, to be held in King’s College, Cambridge, in November 2025. The winner will receive a £1,500 cash prize, with two runners-up prizes of £750. There will also be a number of distinguished essay commendations for those that are shortlisted (a great addition to a CV!).
Essay Questions and Format
Students are invited to select one of the three questions below, to write a 1,000 word essay:
Q1: What makes a great business idea? Discuss how entrepreneurs can identify and evaluate opportunities for a (potentially) successful venture. Provide examples.
Q2: What are the biggest challenges faced by start-ups in their early stages, and how can entrepreneurs overcome them? Provide examples.
Q3: How do entrepreneurs build a strong team, and why is this important for a start-up’s success? Provide examples.
Remember: entrepreneurship comes in all shapes and sizes. Successful entrepreneurs need not be billionaires, so don’t limit examples to just big business.
Students are requested to submit their writing in an essay style format written in British English. If footnotes are used, they will count towards the word limit. External references (e.g. facts and figures) should be sourced in a bibliography at the end of the article, which will not count towards the word limit. We know that not all students will be familiar with referencing, so you might find the following page, from the University, which links to a Guide to Harvard Referencing, helpful. Any other standard system of referencing style is also acceptable.
Essay Writing Advice
Your submission should be structured as a business-style essay, this might not necessarily coincide with the way you are taught to write essays for exams! Ensure the article is easy-to-read, is logical and well structured, and is free of spelling or grammatical errors. Make sure to read through your essay once it is finished, before submitting. Read the question you select carefully and answer it directly, don’t re-write the question or answer a different question of your choosing!
Don’t forget - this is an essay competition on entrepreneurship - make sure your essay shows you understand what an entrepreneur is and does and show that you can think like an entrepreneur. Entrepreneurs don’t just have to be successful millionaires but include a variety of different people striving to do better. One way to approach this essay is to interview a local business person (whether it is a family member, friend, or someone you see in the community) and discuss them in your essay.
To emphasise: this is not an economics essay. Whilst economic concepts might be relevant, we want to see a demonstration of business and entrepreneurial ideas rather than A-Level economics knowledge. Don’t forget to include examples, where relevant (outside the box examples are encouraged!), explain your arguments clearly, and don’t spend too long (if at all) defining concepts which would be understand by a general audience.
Finally, a 1,000 words isn’t a lot! Whilst it is a limit and not a target, it is quite difficult to make your argument in less than 900 words!
You can read a blogpost on last year’s competition, and how to succeed, here.
Eligibility
Any student studying at a school or college in the United Kingdom who are in the academic years 11, 12, 13 or equivalent (S4, S5, S6 in Scotland; Year 12, 13, 14 in Northern Ireland) is eligible to enter the competition. There are no requirements on subjects studied.
The submitted essay must be the student’s own work but the student is allowed to seek input from a teacher or mentor. Use of generative AI is forbidden (e.g. ChatGPT etc). Plagiarism and AI-usage checks will be carried out and any violating essay will be disqualified. More details on the University’s plagiarism rules can be found here.
Please note that we do not require teachers to verify submissions, unless contacted in cases of suspected breach of eligibility. Students can only submit one essay each.
Timeline
1st March 2025 - Competition Opens
9PM 25th July 2025 - Deadline for submission of essays (we are unable to consider essays submitted after the deadline)
October 2025 - Winners announced
Autumn/Winter 2025 - Prize-giving Ceremony at King’s College, Cambridge
Submissions
The submission should not contain any personally identifiable information. Please enter personal details in the submission form (link below) and not in the essay.
Please ensure you have obtained permission from a teacher at your school to submit, in the submission form you will need to provide an official (school) email address that your teacher is reachable on. Once an essay has been submitted, it is not possible to edit or resubmit.
The competition is free to enter. Please submit the essay as a word document (ensuring that the word count is met).
Any queries on the Essay Competition should be directed to Rhys Williams, entrepreneur@kings.cam.ac.uk.
Submissions can be submitted here, once the competition opens. The data notice and terms and conditions can be found here.
Your Data
Any personal data which may be submitted in an entry will be processed by King’s E-Lab, including members of King’s College, in accordance with any applicable data protection legislation, and the Privacy Notice available here. By submitting your essay and entering the competition you acknowledge that you have read and agree to these terms. For further information contact the College’s Data Protection Lead at foi@kings.cam.ac.uk or write to the Data Protection Lead, King’s College, Cambridge CB2 1ST.
Frequently Asked Questions
Can I answer more than one of the three questions for the Essay Competition?
No, only one submission per person is allowed and this should only answer one of the three questions provided.
Can I make any changes once I have submitted my essay using the above form.
Please note that once you have submitted your entry it is not possible to make any changes – please ensure you are happy with your work before pressing ‘submit’.
Will I receive feedback on my essay?
Unfortunately, due to the high volume of submissions, it is not possible to provide feedback on individual essays. Please read our Essay Advice above for general tips on how to do well in this competition!
I study outside of the UK, can I still enter?
Unfortunately, this competition is exclusively for students studying/living in the United Kingdom.
I am home-schooled in the UK, can I still enter?
Yes absolutely (if you meet our other eligibility criteria)! In the submission form please inform us of this / get in touch (entrepreneur@kings.cam.ac.uk) if you have any questions.
