The Life Sciences competition is for UK students in Year 12 or equivalent.

We welcome entries from students studying in any school in the UK, but we particularly encourage entries from students who:

• Are currently attending a state-maintained school, or,
• Would be the first in their immediate family to go to university, or,
• Are or have previously been eligible for Free School Meals, or,
• Are young carers, or have been in care

Your essay should be no more than 1,500 words (excluding bibliography). You should answer just one of the three questions listed above.

At the end of your submission, you should include a bibliography listing any books, articles or webpages you used in order to research and write your essay.

We strongly encourage the use of diagrams and/or charts to communicate your ideas. These do not count towards the word count.

Your essay must be entirely your own work. It is not permitted to use AI to create any of the text or images used in your submission, and you should not include any work that has been or will be submitted to an exam board as part of your studies.

All entries must be approved by a teacher from your school, so please make sure a teacher knows that you are entering. On the submission form you will be asked to provide a name and contact email for the teacher who will be supporting your application. This can be any teacher at your school who knows you.

Your essay must be submitted as a PDF. Please ensure that all pages in your essay are numbered, and that your name and school appear clearly on the first page. You should name your PDF file in the following format: Question number-Surname-First Initial e.g. Q2-Smith-T.

The deadline for submission is Monday 16 March, 2026, at 23:59 GMT.

Your teacher will then receive an email from Lincoln the day after the closing date asking them to verify that your submission is all your own work. They will need to complete this by Friday 27 March, at 23:59 GMT so please make them aware of this when you are entering.

We are unable to consider any essays which have not been submitted by the deadline.

We welcome creative submissions, and entrants are welcome to approach the question in whatever way is most meaningful to them, as long as they demonstrate that they are thinking scientifically. Creativity and scientific intuition will be valued far more highly than knowledge.

Unfortunately, due to the high volume of submissions, it is not possible to provide feedback on individual essays.

All entrants securing a bronze award or higher will be awarded a certificate. Entrants who secure a gold award will be invited to attend a special day for prize-winners at Lincoln College. This event will give students the opportunity to meet science tutors at the College, hear about their research, and meet undergraduates studying Biochemistry and Biomedical Sciences at Oxford. The event will be free of charge and lunch will be provided. Financial support will also be available to cover transport costs for students who would otherwise be unable to attend.

All award recipients will be contacted by email, so please make sure your contact details are entered correctly.