A serious piece of independent work, at no cost to your school.
Ten Years From Now is free for students aged 14–18 anywhere in the world. Students enter individually. Schools don't need to register, and there is very little for staff to do.
At a glance
- Who can enter
- Students aged 14–18 on the closing date of the round they enter, at school anywhere in the world, or homeschooled.
- What they submit
- One individual written entry of up to 1,000 words (references excluded), answering one of three questions.
- How they enter
- Online, directly. Students don't need an account, and schools don't need to register.
- Cost
- Free. There are no fees at any stage.
- Key dates
- Entries are open now. Round 1 closes 28 February 2027, with results on 5 May 2027. Round 2 opens straight after and closes 15 June 2027, with results, the Grand Prize and Students' Choice on 20 August 2027.
- Judging
- Six published criteria, an anonymous first round and specialist panels. Full methodology.
- Use of AI
- Limited, declared use only. AI-use policy.
What your school needs to do
Very little. When a student enters, they give the name and school email of one member of staff who knows them: a teacher, tutor or counsellor. We use it to confirm the student attends the school and, if the student receives recognition (a Distinction or above), to let the school know.
If you are named as a school contact:
- you will receive an email if the student receives recognition. Students who are not recognised are not reported to their school;
- we may contact you if we need to confirm that the student attends your school;
- you are not asked to supervise, check or approve the entry, and you are never sent marketing.
Students under 18 also need a parent or guardian to confirm their entry by email. Schools are not asked to collect consent.
Using it with a class
The competition works as an extension task, an enrichment project, a club activity or preparation for extended writing such as the EPQ, the IB Extended Essay or AP Seminar. Some ways schools could use it:
- One lesson: read the three questions together and discuss what makes a question arguable.
- Two to four weeks: students choose a question, research it and write a draft, using the argument guide.
- Peer review: students swap drafts and score each other against the six criteria.
Teachers may discuss ideas and give general feedback, as they would for any independent project. The entry itself, its argument and its words, must be the student's own. Please don't edit or rewrite students' work.
The school pack
Everything you need to tell students and colleagues, in one printable document: a one-page overview, the questions, key dates, eligibility, the judging criteria, a newsletter paragraph and an email you can send to students and parents.
Open it and use your browser's Print option to save it as a PDF.
Register for updates
Register your interest and we'll email you the key dates, reminders before each deadline and when results are published. Teachers can register on behalf of a class.
Questions from schools
Many questions are answered in the questions and answers. For anything else, email hello@tenyearsfromnow.org.