Winners announced: EDI Essay Competition 2025

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Winners Announced! EDI Essay Competition 2025. Winner: Jessica Williamson. Runner-up: Saloni Sanwalka.

For the fourth year running, the Faculty held an essay competition for undergraduate students focusing on equality, diversity and inclusion topics.

This year's panel was composed of Lady Justice Ingrid Simler of the UK Supreme Court, Professor Simon Douglas and Professor Rebecca Williams, all of whom were impressed by the standard of the competition.

Participants were asked to consider 'to what extent provisions for special category data within the General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) help or hinder the achievement of evidence-based equality goals'. 

The winner of the competition was Jessica Williamson, and the runner-up was Saloni Sanwalka. You can read their contributions below.

NB: the essays are not showing correctly on mobile and cannot be read in full, please use a device with a wide screen if you would like to read them.

Read Jessica Williamson's essay

Read Saloni Sanwalka's essay

When asked about her participation in the competition, Jessica Williamson said:

The competition provided a really exciting opportunity to explore a relevant, cross-jurisdictional area of law beyond the undergraduate syllabus. Considering the GDPR from the standpoint of evidence-based equality goals, and reaching the conclusion that the provisions could hinder these goals, brought home to me the importance of keeping EDI at the front and centre of policymaking, rather than allowing it to be an afterthought as has often proven to be the case. I would highly recommend participating in future iterations of the competition – it's a great way to deepen your understanding of some of the most relevant EDI issues in society today, and to have your ideas read by such a distinguished panel.
Jessica Williamson
BA Jurisprudence

Lady Justice Ingrid Simler of the UK Supreme Court said that:

It was a pleasure to take part in this year’s competition. The submissions were of a high standard, engaging thoughtfully with vital issues of equality, diversity, and inclusion. The winning essay was particularly impressive—clear, well-researched, and analytically rigorous.
Lady Justice Ingrid Simler
UK Supreme Court

The panel thanks each person who entered and warmly congratulates those marked out for a prize.

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