Hogan Lovells Equality and Diversity Essay Competition 2023

This essay competition is open to all undergraduate students in the Oxford Law Faculty, including those who were finalists in the 2022-2023 academic year.

Competition entries will be judged by a distinguished panel comprised of the Rt. Hon. Lord Neuberger of Abbotsbury, Antonia Layard and Jonathan Herring.

Prize

A prize of £1,000 will be awarded to the winner of the competition. This sum has been set with a view to enabling the prize-winner to take up opportunities for vacation work that might otherwise be inaccessible given travel and accommodation costs. The winning essay will also be published on the Oxford Law website.

A second prize of £250 will be awarded to the runner-up.

The judges may, at their discretion, select additional essays for special commendation. 

Essay question

This year’s question is: How does, and should, the law ensure accessible spaces for learning in universities?

Submissions will be evaluated by reference to the clarity and cogency of the argument developed in response to the question.

Word limit and style

Your essay must be no longer than 2,500 words, including all footnotes/endnotes.

Footnotes/endnotes should be in OSCOLA format. Bibliographies are not required.

Essays should be typed and submitted in Word format, using size 12 font.

Submission process

Essays must be submitted to equalityanddiversity@law.ox.ac.uk by no later than midday on Friday, 8 September 2023. The winner and runner-up will be announced in early Michaelmas Term.

Your cover email should include a statement that the essay you are submitting is entirely your own work, except where otherwise indicated, as well as a statement of the word count (again, including footnotes/endnotes).

Essays will be anonymised before being given to any judge for evaluation.

Download the terms of the competition

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