The results of this year's Modern Languages in Schools Prize 2023-2024 were revealed in an online ceremony on May 31st.

As in previous years, the response to the competition was great with schools from all over the UK entering. Now in its tenth year, the Modern Languages in School Prize has gradually developed from just including essays, to also welcoming video entries. This year, for the very first time, Key Stage 3 entries were also part of the competition as a new photo/caption competition was added. Head of Department Dr Derek Hird, who was part of the prize giving ceremony, commended the wonderful and high-quality entries to this year’s competition as well as pointing out how encouraging it is to see the enthusiasm for language learning by young linguists.

Overall, the judges were extremely impressed with this year’s submissions to the competition, which was very competitive. Cyrille Rollet, Senior Teaching Associate in French and head of the Modern Languages in Schools Prize Competition, awarded the first prize for the Key Stage 3 competition to Clara Birchall from Altringham Grammar School for her picture of a little alien which showcased the topic 'Languages are great because they give opportunities for the future'. The Key Stage 4 video competition on the topic 'The phrase "the world is your oyster" is particularly relevant when it comes to studying languages' was won by Amona Petkova from Morecambe Bay Academy. The most entries were received in the Key Stage 5 competition where we asked for responses to the topic 'Why should we still learn foreign languages when AI has improved so much?'. The third prize went to Alexandra Kochman from Wycombe Abbey for her essay in German and the second prize went to Rahima Akhtar from Oldham Sixth Form College for her essay in Spanish. The overall winner in this category was Lola Bell from Orleans Park School for her French essay, which was particularly praised for its grammatical skill and structural complexity. In addition to having the honour of winning in their categories, the winners also received National book tokens.

We would like to thank all the students who took part for their hard work and all the participants should feel very proud of themselves for the quality of work that they submitted. It was a strong competition and it was great to see so much linguistic talent. Praise and thanks is also due to all the teachers and staff who helped make the Modern Languages School Prize possible. Aside from it being a competition, the Prize should provide an opportunity for all the students taking part to have fun whilst practising their languages. Amidst the current pressures on language learning, it is inspiring to see the level of engagement within the entries and we hope that students will consider continuing their study of languages and cultures at higher education level.

For more information on the Competition, please contact the Department of Languages and Cultures via email: languagesessayprize@lancaster.ac.uk.