Ten years from now,
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Ten Years From Now 2027

Competition rules.

These rules apply to everyone who enters. The short version: you must be 14–18 on the closing date of the round you enter, submit one individual entry of up to 1,000 words by the deadline, and the argument and the words must be your own.

Last updated 7 October 2026.

1. The organiser

  1. Ten Years From Now (“the competition”) is organised and run by Immerse Educational Services Ltd, trading as Succeed (“Succeed”, “we”), a company registered in England and Wales with company number 13303414, whose registered office is at 16 Copse Wood Way, Northwood, HA6 2UE, United Kingdom.
  2. You can contact us at hello@tenyearsfromnow.org.
  3. By submitting an entry you agree to these rules.

2. Who can enter

  1. The competition is open to students aged 14 to 18 inclusive on the closing date of the round they enter (the “eligibility date”): 28 February 2027 for Round 1 and 15 June 2027 for Round 2.
  2. Entrants must be in secondary education or homeschooled at the time of entry, or have been at some point during the 2026–27 school year. Students who have left school are eligible if they meet this rule and the age rule.
  3. There is no restriction by country of residence, except where entering would break the law where the entrant lives, or where we are unable to award a prize because of sanctions or similar restrictions.
  4. Entrants under 18 on the eligibility date, or on the day they submit, need a parent or legal guardian to confirm their participation. An entry is not judged until this confirmation is received.
  5. Employees and contractors of Succeed, judges and first-round assessors, and members of their immediate families (parents, siblings, children and anyone living in the same household) may not enter.
  6. We may ask for reasonable evidence of age, school attendance or identity at any time. If it isn't provided, the entry may be disqualified.

3. Entries

  1. Each entrant may submit one entry in each round, so up to two entries in the 2027 competition. Each entry responds to one of the three published challenge questions, and an entrant may answer the same question or a different one in each round.
  2. Entries must be individual, written work of no more than 1,000 words, excluding the title and references.
  3. Entries are submitted through the entry form on this website. Entries sent any other way are not accepted.
  4. Entries must not include the entrant's name, school or other identifying details in the title or text.
  5. Entries must be the entrant's own original work, must not have been published elsewhere, and must not have won another competition. An entry may build on work done for school, provided it answers a competition question and the final text is the entrant's own.
  6. Entries must be written in English.
  7. Once submitted, an entry is final and cannot be changed or replaced.

4. Rounds and dates

  1. The competition runs in two rounds. Entries open on 7 October 2026. Round 1 closes on 28 February 2027 at 23:59 UTC. Round 2 opens immediately afterwards and closes on 15 June 2027 at 23:59 UTC. Entries received after the Round 2 closing time are not accepted.
  2. An entry belongs to the round that is open when it is submitted. A Round 2 entry must be a new piece of work, not a revised version of the entrant's Round 1 entry.
  3. We aim to announce Round 1 results on 5 May 2027 and Round 2 results on 20 August 2027. The Grand Prize and the Students' Choice Award are announced on 20 August 2027. If a date has to change, we will publish the change on this website and email entrants affected by it.
  4. We are not responsible for entries that are not received because of technical problems outside our control. Please don't leave it to the last minute.

5. Use of AI and originality

  1. Entrants may use generative AI tools only as set out in the AI-use policy, which forms part of these rules.
  2. In summary: AI may be used to brainstorm, explain a concept, find sources and check spelling and grammar. It may not be used to write, rewrite or structure the entry. Any use must be declared accurately when submitting.
  3. Entries are checked for plagiarism and undeclared AI-generated text. We may ask an entrant to explain how they wrote their entry, or to discuss it, before confirming an award.
  4. Plagiarism, undeclared AI use or a false declaration may lead to disqualification, including after results are published.

6. Judging

  1. Entries are judged against the published criteria and process on the judging page. Entries in each round are judged separately, in the same way.
  2. The first round is anonymous. Judges declare conflicts of interest and do not assess entries where one exists.
  3. The judges' decisions on the merit of entries are final.
  4. The Students' Choice Award is decided by a public vote of verified students. It is separate from, and has no effect on, the expert-judged awards.

7. Awards

  1. In each round, the awards are: Distinction (top 10% of eligible entries in that round), Shortlisted (50 entries), Finalist (20 entries) and Challenge Winner (one per track). The Ten Years From Now Grand Prize (one) and the Students' Choice Award (one) are awarded once, from the finalists of both rounds.
  2. Cash and cash-value prizes are: Challenge Winner, US$650; Grand Prize, the US$6,000 Ten Years From Now Education Award; Students' Choice Award, US$300. Finalists who attend Finalists' Day in person may claim a travel bursary of up to US$400 towards reasonable travel costs, against receipts. Other benefits of each award are set out on this website.
  3. The Education Award must be used for an educational experience, research project or learning opportunity of the winner's choice, agreed with us. We pay it to the provider or reimburse the winner against receipts. It must be used within 24 months of the announcement.
  4. Cash prizes are paid by bank transfer, or another method we agree, in US dollars or the equivalent in local currency, within 60 days of the winner giving us their payment details and any confirmation we reasonably ask for. Where a winner is under 18, the prize is paid to their parent or guardian, or with their agreement.
  5. Winners are responsible for any tax due on their prize where they live. We may ask for the information needed to meet our own legal obligations before paying a prize.
  6. Prizes are non-transferable. No cash alternative is offered for non-cash prizes. We may decide not to make an award if no entry reaches the standard required.
  7. Digital certificates are emailed to the entrant. Physical certificates are posted to the entrant's school contact. Homeschooled entrants who are shortlisted are asked for a postal address for this purpose only.
  8. If we can't reach a winner within 30 days of first trying, we may award the prize to another entrant.

8. Your work and publication

  1. You keep the copyright in your entry.
  2. By entering, you allow Succeed to store, copy and share your entry with judges and assessors for the purpose of running the competition, and to check it for originality.
  3. If you become a finalist, we will ask you (and, if you are under 18, your parent or guardian) whether we may publish your entry, name, country, age and photograph on this website, in the annual Ten Years From Now online edition and in promotion of the competition. You may say no and still receive your award.
  4. If you agree, you give Succeed a free, non-exclusive, worldwide licence to publish and reproduce your entry, and the details you agreed to, for those purposes for five years from first publication. We may make minor formatting changes but will not change your words. You may withdraw your agreement at any time by emailing us; we will remove your entry from this website within 30 days, but we cannot recall material already shared.
  5. Students' Choice voting requires finalist entries to be published. A finalist who does not consent to publication will not appear on the Students' Choice ballot.

9. Fair play

  1. Entrants must not try to influence judges, or encourage voting through fake accounts, payment or other unfair means.
  2. We may disqualify an entry, or withdraw an award, if these rules are broken.
  3. Entries must not contain material that is unlawful, defamatory, hateful, or that infringes someone else's rights.

10. Results and queries

  1. Every entrant is told their result by email. If an entrant receives recognition (a Distinction or above), the school contact they named is told. Schools are not told about entrants who are not recognised.
  2. If you think a mistake was made in processing your entry (for example, it was wrongly treated as ineligible), email hello@tenyearsfromnow.org within 14 days of results for your round being published. We will check and reply. This does not cover the judges' assessment of quality.

11. Personal information

  1. We handle entrants' information as described in the privacy notice.
  2. Entering does not require a Succeed account and does not sign you up to marketing.

12. General

  1. We may change these rules if we need to, for example to correct an error or respond to circumstances outside our control. We will publish changes here and tell entrants who are affected. We will not make changes that unfairly affect entries already submitted.
  2. If the competition cannot run as planned for reasons outside our control, we may change, suspend or cancel it.
  3. Nothing in these rules limits any rights you have by law.
  4. These rules are governed by the law of England and Wales. The courts of England and Wales have jurisdiction, but if you live elsewhere you may also be able to bring a claim where you live.