We’re delighted to announce the fourth MASSOLIT Video Essay Competition in partnership with Brasenose College, Oxford.

We're inviting UK-based students in Years 10, 11 and 12 to create a “MASSOLIT-style” video lecture running at around 8-12 minutes on any academic topic. Entries open from Friday 1st March 2024 and the final deadline is 5pm Friday 28th June 2024.

The best entries will be reviewed by a panel of judges made up of academics from Brasenose and members of the MASSOLIT team.

This competition is open to every pupil in the UK – you do not need to be a subscriber to MASSOLIT. If you want to see what a “MASSOLIT-style” lecture is, please check out our YouTube channel.

We'd like you to research, write and create a short (8-12 minute) lecture on a topic of your choice.

Your lecture should be a 'talking head' style, like all the lectures on MASSOLIT, though you should feel free to make use of props (e.g. quoting from a book, playing some music, demonstrating a concept with props, etc.) if you feel it adds to your explanation.

Then again, if your lecture doesn't include any props, that's also fine!

Entries will be judged on:

• the educational value of the lecture – does the viewer learn something interesting and unexpected?
• the clarity and concision of the script – is the material structured in a logical way?
• confidence and clarity of delivery – is the speaker looking at the camera? Are they speaking loudly and clearly?
• creativity

We will not be judging the production quality of entries, so please don't worry about what you shoot your video on, and please don't waste any time on post-production.

• There will be ten winners, one overall winner and nine runners-up.
• The overall winner will receive a £200 Amazon voucher and we will professionally film and edit the winning lecture and feature on massolit.io.
• The winner and nine runners-up will receive a MASSOLIT award certificate (and something brilliant to put on their personal statement!).
• Both the winner and runners-up will be invited to an award ceremony and reception hosted by Brasenose College in the second half of September (exact date TBC).

Please upload your video to YouTube and set it to ‘unlisted’. If you don’t already have a YouTube account, they are free and easy to set up! 

Then complete our online submission form here.

We will review all entries that are submitted by 5pm Friday 28th June 2024.

1. The competition is open to students who are currently in Y10, Y11 or Y12 at secondary school in the UK.
2. Video lectures should be between 8-12 minutes long. Any entries shorter than 8 minutes or longer than 12 minutes will not be considered.
3. Video lectures should be uploaded to YouTube as an unlisted video.
4. When submitting your video lecture plus use this Google submission form: https://forms.gle/8RpPX3m2Y6YgAzncA
5. The content and delivery of the video lecture should be the sole creation and original work of the entrant. A third party may film the lecture.
6. Any form of plagiarism will result in automatic disqualification.
7. The video lecture may be based on a piece of work the student has already done (e.g. an extended essay), provided that it was originally the sole creation of the entrant.
8. Maximum of one entry per person.
9. Winning students invited to attend the reception at Brasenose College should be accompanied by a teacher chaperone from their school.
10. The award of all or any of the prizes lies solely within the discretion of the judges. The judges' decision will be final.
11. The deadline for the receipt of entries is 5pm on Friday 28th June 2024. Please note that late entries cannot be accepted.
12. Unfortunately, we do not have the capacity to provide feedback on unsuccessful entries.
13. The decision of MASSOLIT on the interpretation of these rules will be final.