During the 2025-26 academic year we are running a project aimed at fostering engagement between the American Politics Group, the Schools Programme of The Financial Times, and A-Level students and tutors.
There are two interrelated strands to this project:
- An A-Level essay competition (Deadline: March 16th, 2026)
- An online conference for A-Level students and tutors (Feb 25th 2026, 14:00-16:30)
Do make sure institution signs up for the Schools Programme of the Financial Times. This programme offers free online subscriptions for its content to pre-college students aged 16-19, their teachers and upper secondary/high schools around the world, and to colleges of further education in the UK.
As well as year to year activities and events, one of the aims of the FT-APG A Level Project is to generate an archive of pedagogic material that is useful for student, and those teaching, at FE and HE levels. You can find materials from the first iteration of the project below.
- Dr Adam Burns, Head of Politics at Brighton College, giving a talk entitled ‘How to ace your A Level politics exam’ (talk delivered at the inaugural FT-APG Online A Level Conference, Feb 25th, 2026)
- Dr Amy Tatum, Bournemouth University, discussing the importance of critical engagement with GenAI tools (talk delivered at the inaugural FT-APG Online A Level Conference, Feb 25th, 2026)
- You can find a piece with further advice on critically engaging with AI: here
- Caitlin Lewis of the University of Manchester exploring (via the marking criteria of the FT-APG A Level Essay Competition) how to move from writing an A Level essay to writing at university level (talk delivered at the inaugural FT-APG Online A Level Conference, Feb 25th, 2026)
- Dr Ursula Hackett, Royal Holloway, University of London, mapping how evidence can be used in an essay (talk delivered at the inaugural FT-APG Online A Level Conference, Feb 25th, 2026)
- You can find a blog post based on Ursula’s talk: here
- Dr Andrew Wroe, University of Kent, and co-editor of the Developments in American Politics book series, discussing how to utilise evidence from books in an essay (talk delivered at the inaugural FT-APG Online A Level Conference, Feb 25th, 2026)
You can check if your school is already registered on this page. If you are a staff member and wish to sign your school up for the program, you can register on this page.
You can also sign up for the Swamp Notes newsletter and podcast, both from the Financial Times.
Project partners:
- Financial Times
- Political Studies Association
- Developments in American Politics book team
- 50 States or Bust! research project
Lead Organiser:
- Dr. Pete Finn, SFHEA, of the University of Greenwich
Project Affiliates:
- Dr Adam Burns, Brighton College
- Dr Ursula Hackett, Royal Holloway, University of London
- Dr Caroline Leicht, The University of Manchester
- Caitlin Lewis, The University of Manchester
- Dr Amy Tatum, Bournemouth University
- Dr Andrew Wroe, University of Kent
Full details will be placed on this page in the near future.
This project is funded by competitive funding from the excellence and impact funding of the Political Studies Association.
