Welcome to the brief for the 2025-26 American Politics Group of the Political Studies Association A-Level essay competition.
This essay competition falls within a broader project aimed at fostering engagement between the American Politics Group the Political Studies Association, the Schools Programme of the Financial Times, and A-Level students and tutors. This project is funded by competitive funding from the excellence and impact funding of the Political Studies Association.
To support this essay competition an online conference was held Feb 25th 2026. You can find full details, and recordings of talks give, here. You can also find various talks given at the conference below.
Key facts:
What: Essay competition for 16-19 years olds studying US politics as part of a Politics A Level.
Deadline: March 16th, 2026
Length: 1,500 words (+/- 10%)
Submission: Students to submit via their tutor/teacher, with essays emailed to Lead Organiser Dr. Pete Finn: P.D.Finn@greenwich.ac.uk (see below and submission cover sheet for full details)
Listing on Political Studies Association website: here
Page with advice: here
Materials for getting started: here
Prize categories:
The five following prizes will be awarded:
- Best overall essay
- Best argument
- Most original essay
- Best use of evidence (initially titled Best use of data)
- Best discussion of a social problem
Eligibility: An essay competition aimed at 16-19 year olds studying American politics during their A Levels (or similar qualifications, i.e., A Level politics but without taking the American paper, Scottish Highers, and International Baccalaureate)
Further queries: Lead Organiser Dr. Pete Finn: P.D.Finn@greenwich.ac.uk (students are asked to submit queries via their tutor/teacher)
Prizes for each category:
- Best overall essay:
- £100 book voucher, paid return travel to 2026 APG Colloquium, copy of ‘Brilliant Essays‘ by Ursula Hackett, and potential to develop into a Financial Times blog post* +
- All other categories:
- £50 book voucher
- All categories:
- Copy of ‘Developments in American Politics 10’ textbook
- Announced in American Politics Group and Political Studies Association newsletters and the Financial Times ‘Schools Digest’
- Essay posted on American Politics Group and Political Studies Association sites
*Given the news-driven nature of Financial Times content and the difference between the requirements needed for an essay and such content, it may not be possible in all instances for the winner of the ‘Best overall essay’ category to be developed into a Financial Times blog post. If it is felt it is possible to develop the winning essay into a blog post, the initial editing process will be overseen by Lead Organiser Peter Finn (via engagement with the relevant A-Level tutor rather than directly with the winning student) before a draft is sent to the Financial Times team.
+Paid return travel here refers to up to £200 to pay for travel within the UK for one student and another responsible adult (i.e., £100 pounds per person up to a maximum of £200 for two people)
Essay submission and cover sheet:
- Please use the competition cover sheet as the first page of your competition submission (this sheet is not included in the word count)
- Students must submit via their tutor/teacher to Lead Organiser Dr. Pete Finn: p.finn@kingston.ac.uk
- To submit and be considered for the essay competition, students must agree to the below statement on generative artificial intelligence tools.
- The essay cover-sheet is here:
Generative artificial intelligence statement:
I confirm that this essay is my own work and that I did not use generative artificial intelligence tools to generate the content of this essay. Essay judges reserve the right to ask for information about how submissions are written.
For clarity, this statement does not preclude the use of spell and grammar checking features of word processing tools such as Word and Google Docs.
Essay questions:
The essay questions are as follows:
- Analysis of any of the three federal branches of the American government will inevitably lack depth if discussions of other branches are not considered. Discuss.
- Does the American system still represent the last best hope? Discuss with relation to at least two branches of the American federal government.
- Does President Donald J. Trump represent an anomaly or reflect a broader strand of thought and action in American politics?
- ‘The best policy and problem solving in the American political system grows out of the tension between federal and state level politics.’ Discuss the validity of this statement. Do so with relation to at least one state or territory and one branch of the federal government.
Referencing:
- As academics and students of US politics, it is important for us to demonstrate the source of our knowledge. We do this by referencing. Beyond any single piece of writing, being able to reference is an important skill that is useful as a student and in many careers. A great source of material is the Schools Programme of the Financial Times.
- As such, it is required that:
- Essay submissions are referenced. Please use footnotes to reference your essay.
- You cite at least two sources from the Financial Times in your essay.
- You can find starter materials, including many from the Financial Times, related to each question on this page.
- You can find advice on referencing in books and website, but following the following general rules for your sources below should be fine for most sources:
Online news article:
- Goodlad, G. (2025) ‘Schools politics class: Trump’s show of force in Los Angeles’, Financial Times (14 June). Available at: https://www.ft.com/content/4d8e3789-8f32-45e9-a62b-bb0d425ef96e (Accessed: 6 May 2024).
Webpage:
- American Politics Group (2025) A Level Engagement Project. Available at: https://ukpsaapg.co.uk/a-level-engagement-project/ (Accessed: 5 November 2025).
Book:
- Woodward, B. (2024) War. Simon & Schuster. p.22.
Online primary document:
- Make America Healthy Again Commission (2025) The MAHA Report. Available at: https://www.whitehouse.gov/wp-content/uploads/2025/05/MAHA-Report-The-White-House.pdf (Accessed: 4 November 2025). p.107
Physical primary document:
- Baha Mousa Inquiry (2011) The Report of the Baha Mousa Inquiry. Vol. 1. p.78.
FT-APG A Level Essay Competition Marking Criteria
Submissions will be judged against the following marking criteria.
Knowledge:
The degree to which an essay demonstrates knowledge of the material related to their chosen essay question. Taking into account the particular topic the essay focuses on.
Argument:
The degree to which an essay provides a clear and consistent argument and narrative.
Evidence:
The degree to which the argument and narrative of an essay is backed up with relevant data (i.e., quantitative material) and/or textual (i.e., qualitative) evidence.
This includes the degree to which the source of data and textual evidence is provided.
Writing:
The degree to which an essay is written with clarity and the argument and narrative are intelligible.
Argument and evidence:
- As developing academics, we want you to start to shape your intellectual identity and, in so doing, base your writing on the factual material that you engage with and the debates related to your chosen essay question.
- As such, rather than just give your opinion, you need to provide an evidenced argument. You can acknowledge other points of view, explain how they differ from your own, and why the evidence suggests that your argument is correct.
- In short, you should look to evidence your argument and avoid unsubstantiated polemic (by which we mean shouty writing that is not based on a sound factual foundation).
The essay competition online: