THIS EVENT HAS OCCURED. YOU CAN FIND RECORDINGS OF THE TALKS GIVEN BELOW
Welcome to the FT-APG Online A Level Conference information page.
- Date: Feb 25th 2026
- Time: 14:00-16:30
- Location: Online
- Cost: free
Registration: CLOSED, EVENT HAS OCCURED
This conference competition falls within a broader project aimed at fostering engagement between the American Politics Group of 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.
In particular, this conference is aimed at supporting those submitting to the 2025-26 American Politics Group of the Political Studies Association A-Level essay competition (deadline: March 16th 2026).
Registration: CLOSED, EVENT HAS OCCURED
The conference was split into three parts:
- A: Don’t believe the AI hype: focus on perfecting how to read and write
- Delivered by the team behind 50 States or Bust! (a project exploring artificial intelligence in the study of American politics), this session will highlight some dangers of engaging with artificial intelligence and, as many of you prepare for university, encourage you focus on developing the craft of writing.
- B: Discussing Developments in American Politics
- In this session, members of the Developments in American Politics book series will explain how you could use material from the book series when putting together your essay competition entries.
- C: Preparing for your essay competition entry and your A-Level exam
- In this session you will receive advice from seasoned A Level tutors about both how to develop your essay competition entry and how to prepare for your A Level politics exam.
Conference speakers included:
- Dr Adam Burns, Brighton College
- Thomas Evans, Financial Times
- Dr Pete Finn, Kingston University
- Dr Ursula Hackett, Royal Holloway, University of London
- Dr Caroline Leicht, The University of Manchester
- Caitlin Lewis, The University of Manchester
- Dr Katie Pruszynski, The University of Sheffield
- Dr Amy Tatum, Bournemouth University
- Dr Dafydd Townley, University of Portsmouth
- Dr Andrew Wroe, University of Kent
Queries: Lead Organiser Dr. Pete Finn: p.finn@kingston.ac.uk (students should ask their teachers/tutors to contact Dr. Finn on their behalf)
The conference online:
- Listing on Political Studies Association website: here
- Listing on British Association for American Studies website: here
Registration: CLOSED, EVENT HAS OCCURED