OWLSS is pleased to announce our International Muslim Women's Day Competition:

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 'If you were given the power to, what single policy would you implement to improve the position of all women internationally?'

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This competition is designed to give students an opportunity to express their vision of the future of the law profession.

The competition is aimed at developing your independent thinking and writing skills, and to provide an insight into the type of work you will be expected to do at university level - we hope to encourage more students to pursue higher education (not only at Oxford), and to give you an opportunity to engage with their interest in the legal sector. Most importantly, the competition is aimed at inspiring a younger generation of aspiring lawyers to visualise the ideal they hope to work towards in their careers.

 

Entry Criteria:

All students (of any gender identity and religion) currently enrolled in Year 11/12/13 at a UK state school and aged 16+ are welcome to enter the competition.

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What are we looking for?

It is strongly advised that students pursue their own lines of argument in their responses. The entries will be marked against a set of criteria including attention to the question asked, structure, clarity and persuasiveness of the argument, identification of multiple lines of argument and creativity. It is to be noted that there are many angles from which the essay question can be approached. Responses do not need to be exclusively focused on the position of Muslim women; rather, this question invites you to be as inclusive to improve the position of all women. 

 

Entrants are not expected to be familiar with any areas of law in a capacity greater than that expected from own research; the essays will be marked on the strength of the argument and its creativity. Therefore, we are looking for original argument about the future of the legal profession rather than a detailed analysis of the present law.

 

Word Limit:

Entrants are invited to submit a response which should be between 750 and 850 words (including footnotes and captions). The judges will be instructed to disregard any parts of the submissions exceeding the word count.   All sources must be appropriately acknowledged and cited (any academic citation format is accepted, as long is it used consistently), and a bibliography – including websites consulted – should be attached (though excluded from the word count). Entrants are expected to submit their own work - consultation with teachers, family or others is accepted, as long as the ideas included remain substantially the participant’s. Any works used must be attributed to their authors. 

 

Prizes:

The three winning essays will be awarded prizes of respectively £75 for first place, £50 for the second, and £25 for the third. The authors of the winning and the commended entries will also receive certificates of their placement. As well as monetary prizes all participants will be invited to an exclusive event where our outstanding panel of judges will be discussing their journeys into law to provide access for state school students to gain an insight into the profession of law. This will allow all participants to network and gain valuable insights from some of the most established women in the field of law while celebrating International Muslim Women's Day!  

 

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This competition closed on Sunday 14th March 2021. We hope to run more like this in future! Please keep an eye out...