BOA’s 2025 Undergraduate Essay Competition is open for submissions from UK-based undergraduate students.
The prizes are as follows:
- First place: £300
- Second place: £100
- Third place: £50
The top three essays, along with a selection of highly commended submissions, will be published in a dedicated journal on our website. Everyone published in our journal will also receive a 12-month free trial of our entire site.
At BOA, we have grouped our primary source collections under key historical themes. You can use our Themes page to explore collections relating to each essay question.
Essay questions:
- The legacies of Britain’s involvement in transatlantic slavery can still be felt today. Discuss. Related to our Slavery and Abolition theme.
- In what ways did people resist British colonial rule? Related to our Colonialism and Empire theme.
- What are the key differences and similarities between the international peace-making processes which followed the First and Second World Wars, respectively? Related to our War, Security, and Intelligence theme.
- Infectious diseases have shaped British history more than wars. Discuss. Related to our Medicine theme.
- To what degree did mass media both uphold and challenge traditional gender roles during the twentieth century? Related to our Media and Communications and Culture and Society themes.
- Identify a key political or social movement in modern history and assess its impact. Related to our Political and Social Movements theme.
- Discuss the role of archives—their limitations, possibilities, and politics—in doing historical research.
Submissions are strongly encouraged to have a clear primary source focus. Your institution may have access to some of our digital primary source collections. Log in to our website via your institution to check—if you are unsure, please contact your library.
Each student who wishes to submit an essay can also contact us to request a one-month free trial of two of our primary source collections. Please email studentengagement@britishonlinearchives.com clearly stating the essay question you are selecting, up to two collections you would like to trial, the name of your course, your year of study, and your university.
Submissions should be no more than 2000 words (including footnotes) and should use Chicago referencing. Most universities provide guidance on referencing systems. For instance, here is the University of York's guide which is free to access.
Please submit your essays to studentengagement@britishonlinearchives.com before noon on 23 May 2025. Any submissions received after the deadline will not be considered. In your email, please state your year of study, your course, and your university.
Our judging panel:
This year our essay competition will be judged by three members of the BOA team who each have extensive experience in both historical research and academic publishing.
Katherine Waite, Head of Publishing
Katherine Waite is the Head of Publishing at British Online Archives (BOA). She graduated in 2016 from Newcastle University with a BA in History. Since she started working for BOA in 2019, she has worked within and then managed the content and editorial departments. She has enjoyed curating and editing a diverse range of primary source collections, with a personal highlight being our collection Pandemics, Society, and Public Health, 1517–1925.
Dr Mary Wills, Senior Curator
Dr Mary Wills is a Senior Curator at British Online Archives, where she researches and collates new primary source collections. She is a historian of transatlantic slavery and is the author of Envoys of Abolition: British Naval Officers and the Campaign Against the Slave Trade in West Africa (2019). She earned her PhD and was a postdoctoral fellow at the Wilberforce Institute (University of Hull). She has lectured at Leeds Beckett University and has worked freelance for heritage organisations, including Historic England.
Dr Catherine Bateson, Academic Liaison Manager
Dr Catherine Bateson is a historian of the USA, specialising in nineteenth century culture and society, the American Civil War, and Reconstruction. She has published about Irish American Civil War songs, music, and immigrant experiences during the conflict. A former graduate of UCL, KCL, and UPenn, she earned her PhD from Edinburgh in 2018 and has lectured on all aspects of American History and Studies at the universities of Edinburgh, Durham, Kent, Yale in London, Sussex, Gloucestershire, and Wolverhampton. She is also the co-founder of the Stuff of War Society and holds various committee positions on American, British, and Irish Studies scholarly boards in the UK. Dr Bateson works as BOA's Academic Liaison Manager, where she engages with libraries, faculties, and students on emerging trends in historical studies and primary source learning.