Meet the winners of The Queen's Commonwealth Essay Competition 2025!
- Liv Robinson
- 3 hours ago
- 4 min read
The Royal Commonwealth Society (RCS) is proud to announce the winners of The Queen’s Commonwealth Essay Competition (QCEC) 2025, the world’s oldest international writing competition for schools. This year’s competition achieved a historic milestone, attracting a record-breaking 53,434 entries from across the 56 member countries of the Commonwealth - a 53% increase from 2024. Submissions came from 54 nations, with particularly strong participation from Ghana, Nigeria, Malaysia, Bangladesh, India, Sri Lanka, Singapore, the United Kingdom, and the Maldives.
This year’s winners were chosen by a distinguished panel of judges, including:
Sir Ben Okri OBE, Booker Prize-winning novelist and poet
Imtiaz Dharker, Queen’s Gold Medal for Poetry recipient
Victoria Hislop, author of The Island
Annie Garthwaite, author of Cecily and The King’s Mother
Chetna Makan, cookbook author and former Great British Bake Off contestant
Caroline Haines CC, educator and City of London Education Board
Ntsika Kota, Commonwealth Short Story Prize winner
Portia Subran, Trinidadian writer and visual artist
Maria Samuela, Cook Islands author based in New Zealand
Dr Paul Edmondson, Head of Research, Shakespeare Birthplace Trust
Joanne C. Hillhouse, founder of the Wadadli Youth Pen Prize
2025 Winners and Runners-up
🏆 Senior Winner – Kaira Puri (17), Gurugram, Haryana, India
Kaira Puri is a student at The Shri Ram School Aravali, drawn to the spaces where abstraction meets lived experience. Mathematics has long been a way for Kaira to model uncertainty, while economics gave her the vocabulary to ask why prosperity concentrates in some places and fades in others, or why rational people sometimes make irrational choices. Writing allows Kaira to explore these questions in a more human and imaginative way. Kaira’s curiosity has guided several projects, including her short film Banking on Her, a documentary on Indian women navigating financial agency amidst social and structural constraints. Beyond academics, football has been a formative part of Kaira’s life, teaching her cooperation, resilience, and discipline. Across research, service, and play, she continues to seek spaces where learning, creativity, and impact intersect.
🏆 Junior Winner – Vivaan Agarwal (14), Mumbai, India
Vivaan Agarwal is a student of Jayshree Periwal International School, Jaipur, whose curiosity and compassion define him. A passionate advocate for communal harmony, environment, and sustainability, Vivaan believes that true progress comes when voices unite for a better tomorrow. On the field, he shines in football, padel, and basketball, where teamwork fuels his spirit. Off the field, he channels his voice into debating and podcasting, using words to influence thought and inspire change. Having represented India at Harvard, Vivaan is known for his powerful rhetoric and persuasive arguments that blend intellect with empathy. His podcast reflects his belief that dialogue can heal divides and ignite awareness. For Vivaan, every debate, discussion, and game is an opportunity to build bridges, protect the planet, and shape a more inclusive world. A young changemaker in the truest sense, he speaks not just to be heard, but to make a difference.
🥈 Senior Runner-up - Pandora Onyedire (17), Lagos, Nigeria
Pandora Onyedire is a Nigerian student whose work explores the intersections of identity, hope, and social change through storytelling and performance. A passionate writer and speaker, she uses narrative as both art and advocacy-whether through debate, theatre, or community projects that bridge creativity and impact. Pandora’s award-winning writing often weaves cultural introspection with global consciousness, reflecting her belief that words and art can challenge systems and heal divides. Beyond the page, she is deeply involved in the performing arts and youth leadership, where she blends her interests in economics, law, and psychology to understand how expression shapes societies. Named for the mythic bearer of gifts, Pandora embodies her name by pursuing interdisciplinary excellence and uplifting others through her voice. She hopes to continue using storytelling and performance as a compass for justice, empathy, and transformation across the Commonwealth and beyond.
🥈 Junior Runner-up – Lakshmi Manognya Achanta (14), Singapore
Achanta Lakshmi Manognya is a 14-year-old Singapore-based writer who finds joy in articulating her thoughts and emotions through poetry. Her passion for writing blossomed alongside her love for reading, songwriting, and performing Carnatic Keerthanas. When she isn’t immersed in her books, she can be found at the piano, catching the latest Formula One race, or chatting with her friends. If her hands aren’t tangled in a battle with her curls, they’re busy creating something new. Deeply inspired by the world around her, Manognya seeks to uncover beauty in moments often overlooked. Influenced by authors such as Elizabeth Lim and Ann Liang, she hopes to one day craft novels that celebrate Asian heritage and give voice to stories that deserve to be heard. Through her poetry, she strives to capture the quiet intricacies of mankind and inspire others to find the stories woven into their everyday lives.
The Royal Commonwealth Society extends its heartfelt gratitude to all participants, the hundreds of volunteer judges, and the supporters and partners across the Commonwealth who make this competition possible. Their passion, dedication, and belief in the power of young voices have helped The Queen’s Commonwealth Essay Competition reach record heights in 2025, inspiring creativity, empathy, and shared purpose among tens of thousands of young writers worldwide.