Highcliffe Sixth Form has won the Whole Sixth Form Winner Prize in The Bournemouth Young Researchers’ Prize a competition in association with Arts University Bournemouth, AECC University College and Bournemouth University. For this win our Sixth Form will receive a Bournemouth Young Researchers’ Prize Trophy and £400 worth of book vouchers. 

“We received eight entries from Highcliffe Sixth Form this year and the quality of each submission was incredibly high from all of your students. Whilst none of these entries won the first prize this year, two students were shortlisted as runner up award winners, and we have selected the Sixth Form to win the whole sixth form winners prize.   We would like to thank you and your students for taking part in our first ever Prize year and look forward to hopefully reading more of your young researchers submissions in future years.”  

-The Bournemouth Young Researchers’ Prize Team 

The Extended Project qualification is an extra qualification that is undertaken alongside A-Level courses and provides students an opportunity to extend their abilities beyond their sixth form course of study, stand out and prepare for university or their future career by completing an in-depth research project.        

Two of our Year 13 students, Gabrielle and Lara, were named runners up in the Bournemouth Young Researchers’ Prize 2021 after entering their Extended Project Qualification projects. Students are asked to choose an area of interest, decide on a thesis that they then plan, research, and deliver a presentation to a non-specialist audience. Gabrielle’s chose the topic ‘How effective was Fidel Castro at eliminating racism in Cuba?’ while Lara chose to  research ‘Learning to be human – An exploration into AI’s ability to possess human characteristics.’         

Gabrielle’s project which grappled with complex issues received excellent feedback from the judging panel. 

“We felt that this was an excellent and reflective piece of research tackling a fascinating question. We really liked that you acknowledged the difficulty in finding a range of research sources because of press censorship - it is important to be upfront about the limitations of research (and there often are a lot of limitations!). You answered almost everything we asked for in the submission and scored extremely highly. Congratulations on being shortlisted as a runner up. We received lots of strong student entries for the Prize, so this is a great achievement.”       

-The Bournemouth Young Researchers’ Prize Team         

Lara’s project also received very favourable feedback; the judges were impressed with its strong conclusions.  

“Well done on a really interesting project, we really enjoyed reading your submission. The judges were particularly impressed with the strong conclusions you have been able to make, and how directly your conclusions addressed your starting research question. You have very clearly outlined the research you have undertaken even though we gave you a very limited word count to work with. The judges also felt that your use of different sources was strong, and we liked how you were able to incorporate both primary and secondary research. Congratulations on being shortlisted as a runner up. We received lots of strong student entries for the Prize, so this is a great achievement.”     

-The Bournemouth Young Researchers’ Prize Team 

Gabrielle and Lara will both receive a study pack with everything they might need to take their next steps in your educational journey, whatever that may be, including a brand-new laptop and £50 worth of book vouchers!  

To find out more about our Sixth Form and our Extended Project Qualification here www.highcliffesixth.com/OpenEvening

Applications for our Sixth Form are now open visit HighcliffeSixth.com/Apply