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PMI
25 April 2024

PMI and ITM Student Essay Competition

Open to students within the pensions and retirement savings sector. This competition will give one winner the chance to win £1000, while two runners up will each win £250.

11th PMI Student Essay Competition 

Entrants should write an essay between 700-1500 words on the following topic:

What should the next government prioritize in relation to Pension policy and are there industry benefits to political instability?

The deadline to register is Friday, 28 June 2024 at 5.00pm. Please register here

Essay entries should be submitted to the membership team by 12.00pm on Friday, 30 August 2024. Entrants will be notified of the results on Thursday 17 October 2024.

Please read the entry requirements for full details, including essay writing guidelines and judges tips.

 

  • The winning essay will be published in the Pensions Aspects magazine and Professional Pensions
  • Runner-up essays will be published on the Pensions Aspects

 

 

Guidelines and judging criteria

Entries will be judged a panel of experts including:

  • Tim Middleton FPMI, Director of Policy and External Affairs, PMI
  • Jonathan Stapleton , Editor, Professional Pensions
  • Mark Adamson, Sales Director, ITM
  • Rory Tucker, Associate Technical Research Analyst, ITM

Read the tips below: 

  1. Remember you are writing an essay, not an article
  2. Make sure you read the question thoroughly and answer the question
  3. Tell a story in your answer: what you are going to say, what are you saying, and what have you said?
  4. Keep the background information to a minimum and don’t take too long to get to the relevant points. As a guide, the introduction should generally make up a maximum of 2 paragraphs
  5. Ensure you give a complete and detailed argument rather than a high-level overview
  6. Include enough evidenced examples throughout to support your point. If you cannot include enough detail of the example due to word count, you can include links to further information in the footnotes
  7. Ensure your examples are appropriate to the question
  8. Make your essay engaging and interesting to the reader
  9. Avoid using too many colloquialisms
  10.  Be ruthless with your editing – it’s easiest to cut from the introduction if you are struggling with word count
  11.  Ask someone to proofread your essay before submitting
  12.  Check your facts!

Previous winners 

August 2023

Winner: James Turner, Senior Pensions Administrator, Quantum Advisory LLP. Read essay here.

Runner up: Sarah Meehan, Pensions Administrator, Capita. Read essay here.

Runner up: Pauline Kelleway, Technical Specialist, Money and Pensions Service. Read essay here.

February 2023

Winner: Caitlin Watson, Support Professional Trustee, Spence & Partners Limited. Read essay here.

Runner up: Ieuan Solanki, Pensions Management Consultant, Barnett Waddingham LLP. Read essay here.

Runner up: James Turner, Quantum Advisory, Senior Pensions Administrator. Read essay here.

May 2022

Winner: Katie Walker, Associate Consultant, Lane Clarke and Peacock LLP. Read essay here. 

Runner up: Lucy James, Governance Assistant, Evolve Pensions Ltd. Read essay here. 

Runner up: Zoya Alam, Paralegal apprentice, Squire Patton Boggs. Read essay here. 

August 2021

Winner: Jed Newton, Senior Pension Administrator, Willis Towers Watson. Read essay here.

Runner up: Claire Bryant, Associate Consultant, Lane Clark & Peacock LLP (LCP). Read essay here.

Runner up: Camilla O’Brien, Senior Pensions Administrator, XPS Pensions Group. Read essay here.

April 2021

Winner: Molly McCarthy, Associate, PricewaterhouseCoopers (PwC). Read essay here.

Runner up: Jed Newton, Pensions Administrator, Willis Towers Watson. Read essay here.

Runner up: Camilla O’Brien, Pensions Administrator, XPS Pensions Group. Read essay here.

September 2020

Winner: Jennifer Harrison, Analyst, Willis Towers Watson. Read essay here.

Runner up: Ben Picknett, Senior Consultant, Muse Advisory. Read essay here.

Runner up: Jed Newton, Pension Administrator, Willis Towers Watson. Read essay here.

March 2020

Winner: Michelle Cracknell, Independent Pension Consultant here.

Runner up: Ben Picknett, Senior Consultant, Muse Advisory here.

Runner up : Jennifer Dean, Pensions Administrator, First Actuarial LLP here

September 2019

Winner: Ella Purkiss, LCP

Runner up: Jed Newton, Willis Towers Watson

Runner up: Richard Goldring, Smart Pension

Runner up: Peter Laurence, Trafalgar House

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Last update: 26 April 2024

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