11th PMI Student Essay Competition 

• The three essay finalists will be invited to take part in an online judging panel with the judges
• The winning essay will be published in the Pensions Aspects magazine and Professional Pensions
• The essay competition 1st prize winner will be invited to attend the 2024 Pinnacle Awards Ceremony on the 28 November 2024 along with x 2 colleagues from their organisation. 
• Runner-up essays will be published on the PMI website 

Essay Question:

What should the next government prioritize in relation to Pension policy and are there industry benefits to political instability? (750-2000 Words)

Registration Deadline: Friday 28 June 2024 at 17:00pm. Please Register here

Competition Deadline: Friday 30 August 2024 at 12:00pm

Live Student Essay Webinar, to find out more please click here

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