Essay Winners
2025

Hurrah! Here they are: our amazing essay winners 2025!

What an amazing year! Our annual Kids World Travel Guide Essay Competition drew a fantastic 424 entries from young writers in 53 countries around the world! The creativity and talent displayed by young learners around the world were truly inspiring, and we thoroughly enjoyed reading each of your fascinating stories.

Congratulations to our exceptional prize-winners and a heartfelt Thank You to the participants who contributed to making our 10th anniversary edition of the competition such a remarkable success!

We are delighted that once again, our annual writing competition has inspired so many young students from around the world. Under this year's theme: "My World – Our Future," the participants explored a remarkable range of topics including inspiring stories about activists and national heroes, thoughtful reflections on the value of education or environmental initiatives as well as uplifting accounts of random acts of kindness and everyday life experiences.

We were very impressed by the diversity of writing styles: some essays were deeply analytical and philosophical, others more factual, richly imaginative or highly emotional.

We feel truly privileged to witness the growth of such wonderful young talent over the years. This year, we welcomed not only many new participants whose first entries amazed us with their quality, but also several returning writers who have joined us in several past competitions. It is such a joy to see their progress and passion continue to flourish!

Who are our 2025 winners?

This year, we have one winner and two runners-up per age category. And once again we added a merit selection of outstanding essays in each category as "commended essays."

You can all be incredibly proud of your achievements! Your creativity and hard work truly shone through!

And now… drumroll, please! We are excited to announce the 2025 winners in each category!

Essay Competition Winners 2025:
"My World - Our Future"

Age Category: 8 - 11 years

Winner

Runners-up

All winners will be notified by email regarding their success in the essay competition. All winning essays will be published in the first week of November 2025.

Merit

• Sion Jang (11) from South Korea: "Not Only Their Problem." English as additional language. Korean as home language
• Arini Kazi (10) from Australia: "Two Sets of Eyes." English as second language. Bangla as home language
• Parth Singla (9) from India: "Turning Pages, Shaping Tomorrow." English as first language
• Indranilaa Menon (9) from Indonesia: "I am the Healer." English as first language
• Erkin Akman (8) from Turkey: "The World Born from a Baby’s Smile."  English as second language. Turkish as home language
• Tshimollo Sono (11) from South Africa: "My World's Future." English as first language. Sesotho as home language
• Meryam Sayyeda (10) from the UK: "Our World, An Eco Friendly Place." English as second language. Urdu as home language.
• Patreace Orene Tiu (10) from the Philippines: "A Perfect World." English as first language
• Enora Da Silva, Ira Shetty and Amalia Mestre (10) from Switzerland: "Our Ideal World." English and French as first languages
• My Linh Nguyen (10) from Vietnam: "A Love Letter to the World." English as second language. Vietnamese as home language

Please take note that all commended essays and certificates will be sent out by the end of November 2025.

Age Category: 12 - 15 years

Winner

Runners-up

All winners will be notified by email regarding their success in the essay competition. All winning essays will be published in the first week of November 2025.

Merit

• Hiranga Bandara Suraweera (14) from Sri Lanka: "Myopia." English as second language. Sinhala as home language
• Ali Alparslan Belen (12) from Turkey: "My World - My Future." English as second language. Turkish as home language
• Truong Quỳnh (12) from Vietnam: "I Don't Want to be a Princess." English as additional language. Vietnamese as home language
• Gorle Asvath Naidu (13) from India: "The Neem Tree and the Bench." English as first language. Telugu as home language
• Muhammad Auliaurrohman (12) from Indonesia: "Plastic Waste A Real Threat to the Ocean." English as second language. Indonesian as home language
• Hạnh Nhi Phan (12) from Vietnam: "Systems That Sleep, People Who Stay Silent." English as second language. Vietnamese as home language
• Hibah Arifeen (14) from India: "Echoes of Peace." English and Urdu as first languages
• Clara Brulport (15) from France: "A Future Without Racism." English as second language. French as home language
• Kanna Lau (14) from Hong Kong: "A Kind Soul." English as second language. Cantonese as home language
• Isobel Ferrara (13) from Italy: "Dead Dad." English as second language. Italian as home language
• Milena Mosquera (15) from Argentina: "More than just reading books." English as second language. Spanish as home language.
• Ebad Ahmed (15) from Pakistan: "The Kitchen That Learned to Say Hello." English as second language. Urdu as home language.

Kindly note that commended essays and certificates will be sent out by the end of November 2025.

Essay Competition Winners
2024: 
'My Culture - Who I Am"

Age Category: 8 - 11 years

Winner

Runners-up

All winners have been notified via email about their success in the essay competition. Prizes and certificates have been dispatched. Please check your emails.

This year we again added a special mentions category for several outstanding essays of our finalists. 

Special Mention

Age Category: 12 - 15 years

Winners

Runners-up

All winners have been notified via email about their success in the essay competition. Prizes and certificates have been despatched. Please check your emails.

This year we again added a special mentions category for several outstanding essays of our finalists. 

Special Mention

Thank you for your wonderful essays! All these excellent essays will make a great reading and are an inspiration!

Merit award certificates for "special mention" essays will be sent to the participants by the beginning of December.

Keep honing your writing skills while exploring the world around you, there is nothing better than sharing ideas, experiences and insights!

Here is our competition statistic and infographic for the 2024 competition:

Now, if you are interested in our previous competition winners, check out their essays in the last years' listings below:

Essay Competition Winners
2023: 
'Wildlife - Nature's Stars"

Age Category: 8 - 11 years

Winner

Runners-up

Special Mention

Age Category: 12 -15 years

Winner

Runners-up

Special Mention

Competition Winners 2022:
"My Life"

Age Category: 8 - 11 years

Winner

Runners-up

Special Mention

• Hiranga Bandara Suraweera: "My Life" (Trinity College Kandy, Sri Lanka) - English as Second Language, Home language Sinhala
  
• Naurah Afiqah Mohd Naseem: "A Day of My Life" (Sekolah Kebangsaan Putrajaya, Malaysia) - English as Second Language
• Daphne Tsu: "My School Life" (Macau Anglican College, China) - English as Second Language, Home Language Chinese
• Lizzie Xu: "The Flowing Rhythm of My Life" (St George’s British International School Rome, Italy) - English as Second Language, Home Language Chinese
• Kanyisola Omogbai: "Scrabble" (Topaz Comprehensive College Lagos, Nigeria) – English as First Language

Age Category: 12 - 15 years

Winner

Runners-up

Special Mention

• Aelfred Bowden: "Half a year in Japan" (Aberdeen/ UK) – English as First Language, Home Language Mandarin Chinese
• Pei Yuan Erica Yip: "Zongzi (dumpling)" (Foon Yew High School Johor Bahru, Malaysia) - Home Language Chinese
• Carys Lee Hui Ern: "My Life" (SMJK Chan Wa Seremban- Malaysia) – English as First Language
• Benedict Okoroafor: "Personal Activities" (Dority International School Abayi, Nigeria) – Home Language Igbo, English as Second Language
• Natalie Treu: "Life As A Resident Sibling" (Homeschooled/ USA) - English as First Language 

Competition Winners 2021:
"Hope"

Age Category: 8 - 11 years

Winner

Runners-up

Special Mention

• Carissa Handrian: "Beauty Within Our Archipelago" (Bina Bangsa School, Indonesia)
• Rithikha Shree Sivananthan: "My Favourite Quote: A Beautiful Mind Makes a Beautiful Life" (Pusat Tuisyen Alfa Matriks, Malaysia)
• Avni Singh: "Live in Hope, Love to Laugh" (Homeschooling, India)
• Haram Cho: "Power of Hope" (International School ParkCity Hanoi, Vietnam)
• Lizzie Xu: "My Eternal Hope" (St George's British International School Rome, Italy)

Age Category: 12 - 15 years

Winner

Runners-up

Special Mention

• Corrine Yang: "The Power of Hope" (Merivale High School, Canada)
• Cojitha Senanayake: "The Beach: My Haven, My Hope"(St Thomas' College, Sri Lanka)
• Angelos Kandilas: "Hope is the dream of an awake person" (Music School of Athens, Greece)
• Akriti Lamba: "Anne Frank - A Story Of Hope" (Our Lady Queen of the Missions School, India)
• Nischal Samrat: "Life, an Opportunity" (Sudarshan Vidya Mandir, India)

Competition Winners 2020:
"My Country"

Age Category: 8 - 11 years

Winner

Runners-up

Special Mention

• Ihor Kravchenko: "The Country of My Dreams" (Saint Joseph School, Lebanon)
  
• Srikoustubh Karanam: "My Country - Invincible India" (Overseas Family School, Singapore)
• Rizqin Nasuha Mohamed Ridzuan: "The Country of My Dreams" (Artistic Strategies Academy, Singapore)
• Parker Hadley: "Florida to Alaska: A Big Change" (Raven Homeschool, USA)
• Mitchell Kuhn: "Cape Vultures" (Homeschool, South Africa)
• Matthew Borg: "About My Home Country" (Stella Maris College, Malta)
• Leila El Baba: "Japan - The Country of My Dreams" (Šiauliai Centro Primary School, Lithuania) 
• Regina Chiu: "My Host Country Singapore" (Saint Joseph's Institution International School, Singapore)

Age Category: 12 -15 years

Winner

Runners-Up

Special Mention

• Luca Ciripitca: "Moldova" (Sutton Grammar School, UK)
• Ashley Tay: "My Unique Home" (CHIJ St Nicholas Girls' School, Singapore)
• Alina Kiedos: "Romanies in Poland" (English Language Studio, Poland)
• Tana Tahira Valmond: "My Country Dominica" (Dominica Grammar School, Dominica)
• Muhammad Imad Khan: "Trees" (Islamia Children Academy, Pakistan)
• Pranavkrishna Bharanidharan: "The Crossroads of My Life" (California Montessori Project, USA) - What a wonderful achievement now in the Senior Category! Read his winning essay from 2019 in the Junior Category here.

Essay Competition Winners
2019: 'The Gift of Languages'

Age Category: 8-11 years

Winner

Runner-Up

Age Category 12-15 years

Winner

Runner-Up

Special Prize

Essay Competition Winners
2018: 'My Favourite Festival'

Age Category: 8 - 11 years

Winner

Runner-Up

Age Category: 12 -15 years

Winner

Runner-Up

We really enjoyed all your entries, so please do not give up on your dream if you want to become a writer but your essay was not chosen for publication this time.

Never give up! Keep on writing and honing your skills and join in our next competition! ... And for some of you we will have a special treat, so keep our site bookmarked and you might hear from us regarding a special publication of your entry on another page on this site. Cheers!

Essay Competition Winners
2017: 'My Favourite Holiday'

Age Category: 8 - 11 years

Winner

Runners-Up

Age Category: 12 -15 years

Winner

Runners-Up

All winners will be notified via email about their success in the essay competition to claim their prizes which then will be dispatched in the coming week. Congratulations again! Well done! Keep on writing!

Essay Competition Winners
2016: 'My Country'

Age Category: 8 - 11 years

Winner

Runners-up

Age Category: 12 - 15 years

Winner

Runner-up

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Image credits on essay competition winners page: Shutterstock.com and own images

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