De Beers English Olympiad

 Welcome to the De Beers English Olympiad Website   

This website enables schools to view their entries and results,

and provides information about the upcoming Olympiad. 

Theme: War and Peace (2018)

Anthology: We Will Remember Them

PART 1 PRE 20TH CENTURY

PART 2 WORLD WAR I

PART 3 WORLD WAR II

PART 5 THE COLD WAR

PART 7 WAR AND PEACE IN SOUTH AFRICA

2018 CALL FOR ENTRIES - we are currently CLOSED for entries for 2018.

The theme for the 2018 English Olympiad is "War and Peace", and the anthology is entitled We will Remember Them.  This year, the anthology consists of a selection of poetry relating to war times, and a language section which focuses on the language of propaganda.

To enter the 2018 English Olympiad, download the 2018 Call for Entries and Entry Form.  Click on the following links:

• 2018 Call for Entries  

• 2018 Entry Form  

 Please check this website for updates on closing dates, as the closing dates on the entry form and Call for Entries may no longer be valid.

We are accepting entries until 30 November 2017* at the late entry fee of R140 per entry. *We are currently CLOSED for entries for 2018.

Contact the Olympiad Officer should you wish to have the Call for Entries and Entry Form emailed to you.

ENCOURAGE YOUR SCHOOL TO ENTER! Download the "Letter to Principals" here and present it to your school.  The English Olympiad is open to all learners that will be in Grades 10-12 in 2018.

Logging on to this website

2017 English Olympiad Winners!

Back row: Gerhard Woithe, Grey High School; Catherine Bloy, Epworth High School; Dennis Buckland, Rondebosch Boys High School; Anya Fries, Roedean School; Montana Cohen, Reddam House Atlantic Seaboard; Kiara Govender, Northlands Girls' High School; Emily Macgregor, St Andrews School for Girls; Jenna Beavon, Parel Vallei High School.

Front row: Julian Yeates, St Dominics School for Girls (5th place); Sarah Martinson, Roedean School (2nd place); Shraya Moodley, Epworth High School (1st place); Abigail Sieberhagen, Pearson High School (3rd place); Leah Macdonald, Clarendon High School for Girls (4th place).

 2017 English Olympiad TOP 20 in RANK ORDER!

Click here for the RANK ORDER of the HL Top 100 for 2017!

Click here for the official press release for July 2017

Please email Olympiad@foundation.org.za if you would like to receive a copy via email.

Click here for an explanation of the symbols.

 Saul Musker, 2nd place in the 2012 English Olympiad, reflects on writing the exam:

Isaac Asimov, the celebrated American science fiction writer, once declared: ‘If the doctor told me I had six minutes to live, I'd type a little faster.’ Reading this quote, my mind wandered to the top-corridor English classroom where I recently wrote my last English Olympiad, with Mrs Leaver’s voice in the distance: ‘Six minutes left, everyone! Hurry along!’ Six minutes left! Lord have mercy! It wasn’t that I was worried about time; I had just finished my last piece, and was about to give it a final read-over. No; I owed my despair instead to the realisation that I would never write another Olympiad. For me, the Olympiad is more than just another exam or competition. It is protected time for creativity; a dedicated three hours devoted to writing. I only wish I could write one every day, to escape the usual chaos of our existence, to let the ink pour out of my grateful mind. F Scott Fitzgerald observed that ‘all good writing is swimming under water and holding your breath.’ So dive, ye stranger! Submerge yourself in the cool green waters of your imagination, of the English language, of this moment in time!