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. 

Answers to the questions in the Study Guide

Please click on the links below for the answers to the questions in the Study Guide for A Twist in the Tale, as well as the Punctuation Chart for the language section.

Short stories:

1. Study Guide answers

Please note that the answers provided are suggestions only and as long as learners can substantiate their answers, they are free to differ from the answers given.

Language section:

2. Punctuation Chart 

3. Additional punctuation practice 

4. Answers to additional punctuation practice

2019 Call for Entries

Calling all English Olympiad enthusiasts!  We are gearing up for the 2019 English Olympiad.  Our new theme for 2019 is "Hidden Truths" and the anthology is entitled A Twist in the Tale.  Candidates will enjoy a collection of short stories, each with their own twist unfolded at the end of the story. Explore the hidden truths!

Please click on the links below to download the Call for Entries and Entry Form for 2019:

Call for Entries - for information about the Olympiad, how to enter and prizes up for grabs.

Entry Form - please complete this form to enter, and fax/email it to the Olympiad Officer before the closing date.

The closing date for entries is 31 October 2018. Entries cost R125 per entry/candidate.

The HL Top 100 and FAL Top 20 are available for download! Please click on the links below:

HL Top 100

FAL Top 20

Well done to all schools and candidates that took part! 

2018 English Olympiad Winners!

Back row: Rebecca Behne, Rustenburg High School for Girls; Astrid Burgess, Hoërskool Waterkloof; Emma Rogers, St Mary's School Waverley.

Middle row: Georgina Stanley, St Stithians Girls' College Randburg; Holly Munks, Durban Girls' College; Olwethu Sigwela, St Martin's School; Jenna Murison, Ashton Ballito College; Cenelle Gounden, Durban Girls' College; Shannon Morrison, Cornwall Hill College.

Front row: David Weber, Westville Boys' High School; Camilla James, Kingswood College (3rd place); Dr Malcolm Venter; SACEE National Chair; Keara Martino, St Mary's School Waverley (1st place); Theodore Pauw, Jan van Riebeeck High School (5th place).

 2018 English Olympiad HL TOP 20 in RANK ORDER!

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!