Welcome to the National English Olympiad Website
The 2022 Olympiad exam will be written on Tuesday 8 March 2021. Entries for the 2022 English Olympiad have now closed.
Suggested response to the questions in the Study Guide are now available. Please click on the link below-
Please note: Some of the questions in the Study Guide are open-ended and do not have definitive answers. The suggested responses included in the memo should therefore not be viewed as 'model answers'.
2021 Home Language (HL) TOP 20 in RANK ORDER
| Rank | Title | First name | Last name | School |
| 1 | Ms |
Faye | Crawford | Epworth High School |
| 2 | Mr |
Sazi | Bongwe | St John's College |
| 3 | Ms |
Vanessa | Visser | Hoërskool Linden |
| 4 | Ms | Rozelle | Hartzenberg | Gymnasium High School, Paarl |
| 5 | Ms | Raeesah | Jadwat | St John's College |
| 6 | Ms |
Grace | Ross | St Anne's Diocesan College |
| 7 | Ms | Sarah | Nanabhay | St John's College |
| 8 | Ms | Erin | Commaille | Rhenish Girls' High |
| 9 | Ms | Stephanie | Bergesen | St Mary's School, Waverley |
| 10 | Mr | Ydhan |
Naidoo | St John's College |
| 11 | Ms | Harshitha | Vempati | Crawford College Sandton |
| 12 | Ms | Rachel | Taljard | Ashton Ballito College |
| 13 | Mr | Nabeel | Seedat | St Andrew's School, Bloemfontein |
| 14 | Ms | Isabella | Andrighetto | St Stithians Girls College, Randburg |
| 15 | Ms | Vanya | Blignaut | Hartbeespoort High School |
| 16 | Ms | Gabriella | Hoskins | Parktown High School for Girls |
| 17 | Ms | Angela | Wang | St Andrew's School for Girls |
| 18 | Ms | Asithandile | Msomi | Kloof High School |
| 19 | Ms | Amy | Irlam | Pinelands High School |
| 20 | Ms | Jenna | Viviers |
Clarendon High School for Girls |
| Rank | Title | First Name | Surname | School |
| 1 | Mr | Pinashe | Manyengawana | Blue Hills College |
| 2 | Ms | Inam | Nojilana | Walmer High School |
| 3 | Ms | Anaïs |
Herman | Hoër Meisieskool Bloemhof |
| 4 | Ms | Logan-Leigh | van Staden | Otto du Plessis High School |
| 5 | Ms | Elizabeth | van Eeden | Curro Nelspruit |
| 6 | Ms | Chevonne | Erasmus | Curro Hermanus |
| 7 | Mr | Ian | Olivier | Pearson High School |
| 8 | Ms | Nshalati | Maluleke | Khanyisa Education Centre |
| 9 | Mr | Jacques | Klopper | Bergvlam High School |
| 10 | Ms | Samara | Laubscher | Hugenote Hoërskool |
| 11 | Ms | Kutenda | Jange | Khanyisa Education Centre |
| 12 | Mr | Luke | Swingler | Curro Hermanus |
| 13 | Ms | Musa | Ncwadi | Ntsika Secondary School |
| 14 | Ms | Kirsty-Leigh | Philander | Otto du Plessis High School |
| 15 | Ms | Nyeleti | Mbombi | Khanyisa Education Centre |
| 16 | Ms | Sandiswa | Booi | Ntsika Secondary School |
| 17 | Mr | Sive | Teyise | Ntsika Secondary School |
| 18 | Ms | Nwabisa | Sami | Ntsika Secondary School |
| 19 | Ms | Zenobia | Kemoeti | Oudtshoorn High School |
| 20* | Ms | Khanyisa | Baloyi | Khanyisa Education Centre |
| 20* | Ms | Carine | Meyer | Swartland High School |
*Tied in 20th place
RESULTS for the 2021 English Olympiad
The results for the 2021 English Olympiad are now available for teachers to view on this website. To view your school's results please log in with your Username and Password. Contact the Olympiad Officer if you do not have these. Please note that ONLY teachers may log in to view these results.
How teachers may view their school's Olympiad results:
Once you have logged in, click on "Entries" in the grey task bar. Your candidates list should appear with symbols in the Results column next to the names of candidates who wrote the exam.
What the symbols mean:
D - Diamond (90% +)G - Gold (80-89%)
S - Silver (70-79%)
B - Bronze (60-69%)
M - Merit (50-59%)
P - Participation (0-49%)
U - Unclassified (did not complete paper / insufficient answers)
2023 English Olympiad - Call for Entries
The Call for Entries for the 2023 English Olympiad will be published on 1 July 2022. Entry forms will be available on this website from that date.
The 2023 English Olympiad will be open to all learners (English HL and FAL) who will be in Grades 9 - 12 in 2023, that is, those learners who are currently in Grades 8 - 11.
Closing date: Friday 30 September 2022
The 2nd place candidate 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!
News and Updates
- Entries for the 2022 ENGLISH OLYMPIAD have now closed.
- The theme for the 2022 English Olympiad is "A Brave New World".
- HELP for English Teachers. See Teaching English Today by clicking here for more information.
- Find past Olympiad exam papers and study guides by going to the "Exam Materials" tab at the top of this page.
- You may wish to visit A DICTIONARY OF SOUTH AFRICAN ENGLISH at: http://dsae.co.za/
PARTNERS AND SPONSORS
The English Olympiad is a joint project between the Grahamstown Foundation and the South African Council for English Education (SACEE).
Grahamstown Foundation
For information about other Grahamstown Foundation Arts Education projects, please visit:
http://schoolsfestival.wordpress.com/
and
http://www.foundation.org.za/#
South African Council for English Education
South African Council for English Education (SACEE) National Website: http://www.sacee.org.za/
Prize partner and sponsor
Rhodes University has
sponsored the Top 50 Scholarships
for over 15 years.
www.ru.ac.za