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. 

2016 English Olympiad Winners! 

Back row: Louisa Clayton (Grahamstown Foundation CEO & Chair of Olympiad Executive Committee); Robert McGregor (Top 15 Chaperone); Nokulunga Dlamini, St John's DSG; Rynhard de Bruyn, Helpmekaar Kollege; Nonhle Magqwashu (Top 15 Chaperone); Gwendolyn Johnson (Business Manager)

Middle row: Prarochna Rama (Olympiad Officer); Dr Diana Ayliff (SACEE Academic Co-ordinator); Sarah Herrington, Maris Stella High School; Rashmika Singh, Westivlle Girls' High School; Joseanne Capelo, Durban Girls' High School;Sasha-Lee Morare, Jeppe High School for Girls; Molly Jackson, Deutsche Internationale Schule, JHB

Front row: Dr Malcolm Venter (Chairman SACEE National); Prof Tom Martin (Dean of Humanities, Rhodes University); Hannah Clayton - 1st place, Rustenburg High School for Girls; Tsepo Monaledi (Head of De Beers Zimele); Adam Butler - 2nd place, Carter High School; Anne Peltason (SACEE Chairman Eastern Cape)

Logging on to this website

2017 CALL FOR ENTRIES

To enter the 2017 English Olympiad, you can download the 2017 Call for Entries here AND download the 2017 Entry Form here, or contact the Olympiad Officer should you wish to have the Call for Entries and Entry Form emailed to you.

 2016 English Olympiad TOP 20 Announced in RANK ORDER!

Click here for the RANK ORDER of the Top 100 for 2016

Click here for the official press release for July 2016

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!