The competition was designed to celebrate strong writing, critical thinking, and students' ability to engage deeply with written texts — and the quality of submissions this year made judging no easy task.
2025 Competition Winners
Level 3 Written Text – 1st Place
Mason Drylie
Westlake Boys High School
Prize: $250
Mason's essay demonstrated perceptive analysis, a confident academic voice, and a clear understanding of Excellence-level criteria. His response stood out for its depth of insight and control of argument.
Level 2 Written Text – 1st Place
Wade Macdonald
Westlake Boys High School
Prize: $100
Wade's writing showed strong textual understanding and well-developed ideas, supported by clear evidence and thoughtful explanation. A consistently convincing piece of work.
Level 1 Studied Text – 1st Place
Finn Annals
Hillmorton High School
Prize: $50 + 6 months of WriteWise
Finn's submission demonstrated clear engagement with the text and a strong grasp of structure and written expression, making excellent use of supporting detail.
Honourable Mention
Kate Graham
Kerikeri High School
Kate's essay was recognised as an outstanding submission, narrowly missing out on a category win. Her work showed originality, clarity, and a strong developing voice.
Thank you to every student and school who took part in the 2025 WriteWise Essay Competition. We're excited to continue supporting student writing and look forward to an even bigger competition in the future.
Keep an eye out for details about the next WriteWise Essay Competition.