MASSOLIT Video Essay Competition 2026: Top Tips from the Founder
The MASSOLIT video essay competition in partnership with Brasenose College, Oxford is back for 2026!
The MASSOLIT competition helped students to understand the level of expertise required to make these lectures, and they really had to consider how to structure and present their chosen topic. Making the video itself was an excellent exercise in communication and presentation skills as well as allowing students to showcase their own in-depth knowledge of a subject. –Deputy Head of Sixth Form, Queen Elizabeth Girls' School
It’s a highlight of the year for us and we’re thrilled to be entering the sixth year. With entries having tripled since we first began we’re hoping to reach even more students this year so please spread the word.
As a quick reminder, the competition is in partnership with Brasenose College, Oxford and invites students in Years 10, 11 and 12 to create a ‘talking head' style video lecture on a topic of their choice. Entries open from Friday 27th February 2026 and the final deadline is 5pm Friday 26th June 2026.
Whilst the Brasenose judges receive a shortlist of entries to review, MASSOLIT Founder Chris Tudor has watched every single entry ever submitted – that’s more than 1,000 videos. With this in mind we asked if he had any top tips for students entering in 2026.
Here’s what he said…
- The very best videos are those where the pupil doesn’t use any notes at all. At the very least pupils should avoid reading out from a script, as this hampers the quality of the delivery.
- There’s really no need to add anything in ‘post-production’, e.g. slides, images, etc. We much prefer videos where the pupil simply speaks to the camera, we want to see a continuous talk of 8-12 minutes in total rather than videos in which several smaller chunks are edited together.
- The best videos are those in which the pupil speaks enthusiastically about their topic. If you’re excited about it then chances are we’re going to be too!
- In terms of topic, the best videos take advantage of the fact you can speak about literally anything, instead of a ‘standard’ essay topic, e.g. ’Same-sex desire in Twelfth Night’. For example, 2024’s winner spoke about foxgloves in literature.
- Related to the above, we prefer videos where pupils mention why they were particularly interested in a topic. One pupil spoke about encountering an interesting piece of maths in a recent Maths Olympiad. Another spoke about when he first realised he was colourblind. This kind of ‘hook’ isn’t essential, of course, but it did convey enthusiasm.
- Reminder, whilst we don’t judge videos on quality of production, we definitely want to be able to hear you clearly so please keep this in mind.
- Good luck and have fun!
The full details on how to enter, as well as all the past winning entries, can be found at massolit.io/competition. Free promotional posters are available to download here.
If you have any questions please contact support@massolit.io.