The UK’s best young orator: Harpenden student wins £1,000 in national finals

A teenager from Harpenden  has been judged the best young orator in the country following a nationwide search. 

Gresham College, London’s oldest higher education institute, launched the contest earlier this year. They tasked lower sixth form students at state schools to submit a five-minute video presentation where they answered one of six questions. More than 200 entries were whittled down to a shortlist of 12. 

Each of these finalists, in Year 12 (England and Wales), S5 (Scotland), and Year 13 (Northern Ireland), were invited to Barnard’s Inn Hall, the College’s base in the heart of the City of London, to give a five-minute presentation.  

The entrants demonstrated their oratory abilities and engagement with academic research. The competition places an emphasis on verbal communication, and visual aids such as images, graphs, and slides may be incorporated to support arguments.

As part of their preparations, last month the 12 were invited to London last month to attend a workshop day where experts helped hone their skills and shared tips on public speaking. Then, on Wednesday, 1 July, the teenagers returned to deliver their presentations to a packed audience including a judging panel that included one of last year’s finalists. The judges were looking at all aspects of oracy, including creative thinking and communication. 

After much deliberation, the panel declared Filip Szemiczek the winner. The Year 12 student from Sir John Lawes Sixth Form in Harpenden answered the question Should AI Ever Be Allowed To Make Life-changing Decisions? They have won £1,000, along with £500 towards their school.  

He said of the award: “It’s genuinely surreal. It’s genuinely a moment that I can’t replicate.  

“The day was just phenomenal; I loved meeting all the other contestants and it flew by so quickly. I’ve really enjoyed speaking and really enjoyed listening to the other finalists. 

“My topic looked at whether AI should be allowed to make life-changing decisions over humans. I think we need to be very careful of how we use AI in the future but also balance it with human empathy and understanding. It can help us a lot with research, but only we can make the final judgments.”  

Sadie Bell from Liverpool and Laurena Anderson from Upminster were runners up in the 2026 competition both taking home a prize of £700 and £500 respectively.  

The winning students for the 2026 competition are as follows: 

• Gold Award: Filip Szemiczek, Sir John Lawes Sixth Form, Harpenden   
• Silver Award: Sadie Bell, The Belvedere Academy, Liverpool   
• Bronze Award: Laurena Anderson, The Coopers Company and Coborn School, Upminster

Following the final, Gresham College’s Executive Director, Richard Smith OBE, said: “We congratulate Filip on winning the Gresham College Oracy Competition 2026. They gave an excellent presentation, as did all 12 finalists, and it was a privilege to hear them all. The judging panel had a really difficult time decided who should be the winner. 

“The Oracy contest is an important part of Gresham College’s year and encourages teenagers to develop core skills that will serve them well beyond the classroom. And who knows, maybe we have a new Gresham College Professor in the making?

“Oracy might seem like a forgotten art, but our regular lecture programme has more than seven million viewers every year from across the world. Clearly there is an appetite for sharing and learning from each other.” 

More about the contest

The 12 finalists from around the UK delivered their prepared answers to one of Gresham College’s pre-set questions to a panel, and an audience of peers, in London. The questions cover a broad range of subject areas, including STEM and the Humanities, encouraging young people to engage critically with academic research and contemporary issues.

The finalists for the 2026 competition were as follows:

• Laura Byrne, Highbury Fields School, Islington
• Adithi Arun Prasath, Brighton Hove and Sussex Sixth Form College, Brighton
• Khadija Kamaly, The Warren School, Romford
• Erika Fenocchi, Bishopbriggs Academy, Bishopbriggs
• Grace Allison, Dominican College Fortwilliam Belfast
• Sadie Bell, The Belvedere Academy, Liverpool
• Filip Szemiczek, Sir John Lawes Sixth Form, Harpenden
• Jack Parmley, The Green Room College, Windsor
• Laurena Anderson, The Coopers Company and Coborn School, Upminster
• Georgia Rice, Queen Mary's College, Basingstoke
• Labdhi Ostwal, The Henrietta Barnett School, Barnet
• Rayhrn Narula, Newham Collegiate Sixth Form, East Ham

Gresham College, the first institute of Higher Education in London, has been providing free public education across the arts and sciences since 1597 and is also a registered charity in England and Wales. Through this competition, they aim to showcase the importance of oracy competence and the art of communicating.

The questions which were answered by pupils (16-17 years old) in this year's competition were as follows:

1. Do protests do more harm than good in today's society?
2. Is tradition something that we should preserve or challenge?
3. Does cancel culture help society progress, or silence free speech?
4. Should AI ever be allowed to make life-changing decisions?  (For example - in Medicine, Law or Policing etc)?
5. Many theatre critics describe theatrical productions as 'vital'... Are they?
6. Are global tourism and sustainability fundamentally incompatible? 

The Gold Award winner, Filip, has been awarded £1,000, with their school receiving £500. The Silver Award winner, Sadie, has received £700, with £300 for their school, and the Bronze Award winner, Laurena, has received £500, with £200 awarded to their school.

All other finalists have also received a prize in recognition of their achievement.

The panel of judges were: 

• Professor Robin May – Gresham College Professor of Physic and Head Judge
• Dowshan Humzah – Gresham College Council Member and an Independent Board Director & Strategic Growth Advisor
• Dr Lade Smith – Past president of the Royal College of Psychiatrists, a Consultant Psychiatrist at the South London and Maudsley NHS Foundation Trust and Visiting Senior Lecturer at the Institute of Psychiatry, Psychology and Neuroscience, Kings College London.
• Anjum Peerbacos - Education Reporter at Sky News - https://news.sky.com/author/anjum-peerbacos-1055
• Isabelle Brookes-Mann, a former Gresham College Young Orator of the Year Finalist 

Master of Ceremonies:Professor Sarah Hart – Former Gresham College Professor of Geometry and Previous (acting) Provost. She is also Professor Emerita of Mathematics at Birkbeck, University of London. 

* ENDS * 

Notes to Editors

Pictures and interviews available on request. For more information or to arrange an interview please contact: Phil Creighton: press@gresham.ac.uk 

About Gresham College Gresham College has been providing free, educational lectures – at university level – since 1597 when Sir Thomas Gresham founded the college to bring Renaissance Learning to Londoners Our history includes some of the luminaries of the scientific revolution including Robert Hooke and Sir Christopher Wren. 

Today we carry on Sir Thomas's vision.  

Gresham College is a registered charity number 1039962 and relies on donations to help us encourage people's love of learning for many years to come.