Essay rules
- It is essential that you adhere to the following rules when preparing your paper for submission:
- All essays must be submitted in English and they must be typed.
- The essay title must appear on the first page of the essay and not on a separate page.
- Your name and your university must NOT appear on the pages of your essay. These details should only appear in your entry form.
- The number of words in your essay must also appear on the front page of your essay.
- Essays, including footnotes and tables, but excluding references, should not exceed (a 10% margin will be accepted):
- Postgraduate: 3500 words.
- Undergraduate: 2000 words.
- Essay lengths will be checked and any essays that are outside the prescribed length will be disqualified.
- The category you are entering must appear on the front page of your essay;
- All pages must be numbered from the 1st page and should feature the total number of pages (e.g. 2 of 10) in the bottom right hand corner of each page.
- Please note that graphs in essays should not be in colour. Lines should be differentiated by patterns or markers and not be colours.
- Do not send your CV with your entry. If you are interested in exploring employment opportunities with Nedbank or Old Mutual please contact the companies directly.
- When you register on the website and you will be provided with a unique number which you should include on your final essay submission. Your unique entry number must appear on the top right hand corner of each page
- Click here to see an example of these essay requirements.
Accompanying documents
Students who are selected as a finalist will be contacted and requested to provide a copy of their SA identity document or a valid passport and a copy of their recent academic history. This must be provided to the competition administrator within 10 days of being requested or the entry will be disqualified.