The Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office (FCDO) coordinates the UK’s diplomatic relationships, promotes UK interests abroad, and manages the UK’s overseas development budget.

The Next Generation Economics competition is managed by the FCDO in collaboration with the Hub for Equal Representation (HER) at the London School of Economics and Political Science (LSE).

Economics is important to our work, whether it is evaluating the sustainability of the UK’s international climate change commitments or analysing the contribution of the UK in reducing global poverty through aid programmes. Economics helps the FCDO make the most of each pound of taxpayer money.

The Next Generation Economics competition

The FCDO invites UK school students to write about the biggest economic challenges facing their generation. The competition is open until 1129 MayJune 2025.

We want:

• to hear your ideas on one of the biggest economic challenges facing your generation. The FCDO represents UK interests across the world, and our economists work on finding and analysing solutions to global challenges

• to inspire the next generation of economists. Our competition aims to demonstrate how economics is a vital tool for answering important, urgent policy questions

• the next generation of economists to be even more diverse and open-minded than the current generation. We encourage you to enter the competition, whatever your background (and however much you know about economics). Find out more about diversity in the economics profession

Competition Questions

To enter, submit your letter responding to 1 out of these 4 questions: 

1. While free trade has been the dominant view in the last decades, protectionist policies are on the rise. What are the drivers of the global moves away from free trade and how should the UK respond?

2. Daron Acemoglu, Simon Johnson and James A. Robinson were awarded the 2024 Nobel Prize in Economics. Their work demonstrated the importance of inclusive institutions for a country’s development and economic prosperity. How should the FCDO support the development of inclusive institutions in developing countries and what factors might the UK want to consider when doing so?

3. Only one-third of places in undergraduate economics programmes in the UK are taken up by women. But women who choose to study economics are more likely to achieve a 2:1 (or above) in their undergraduate degree compared to male students from the same socio-economic background and ethnicity. Why are women disproportionally not choosing the economic profession and how can academic institutions and governments reduce the barriers to participation?

4. According to the IMF and the World Bank, five Low-Income Countries are in debt-distress, while another 28 are assessed as having a high risk of debt distress. Why is debt distress bad for a country? How can the FCDO support a nation’s development whilst reducing its debt servicing costs?

Writing tips and links to helpful sources can be found in the ‘Useful information’ section.

Who can enter  

To enter, you must be: 

• at least 14 years old 
• studying in the UK at secondary school level (including sixth form and elective home education or home schooling), or at a British international school 

You do not need to be studying or have studied economics. 

Entering the competition is free.

Prizes  

We will announce the competition results in the third quarter of 2025. There are several prizes on offer: 

• the winner will receive a prize of £500 
• 2 runners up will each receive a prize of £250  
• 5 shortlisted entrants will receive a prize of £100 each 

The winner will present their essay to Adnan Khan, FCDO Chief Economist. 

The top 8 entrants will be offered a fully-funded visit to the FCDO and the London School of Economics in London. They will also meet with one of the co-directors of the Hub for Equal Representation at the LSE. Fully-funded visits are only available to UK-based entrants. 

We will publish the letters of the winner and runners up on the GOV.UK website and share them across the Government Economic Service.  

The top 25 entrants will each receive an economics book, chosen from a shortlist selected by the FCDO Chief Economist.

How to submit your entry   

Do not include any personal information in the main part of your letter. This allows us to mark entries anonymously and as fairly as possible. You should include this in the covering email instead. 

Your entry should: 

• be formatted as a letter addressed to the Foreign Secretary: The Rt Hon David Lammy MP
• be 1,000 words or fewer 
• clearly reference any evidence included. We recommend using the Harvard referencing style. References are not included in the word count 

The use of artificial intelligence (AI) is permitted. However, please be mindful that AI is likely to generate similar responses for other entrants and is known to frequently fabricate references. Submissions will be rewarded for their novelty and creativity, and we will check references.

Entries can include graphs and graphics, but these are not essential. 

You can ask an economics teacher for advice on the themes they plan to cover, economic concepts, recommended sources and writing styles.  

Find more information about writing like an economist and where to find useful sources.

The FCDO Next Generation Economics Entry Template (ODT, 6.7 KB) includes a table at the top with information including your name, age and school. Fill this in, remove it from the template and include it in your email to us.  

How to do this: 

If you don’t have an email account 

If you do not have access to email, you can post your letter. Send it this address, and include the information from the table at the top of the template on a separate sheet of paper:  

How we mark entries 

A panel of FCDO economic advisors will read and mark your entry and agree a final shortlist of letters. The FCDO Chief Economist and co-directors of the Hub for Equal Representation at the LSE will review the shortlist and choose the winner and runners up.

The panel will consider these points when marking your entry:

Creativity  

All the competition questions address big economic challenges and have many possible answers. You should think about these questions with an open mind, and present, using evidence, your own ideas.

Economic concepts 

A great entry will use economic concepts to support the arguments it makes.

Using evidence 

Judges will be looking for effective use of evidence. Make sure you present your evidence clearly and explain the source.

Clear and concise writing 

You should structure your argument carefully to make every word count. Write clearly, concisely, and persuasively.

Useful information

To get inspiration, you can read the winning letters from last year’s competition

These features will make your essay stand out, and are what we will look for when marking essays:

• tell a story: create an engaging and convincing narrative, include an introduction and conclusion 

• focus on economic analysis: discuss economic concepts that are relevant to the question 

• focus on policy solutions: provide answers and solutions to the economic challenges of the question 

• use evidence: use real world examples such as recent policy responses to support your arguments 

• use visuals: use visuals, for example graphs, to help demonstrate your argument 

• evaluate: provide critical analysis of proposed policies and focus on how efficient each policy solution is

Useful sources of information  

Question 1: Responding to Protectionism

• Recent trends in UK trade volumes and balances - Office for National Statistics

• Progress on UK free trade agreement negotiations – House of Commons

• Trading blows. How should Britain buy and sell in a turbulent world? -  Resolution Foundation

• The economic impacts of Trump’s tariff proposals on Europe - Grantham Research Institute on climate change and the environment

Question 2: Inclusive Institutions

• The Prize in Economic Sciences 2024 - Popular science background – The Nobel Prize

• Institutions and prosperity: The 2024 Nobel laureates - CEPR

• What are the economic impacts of institutions and technology? - Economics Observatory

Question 3: Barriers to Participation

• Who Studies Economics? An Analysis of Diversity in the UK Economics Pipeline – Royal Economics Society

• How can we promote diversity in economics? - Economics Observatory

• How could the UK’s education system be reformed to equalise opportunities? - Economics Observatory

• The Economist Group - Iceland is the best place to be a working woman for the second year according to The Economist’s 2024 glass-ceiling index

Question 4: Debt Distress

• Back to Basics: What is Debt Sustainability? – IMF F&D

• Debt Sustainability Analysis – World Bank

• Solving the low-income country debt crisis: four solutions - ODI

• Can Debt-for-Climate Swaps Help Heavily Indebted Developing Countries Address Climate Priorities

• Market Reforms Can Stabilize Debt and Foster Growth in Developing Countries - IMF

Find out more about the competition:

• writing like an economist
• diversity in the economics profession
• to provide you with inspiration, read the winning letters from last year’s competition

If you have any questions about the competition, email NextGenerationEconomics@fcdo.gov.uk

Good luck! We look forward to reading your entries.

Your data 

The Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office is a data controller. This means that we are responsible for any of your personal data that we collect or use. We will treat all personal information in accordance with data protection legislation, including the UK General Data Protection Regulation and Data Protection Act 2018. Visit our website to learn more about how we handle personal information.