None of the earliest essays survive in manuscript form, but essays submitted by school children survive for the periods: 1922-1960, 1976/77-1979/80, 1982/3-1984/5, and 2002/3-2009/10. Some of the gaps in the holdings may be due to the sheer number of essays received, and thus the difficulties for the Society of storing them.
Prize-winning essays from the years 1922-1937, 1939, 1941-1960, 1977-1980, 1983 and 1985 have been digitised and are accessible via the university’s Apollo digital repository. These include winners of the Margaret Best Memorial Prize, the Sir Alwyn Ezra Prize and any special prizes. In all, 336 essays have been digitised and may be read in pdf format. Copyright in the essays resides with the authors. Anybody wishing to re-publish the essays in any format should seek permission from Cambridge University Library.
Authors of essays for the years 1991-2009 have been listed electronically. There are further lists recording contestants’ school, country, gender and essay topic. Researchers wishing to view these essays and the additional lists must first seek permission from staff in the Royal Commonwealth Society Department.