The South African National English Olympiad
A joint project of SACEE and the Grahamstown Foundation

Background

The English Olympiad started as a small project in 1976 when Dr Malcolm Venter, a member of the Eastern Cape branch committee of SACEE (and now the Council’s National Chairperson) was asked to organise such an event locally. The first competition attracted 119 entries and the winner received a prize of R50.

The following year the Grahamstown Foundation took on responsibility for the general administration of the Olympiad, and the competition was extended to cover the whole of the Cape Province.  In 1978 the project was further extended to include all of South Africa and by 2015, when a First Additional Language (FAL) stream was added to the project, the number of entries exceeded 8 000 from more than 400 schools nationwide – and the top prize had become R30 000!

Notwithstanding the Covid-19 pandemic and related restrictions that took effect just after the 2020 Olympiad examinations, the project has continued without interruption. After an understandable 32% dip in numbers for the 2021 competition, Home Language (HL) entry numbers have largely recovered, while a current focus of the Olympiad Team is on the further development and marketing of the English First Additional Language competition.

From the start, SACEE decided to use an ‘open book’ examination format, which has meant that candidates may take their texts into the examination room with them.  This has allowed for a themed syllabus, and examiners have been able to ask questions which are open-ended and require more personal responses than typical questions encountered in high school examinations.

SACEE is proud of the ongoing success of the English Olympiad project, and is grateful to the Grahamstown Foundation (its partner in the project) for its highly professional organisation and administrative support, and to Rhodes University for its scholarship prizes for the top fifty prize winners.

The Eastern Cape branch of SACEE remains responsible for the academic aspects of the competition, having provided most of the examiners since the inception of the project, as well as an army of well-qualified and experienced markers and moderators. The branch also publishes the annual English Olympiad anthology and a related study guide.

What is the ‘English Olympiad’?

The English Olympiad is an annual nationwide examination open to all secondary schools and their pupils in Grades 9, 10, 11 and 12.  Its aim is to enrich and to deepen the candidates’ appreciation of the English language and its literature, and to expose them to challenging texts and ideas that they would not normally encounter in a standard school syllabus.

• Candidates are required to study an anthology of literary texts that is compiled each year by the Chief Examiner. Each anthology is based on a specific theme such as “Care and Compassion”, “War and Peace”, “A Twist in the Tale”or “School writing”, and might consist of just one genre such as drama or poetry, or a mixture of genres.
• Preparation for the Olympiad examinations is based on a self-study programme in which a study guide assists individuals or study groups to interpret and to appreciate the set texts, giving clear pointers to context and asking pertinent questions to encourage understanding in depth, as well as the relevance of each text. The study guide also provides advice on how to approach the examinations and how to write a discursive essay.
• In Olympiad examinations candidates are not required to regurgitate notes or facts. The Olympiad questions seek for well-expressed, intelligent, critical, personal responses to the prescribed works.
• Although a ranking in the Top100 HL or Top20 FAL brings with it considerable prestige, and although the Top20 HL and Top5 FAL receive generous cash prizes, the Olympiad is more about participation and intellectual enrichment of all, and candidates who take their preparation for the Olympiad seriously are therefore bound to benefit from the experience.
• The top 50 candidates are awarded scholarships by Rhodes University that cover their academic fees for their first year of study at the University, while each of the top twelve HL and the top five FAL candidates enjoys free entry to the midyear National Schools’ Festival in Grahamstown/Makhanda, as well as free accommodation and meals.
• The closing date for entries and the payment of entry fees is 30 September each year but has been extended until 10th October 2024 for the 2025 Olympiad. Printed anthologies and study guides are distributed to participating schools at the end of October, and the annual examinations take place at each of the participating schools in the first week of March of the following year.

For further details, please contact:
The Olympiad Officer, PO Box 304, Grahamstown 6140
E-Mail:  olympiad@foundation.org.za
Tel:  046 603 1115 / 046 603 1114

The 2025 English Olympiad

🎉 BREAKING NEWS: 2025 English Olympiad Winners Revealed! 🏆

The Grahamstown Foundation and the South African Council for English Education (SACEE) have officially announced the Top 2025 English Olympiad Champions—and what a year it has been!

With more than 5,500 young literary minds from 264 schools across South Africa (plus two from Lesotho and Botswana), the 2025 English Olympiad has once again proven to be the ultimate celebration of language, literature, and critical thinking. This year was extra special, marking the 50th edition of this prestigious competition!

📚 This year’s theme, “Celebration”, was inspired by the powerful anthology Let Us Celebrate: Love, Life, Land—a dazzling collection of voices from Shakespeare to 21st-century school learners. Compiled by English Olympiad founder Dr Malcolm Venter and co-examiner Yvette Morgan, the anthology inspired fresh, bold, and insightful responses from Grades 9–12 learners in a challenging three-hour exam held on March 4th.

Now, the results are in! 🎓✨  

• The Top 20 Home Language (HL) and Top 20 First Additional Language (FAL) achievers are featured below.

• View the full Top 100 list here. 

“The Olympiad demands a considerable amount of preparation and original thinking,” said Dr Malcolm Venter, National Chairperson of SACEE. “To be placed in the Top 50 is no small feat.”

To every student who dared to dive deeper into English literature—congratulations! You’ve not just taken part in an exam. You’ve taken your voice, your thoughts, and your creativity beyond the classroom. 🌍🖋️

Let’s celebrate this remarkable achievement—and the next generation of great thinkers and writers!

Congratulations to the 2025 English Olympiad Winners!

ENGLISH OLYMPIAD PRIZE GIVING 2025
Yvette Morgan (2025 Co-Examiner), Mihir Modi (HL 1st place winner) and Malcolm Venter (2025 Examiner)

Home Language (HL) TOP 20 in RANK ORDER:

First Additional Language (FAL) Top 5 in RANK ORDER:

For information regarding previous years’ winners, please click on the year below: