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

🏆 2026 English Olympiad – Congratulations to Our Winners!🏆

Group photo from L to R: Anja van der Berg (4th), Eduplex High School; Alexa Ashaba (5th), Herschel Girls’ School; Lisebo Motilane (FAL 3rd), Machabeng College; Arabella Molefi (1st), Future Nation Schools Fleurhof; Aidan Randall (6th), Eden Schools Durban; Nkanyezi Nyathaba (8th), Sacred Heart College; Kaetochi Ordor (10th), Bridge House School.

We are delighted to celebrate the outstanding achievements of the 2026 English Olympiad participants!

This year’s Olympiad explored the theme “Victim or Victor”, with the set anthology, We Have a Choice, featuring a carefully selected collection of poetry and extracts. The anthology was accompanied by a study guide prepared by the 2026 Chief Examiner, Hillary Lewis-Soma.

The examination was written on 3 March 2026, with candidates from schools across South Africa taking part. A total of 5 030 entries from 242 schools were received for the 2026 Olympiad.

🌟 Congratulations to Our Winners!

HL Winner, Arabella Molefi from Future Nation Schools Fleurhof with Yvette Morgan, SACEE EC Chairperson

Home Language (HL) TOP 20 in RANK ORDER:

FAL 3rd place winner, Lisebo Motilane from Machabeng College with Tasneem Dolley, 2026 FAL examiner

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

The prize-giving took place during the midyear National Schools Festival at the 1820 Settlers’ National Monument in Grahamstown/Makhanda. The event also marked the launch of the Olympiad’s new digital model of delivery.

A huge congratulations to all our participants, finalists and winners! Your dedication, hard work and passion for English are truly inspiring. We look forward to celebrating even more young literary achievers in the years ahead!

Well done to everyone who took part in the 2026 English Olympiad! 

View the full Home Language Top 100 list here, or for the First Additional Language Top 19 list here.

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