HCGEC 2025 Guidelines

The following guidelines will provide key information about the general rules on submissions. More detailed guidelines on the submission will be sent to each participant’s registered email.

All guidelines are relevant to the regional and global round

Submission Guidelines

Download submission example here

General: 

• Each participant may submit only one essay. Choose one prompt from one category.

• Your essay must be a maximum of 500 words (excluding citations, title, and student name).

• Submissions must be in Word document format (.doc)—Google Docs or Drive links will not be accepted.

• Use Times New Roman, size 11, with 1.5 spacing for formatting
  

First Page Requirements: 

The first page of your submission must have the following information: (this information will NOT count towards your word limit) 

• Full Name 

• Essay Category (Creative, Argumentative, or Journalistic)

• Chosen Prompt 

• The Competition Region you're from:

  • North America

  • LATAM

  • APAC  (includes East Asia, Southeast Asia, Oceania)

  • Middle East, Africa, Russia

  • Europe + Central Asia 

(For more information on which region you fall under, visit our FAQ page - "Which Region Should I Apply From?"

Naming Convention: 
Please follow these guidelines when naming your submission document:

• Start with the number of your chosen prompt (1, 2, or 3) as listed in the submission form.  

• Add "_creative", "_argumentative", or "_journalistic" based on your selected essay category.

• End with your surname.

For example: If John Doe selects prompt 2 in the Creative Category, the file name should be: "2_Creative_Doe"

View an example Here.

All submissions must be original work. Entries will be screened for plagiarism and AI use—any detected violations will result in disqualification.

Regional Round essay submissions are due by February 17th by 11:59pm GMT-0.

Individualised Feedback:

In 2022, a lot of students requested feedback for their HCGEC regional round essays and we've been offering this service since then. This is a completely optional service where experts provide a 250 word assessment of your essay mentioning your strengths, weaknesses, etc. If you're interested in this service, you can opt for it while submitting your regional essay. 

Please see the FAQ page for further common queries.