Winners 2026
Celebrating the 2026 Young Science Writer Award winners. These exceptional young writers are proof that the future of science communication is bright.
Young Science Writer Award 2026 Winners
Celebrating the outstanding young writers recognised in the fifth year of the Young Science Writer Award.
The Association of British Science Writers is delighted to announce the winners of the Young Science Writer Award 2026, recognising outstanding science writing by students aged 14–16 from state-funded, non-selective schools across the UK.
Now in its fifth year, the award continues to celebrate young people who can think critically, investigate ideas with care, and communicate science with clarity and imagination. This year’s entrants explored some of the most urgent and fascinating questions in contemporary science, from the future of health and artificial intelligence to planetary change, neuroscience, space and the hidden systems that shape our world.
The judges were impressed by the ambition, originality and discipline shown across the 2026 entries. The strongest pieces combined accurate research with a clear journalistic voice, showing not only what science can explain, but why it matters.
We warmly congratulate all of the 2026 winners, runners-up and highly commended writers, and thank every student, teacher and supporter who took part.
Let's meet the winners.
Young Science Writer of the Year 2026
Winner
Adrian Dredge
Essay title: The Digital Mapmaker: Navigating the Future with the Biases of the Past
Young Science Writer of the Year 2026
Runner-Up
Seren Marchant
Essay Title: The Secret World of Whales
Young Science Writer of the Year 2026
Runner-Up
Ralph Sealey
Essay Title: Prostate Cancer Inequalities: Why Black Men Deserve Better
Young Science Writer of the Year 2026
Highly Commended
Yavindi Singappuli Arachchilage
Essay Title: Were our thoughts ever ours?
Young Science Writer of the Year 2026
Highly Commended
Madeleine Chesher
Essay Title: Can saying bonjour boost your brain power?
Young Science Writer of the Year 2026
Highly Commended
Kathryn Elloway
Essay Title: Can life exist without water?
Young Science Writer of the Year 2026
Highly Commended
Evie Howard
St. Aidan's Church of England High School
Essay Title: Could stem cells be a potential cure of Type One Diabetes?
Young Science Writer of the Year 2026
Highly Commended
Eva O'Neill
Essay Title: That gut feeling: the link between your gut and Parkinson's Disease
Young Science Writer of the Year 2026
Highly Commended
James Reed
Essay Title: Could bacteriophages save us from the post-antibiotic era?
Young Science Writer of the Year 2026
Highly Commended
Saatchi Shah
Essay Title: Will weight-loss medicines be able to end the obesity epidemic?
Young Science Writer of the Year 2026
Highly Commended
Tzvia Tabor
Essay Title: Should sugar be regulated like a drug?
Young Science Writer of the Year 2026
Highly Commended
Blake Thomson
Essay Title: Building the future one web at a time
Young Science Writer of the Year 2026
Highly Commended
Albert Watson
Essay Title: Is the dark side of the Moon the key to unlocking the Universe?
