We are delighted to hear the news that Eloise (Fifth Form, Q) has won the David Garlick Prize 2024 from the University of Nottingham.

The competition was a video competition for pupils interested in philosophy and religion. Eloise, who was Fourth Form at the time of entering the competition, competed against pupils studying both GCSEs and A Level. This year’s theme was ‘Our Changing World: Census 2021 and Religion’. The University invited video submissions to bring the Census 2021 numbers to life by telling a story about how religion is changing in the area surrounding the pupils’ school. The University of Nottingham commented;
“Eloise’s entry notes that secularization theory suggests that the influence of religion diminishes as societies modernize. Census data from Cheltenham appears to confirm this, with a sharp drop in Christians and a rise in those confessing no religion as social media has spread diverse perspectives. However, the stability of religious adherence in Tower Hamlets with its large number of Muslims appears to question the secularization thesis. This could be due to religion functioning more communally for Muslims than it does for Christians. However, citing Charles Taylor, Eloise argues that this does not necessarily disprove the secularization thesis because the secular and religion as a choice still constitute the wider context. Our judges commented, ‘Really interesting argument made about reasons for secularisation’.”

Eloise (Fifth Form, Q)

I approached this project by applying religious theory to test how well it could explain the trends in the Census Data (2011-2021) in terms of religion. I found it interesting to read about some of the religious theories explaining why people are religious or not and applying these theories to real-world data. 

Within my submission I explored the shifts in religious beliefs across this 10-year period, including how this varies by region and religion and how secularisation theory might explain this data. I also considered factors such as the role of the internet, social media and immigration. I chose to compare the data from Cheltenham, where my school is based, and contrast it with a completely different region for which I chose Tower Hamlets in London. I

 referenced the perspectives of Charles Taylor, Max Weber, Gianni Vattimo and Emile Durkheim when formulating my argument. It was a real change from the GCSE work I am currently doing, and allowed me to use my brain in different and more stimulating ways! It was a little nerve-wracking initially, to be faced with a very different kind of problem from what I am used to. However, once I had familiarised myself with the data and read around the subject I felt I confident that I could do it. In reality, it took a few recordings to get the video submission word perfect, but I finally got there!

I am so thrilled to win this prestigious award from University of Nottingham, especially given I was competing against both GCSE and A Level pupils. Thank you so much to Dr. Harris, my brilliant teacher, who supported me throughout this process and has helped extend my learning beyond the curriculum.