College Awarded Regional Commendation for The National Youth Monologues

Bishop’s Stortford College awarded Regional Commendation Award for pupil submissions to The National Youth Monologues Competition 2025.

Following submissions to The National Youth Monologues Competition 2025, Bishop’s Stortford College has been awarded a Schools and Groups Regional (East of England) Commendation.

The National Youth Monologues, a competition for young people aged 9 to 19 across the UK, provides the opportunity for talented young actors to perform live in front of an audience, with the finals taking place on a West End stage. Split into four age groups, KS2, KS3, KS4, and KS5, monologues can be submitted into one, or all four, categories including Contemporary, Classical, Screen, and Devised, with submissions requiring a self-recorded video of their chosen monologue, lasting between 60 and 90 seconds.

Of the eight pupils entered into the competition from the Bishop’s Stortford College Prep School (Years 3 to 8), Findlay S, Huxley R, Ben H, Ankhan A, Helena F, Alice H, Iris M and Delilah W, all eight received commendations for their submissions. Ben H, Huxley R, and Findlay S made the Regional Finals Shortlist, with Huxley and Findlay making the National Finals Shortlist; Huxley as a National Finalist Reserve for KS2, and Findlay as a National KS2 Finalist. Representing the College in the National Finals, Findlay went on to achieve overall runner-up.

This was the first time the College has entered the competition, and with only a few schools or groups being awarded this commendation, it reflects the high standard of work submitted by the school and its young actors.

Head of Drama in the Prep School, Jeanne Stacey, commented, “This is an incredible achievement by our young performers in our first year of this competition and we are so proud of the courage and determination they showed in putting themselves forward. Our London Academy of Music and Dramatic Arts (LAMDA) lessons at the College nurture and enrich our pupils, not just in performance, but with their confidence and self-esteem, and we look forward to entering the competition again this year.”