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Find out more about the history of prizes for undergraduate students and a list of recent undergraduate prize winners.
Harold Speight Prize in Economics
Typically awarded to the finalist with the best overall degree result, this £1000 prize is named after Harold Speight (1919 – 1993) a student at the UCL Department of Economics from 1935 – 1938 who later lectured in the University of Leeds and authored several textbooks. His will left funds to promote the study of economics. The Harold Speight Prize is the largest of the endowed prizes awarded and is typically given to the finalist with the best overall degree result. Harold Speight (1919-1983) was a student in the department from 1935-1938 who later lectured in the University of Leeds and authored several textbooks. His will left funds to promote the study of economics.
Eleanora Allen Prize
This £200 prize, awarded for performance on the BSc Economics programme, George Cyril Allen (1900 – 1982), CBE FBA, Professor in the UCL Department of Economics from from 1947 – 1967, was an expert in industrial economics and economic history, with a special interest in the economics of Japan. His will left funds to award a prize (£200) in memory of his late wife, Eleanora Allen, for performance on the BSc (Econ). The department also awards sessional prizes for distinguished performance in the year's exams. The three awards given to the best performances in each of the three years of the degree are typically labelled Hume-Lloyd Prizes.
A Heather Bigg / AJ Cahill Prize
A £150 prize awarded annually for performance on the BSc Economics programme, Ada Heather Bigg arrived to study economics at UCL in 1875, soon after the department became the first in the country to desegregate its lectures in 1871 and shortly before the college opened its degrees to women in 1878. She was awarded the Hume scholarship and the Jevons scholarship to pursue research on economic and social conditions in London in 1891. Her will left funds to award a prize in alternate years for performance on the BSc (Econ). She was awarded the Hume scholarship (discussed below) in 1881 and the Jevons scholarship to pursue research on economic and social conditions in London in 1891. She published work in economic journals on topics including women's work and the economics of fashion, arguing for example that women were discouraged from waged labour to deny economic independence in the household rather than to protect female frailty. Her will of 1944 left funds to award a prize in alternate years for performance on the BSc (Econ). A J Cahill was UCL Registrar from 1954 – 1978. After his death, funds raised in his memory were assigned to the award of a similar prize in those years when the Ada Heather Bigg Prize was not available for award. These prize funds have now been merged and the prize sum is £100.
Hume-Lloyd Prizes
Joseph Hume (1777-1855) was a founder of UCL. An associate of Ricardo, Mill and Bentham, Hume was a Radical MP and supporter of causes such as universal suffrage, religious freedom and free trade. In 1857 funds for a scholarship were raised by subscribers to a memorial to commemorate his “public services and virtues”. The Lloyd scholarship was established in 1907 by Miss Elizabeth Lloyd in memory of her brother Francis Lloyd a former student of UCL. In 1938 these scholarships were merged and the title is now attached to the ten sessional prizes of £30 each the department awards each year recognising outstanding performance in that year’s examinations. A The Lloyd Scholarship was founded in 1907 by Miss Elizabeth Lloyd in memory of her brother Francis Lloyd, a former student of the college, and in 1938 the Scholarships were merged. Latterly, the title has been attached to departmental sessional prizes. One other award is typically labelled the GC Allen Prize in memory of the former Head of Department already discussed.
John Pencavel Prize
Awarded each year to recognise outstanding performance in examinations by an affiliate student, the prize of $250 is named after John Pencavel, Professor at Stanford, who studied in the UCL Department of Economics from 1962 – 1966.
Faculty Undergraduate Scholarship for Excellence
Awarded each year for academic achievement.
Faculty Medal
Awarded each year for academic achievement in the SHS faculty.
Previous winners