SPEAR Terms and conditions

Sovereign Minds SPEAR Oratory Prize Terms and Conditions

Last updated: September 2025

These terms and conditions relate to the Sovereign Minds SPEAR Oratory Prize Competition (the “Competition”) organised by Sovereign Minds and should be read in conjunction with the competition rules.

By entering into the competition, you confirm you have read and accepted these terms and conditions and the competition rules.
Entry into the competition is by online registration only. Online registration will be open on 25 September 2025 and close at 6PM 5 January 2026 GMT. Entries after this time will not be considered.
You must be between the age of 16–18 at the point of entering the competition.
There can only be one entry per person.
Sovereign Minds reserves the right to, at its absolute discretion, cancel, suspend, or vary the competition, or any part of it (including these Terms and Conditions), or vary the prize as required by the circumstances.
If you are a finalist or runner-up and you cannot be contacted from the contact details you supplied within three business days of Sovereign Minds’ first attempt to contact you, a replacement finalist or runner-up may be chosen. The original entry that was chosen will then be forfeited. You are responsible for confirming valid contact details. Sovereign Minds will not be liable for any failure, delay or inability to contact you.
You:
1. are responsible for any costs and expenses resulting from participation in the competition;
2. must submit an original presentation;
3. warrant:
  1. that you are either:
    1. the sole and exclusive owner and intellectual property rights holder of the material included in the presentation; or
    2. if you are not the sole and exclusive owner and rights holder, that you have obtained any necessary permissions to use the material and that you have the right to make the presentation using the material;
  2. not to infringe any third-party proprietary, intellectual property, industrial property, personal rights or other rights, including without limitation, copyright, trademark, patent, trade secret or confidentiality obligation; and
  3. that your presentation is not offensive, defamatory, libellous, obscene, indecent, harassing or threatening or otherwise unlawful.
4. shall retain ownership over your entry. By submitting an entry, you grant to Sovereign Minds a worldwide, perpetual, non-exclusive, sub-licensable, royalty-free licence to display, publish, transmit, copy, edit and use the entry in any media, in whole or in part, in any way Sovereign Minds see fit, including, but not limited to:
  1. publishing on the Sovereign Minds’ website and social media channels for the purposes of managing, promotion and publicity for the competition;
  2. educational and archival purposes in relation to the competition and the activities of Sovereign Minds in general; and
  3. sharing with educational institutions and publishers as part of educational resources in relation to the competition;
5. agree to hold Sovereign Minds harmless for any liability, damages or claims for injury or loss to any person or property, relating to, directly or indirectly, participation in this competition, or claims based on publicity rights, third-party intellectual property rights, defamation or invasion of privacy.
A panel of adjudicators, selected by Sovereign Minds, shall judge the entries at each of the Qualifier, Quarter-final, Semi-final and the Final stages.
The adjudicators’ decisions shall be final and binding and no correspondence will be entered into regarding their decisions.
Sovereign Minds reserves the right to update or amend the terms and conditions and rules at any time and to disqualify any participants, who Sovereign Minds considers in its sole discretion either:
1. risk bringing the competition into disrepute; or
2. has not complied with the letter or spirit of these terms and conditions.
Any failure by Sovereign Minds to enforce any provision in these terms and conditions shall not constitute a waiver of that provision.
Sovereign Minds is not responsible for:
1. any incorrect or inaccurate information used in connection with the competition; or
2. failures or errors which may occur in the administration of the competition.
To the fullest extent permitted by law, Sovereign Minds excludes liability for any damage, loss or liability arising as a result of entry into the competition (save that liability which cannot be excluded under law).
Your personal data will be processed by Sovereign Minds in accordance with its competition privacy notice.
Sovereign Minds shall not be liable for any delay or failure to comply with its obligations in respect of the competition where the delay or failure is caused by something outside its reasonable control.
The organiser of the competition is Sovereign Minds, 1A Clifton Road, Southall, UB2 5QP.
The competition shall be governed and construed and have effect in all respects in accordance with English Law and the courts of England shall have exclusive jurisdiction over any proceedings arising out of or in connection with it.