Tomorrow's top journalists have been invited to enter the official parliamentary writing competition supported by The Birmingham Post.
West Midlands MPs are also backing the contest, which is open to pupils in years ten to 13.
Winners will be invited to the House of Commons to meet senior politicians and the nation's leading journalists in newspapers, radio and television.
The competition has been designed in partnership with the Department for Education and Skills to complement citizenship lessons in the classroom.
It has been organised by the Parliamentary Press Gallery, which includes political editors working for newspapers and broadcasters.
Students are invited to write an essay on a political theme, which will be judged by a panel of politicians and journalists.
Students in years ten and 11 are invited to write an essay of 800 words on recycling, while students in years 12 and 13 are invited to write a 1,500-word essay on the environmental and political consequences of economic growth in China and India.
Full details of the essay topics, as well as information for teachers, is available on the press gallery website.
Regional winners for the Midlands will be chosen by MPs Gisela Stuart (Lab Birmingham Edgbaston) and Peter Luff (Con Mid Worcestershire), chairman of the Trade and Industry Select Committee, along with Jonathan Walker, Political Editor of The Birmingham Post.
They will be invited to a reception at the House of Commons in March.
A panel will then choose national winners from the best entries from across the country.
* To find out more, visit: www.parliamentarypressgallery.org.uk
