Litmus Year: 2026
‘SYSTEM LOG: The Pointe Shop Chatbot “Jessica” (v1.4)’ by Audrey Koh
SYSTEM LOG: The Pointe Shop Chatbot “Jessica” (v1.4) Target Objective: Assist customers with shoe returns, exchanges, and sizing. Error Log ID: #992-GCSE Timestamp: 23:42:11 [SYSTEM] User “Isaac_67” has entered the chat. [Jessica] Welcome to The Pointe Shop! I’m Jessica. Are we looking to return a purchase, or did your order arrive in the wrong size? …
‘Keep Scrolling’ by Jennifer Broadbent, age 16, Sir Henry Floyd Grammar School
It never ends. You find yourself slipping into this cycle until reality begins to bend. Your obsession becomes tidal. You find yourself slipping into this cycle, an expert’s voice leaving you unsure. Your obsession becomes tidal and you’re swept along by the corps. An expert’s voice leaving you unsure as it’s drowned in …
‘Are You For Real?’ by Fatima Ali, Penwortham Girls’ High School
‘Are You For Real?’ Global warming is destroying our world, Causing animals to go extinct and more species become endangered. ‘Are you for real?’ War is tearing millions of families apart and causing harm to innocent people, In the UK alone, 14 million people live in poverty, that’s 1 in every 5 people. ‘Are you …
‘Are you for real?’ by Abbie
Beside the willow and the quiet stream, Where ancient stone preserves a scholar’s dream, There beats a modern pulse of grand design, Where imaginary becomes reality. Within the hallowed halls of University Library, Great towers of knowledge reach the open sky; Millions of volumes wait in silent rows, A boundless sea of wisdom as it …
‘The Inescapable Nightmare’ by Sophie, age 15, Year 10
We were sitting in our local café, Cuppa Comfort, enjoying one of the holidays we had together. I had a steaming cup of maple flavoured coffee in my hands, comfortably warming my insides. Flo had just come back from the counter with a couple of gooey brownies, when Theo had a suggestion. “Guys, why don’t …
‘Life as Light Amidst Grief’ by Iqra Anwar, Year 10, Plashet City of London Academy
Hope is a pathetic little thing. However, as I feel it, I sway to its pathetic tune. I look out across the pale blue sea, across what many would call a beautiful lagoon. Here my grief ferments; where it consumes me as it slowly cements. Like vines that wrap around my heart and pull, I …
‘The Land of Faux’ by Sofia, Tiffin Girls’ School
Hollow, flickering lights. A faint hum trembles through the air, as if it wished it could hide within the slippery shadows, and the safer corners of the room. Perhaps an inconspicuous spark can be seen, gentle and unobtrusive yet a spark nevertheless, characterised by its gleam. No-one is home here. Nothing is genuine here. Footsteps …