Judges have cast their eye over the shortlisted ideas from York students, who are hoping their creations will be included in York Castle Museum’s new exhibition on the First World War.

More than one thousand Key Stage Four and Five students from across the city have taken part in the competition to design a young person’s guide to the exhibition or an animation to be featured in it.

The shortlisted finalists have now pitched their ideas to the judges at a special event held at The Hospitium in York Museum Gardens.

The challenge was been organised by York Museums Trust and the North Yorkshire Business and Education Partnership (NYBEP).

Amy Baggaley, learning manager, said:

“We have been blown away by the standard of entries to both of the competitions. The judges found it hard enough whittling it down to the shortlist but choosing the winners has been really difficult.

“We are delighted by the enthusiasm shown by students to get involved and the huge amount of effort they have put into creating their designs.”

The first competition was to create a concept and business plan for a magazine or guide for the new exhibition. The winners of this were Rebecca William, Izzi Feder and Charlie Davison, with Abbie Seavers and Sundus Osman as runners up. They are all from Archbishop Holgate’s School.

The second was to present a storyboard and characters for a short animation for the exhibition. The winners of this were:  Alison Coates, Holly Bamford and Holly Craig from Joseph Rowntree School.

The winners will now work with professional businesses in York (Inch Punch for the guidebook and Glass Cannon for the animation) to turn their ideas into reality so they are ready for the exhibition opening in June.

The judges include Martin Watts, director of learning and Ginny Leadley, Retail Manager, from York Museums Trust as well as representatives from Glass Cannon and Inch Punch.

The new exhibition 1914: When the World Changed Forever will take visitors from the recruitment office to the horrors of the frontline – from the cultural revolution happening at home to the thousands of men defending countries they had never stepped foot in.

New technology will be combined with the museum’s extensive military, costume and social history collections, including many fascinating objects which have not been on public display before.

The exhibition is the central part of a £1.7 million project at the museum, with the majority of the funding from the Heritage Lottery Fund (HLF).

It is planned to open on June 28 – 100 years to the day that Archduke Franz Ferdinand was assassinated, which then sparked a chain of events which led to the outbreak of war.