The Best Writing Competitions for High School Students, 2026–27

Every September we meet families whose child entered six competitions the previous year and placed in none of them. The pattern is almost always the same: six rushed entries instead of two good ones. Writing competitions reward depth, and depth takes weeks. A student who spends two months on one John Locke essay will nearly always outperform a student who spends one week each on five different contests.

So this is not a directory. It is a shortlist of the competitions we believe are worth a high schooler's limited time in 2026–27, organised by what kind of writer your child is: the academic essayist, the aspiring economist, the creative writer, and the student who simply needs reps before attempting any of the above. For each one we give the honest version: how hard it is, what it costs, and what a result actually signals.

How to choose

Start with subject strength, not prestige. A student who loves history should be looking at The Concord Review before anything else; a poet should be looking at Scholastic and the Kenyon Review, not forcing an economics essay. Second, check calendar fit. The big academic prizes cluster their deadlines in late spring, right on top of AP and IB exams, while most creative competitions close in autumn. A realistic student calendar usually holds one autumn deadline and one spring deadline, not five of each. Third, ask what the competition actually rewards. John Locke rewards original argument; The Concord Review rewards patient archival research; the Harvard International Review contest rewards concise journalistic analysis. These are different skills, and a student should enter the contest that matches the skill they have or want to build. Our free resource library has printable planners and citation references for several of these.

One honest note on prestige. Admissions readers can tell the difference between selective outcomes and participation. A Concord Review publication or a John Locke shortlisting carries real signal because the numbers behind it are brutal; a certificate for entering carries almost none. Choose fewer competitions and aim for outcomes that mean something.

The heavyweights (academic essays)

John Locke Institute Global Essay Prize

The biggest name in academic essay writing, and now the most crowded: the Institute reported more than 63,000 entries in 2025. Students answer one set question in up to 2,000 words (excluding notes and bibliography) across ten subject categories, from philosophy and history to law and, new in 2026, international relations, with a separate Junior prize for students 14 and under. Essays are judged by senior academics, and the marking rewards a genuinely original argument defended with precision, not a polished book report. Questions appear in late January on the John Locke Institute site; in 2026 submissions ran from April 1 to May 31, with paid late extensions into June, and the 2027 cycle should look similar. Entry is free. Be clear-eyed about the odds: a shortlisting is a real achievement and most strong essays win nothing. Our John Locke prep page explains how we approach question choice, which is where most entries quietly fail.

The Concord Review

The only quarterly journal in the world devoted to history research papers by secondary students, and the most selective item on this list: roughly 5% of submissions are published. Papers run 5,000 to 10,000+ words including endnotes, which means this is closer to a supervised independent research project than a contest entry. Deadlines are rolling, with quarterly cutoffs on August 1, November 1, February 1 and May 1, and a $70 submission fee that includes a year's electronic subscription (details at tcr.org). It suits a patient, self-directed student with a genuine historical question, usually in Year 11 or 12, willing to work for a term or more. The payoff is proportionate: a published paper is one of the strongest writing credentials a high schooler can hold. Our Concord Review track supervises exactly this kind of project, and our guide to getting published covers what the editor actually looks for.

Harvard International Review Academic Writing Contest

The HIR contest asks students to write an 800–1,200 word article on international affairs in AP journalistic style, and since spring 2026 it runs a traditional high school division plus a new division for 7th and 8th graders. It runs several cycles a year; the winter cycle closes January 2, 2027, with finalists invited to a Defense Day on February 5, 2027, where they give a 15-minute presentation and oral defence to HIR judges. Awards are banded: Gold for roughly the top 3% globally, Silver the top 10%, Bronze the top 20%, so unlike most contests a strong-but-not-winning entry still earns a meaningful, ranked result. It suits students who follow the news closely and can compress analysis, and the oral defence rewards students who present well, not just write well. Details are on the official contest page; our complete HIR guide and HIR track cover cycle strategy and Defense Day preparation.

The economics track

LSESU Economics Society Essay Competition

An important naming point first: this is run by the student Economics Society at the London School of Economics, not by LSE itself, though the essay questions are set by LSE professors, including a Nobel laureate in recent cycles. It is free to enter and asks for up to 1,500 words (excluding references) on one of five questions, with a hard deadline of September 1, 2026 and results expected in October. That timing is its quiet advantage: it is one of the few serious academic essays a student can research and write over the summer holiday with no schoolwork competing for attention. It suits students weighing an economics degree who want to test whether they enjoy the discipline's way of arguing, and the questions genuinely require economic reasoning rather than opinion journalism. Current questions are posted by the society; our Economics Scholar track prepares students for this and similar economics prizes.

The creative-writing majors

Scholastic Art & Writing Awards

The default first competition for creative writers in the US: open to students in grades 7–12 (ages 13+) at schools in the US, Canada, US territories and American schools abroad, across categories including poetry, short story, personal essay and memoir, critical essay, journalism and novel writing. The structure is forgiving. Work is judged first regionally, where Gold and Silver Keys are awarded, and Gold Key work advances to national judging for medals, so a talented student has several rungs to land on. The 2026 cycle opened October 1 with regional deadlines from December 1 to January 6, varying by region; expect the same shape in 2026–27 and check your regional deadline at artandwriting.org. Honest difficulty check: regional Keys are attainable for a committed young writer, while national medals are genuinely selective. Submit several pieces in different categories; it is the one list entry where breadth costs little.

YoungArts

The most selective creative award for American students: open to US citizens, permanent residents (or students with a social security number) aged 15–18 or in grades 10–12, with writing one of ten artistic disciplines. Winners receive between $250 and $10,000, and winners with distinction attend National YoungArts Week in Miami; YoungArts is also the exclusive nominating body for US Presidential Scholars in the Arts. The 2027 application opens July 21, 2026 at youngarts.org and typically closes in early-to-mid October, so the portfolio must effectively be built over the summer. This is a competition for students already serious about writing as a craft; a first-year creative writer should build a Scholastic record first. There is a modest application fee, with waivers available.

Bennington College Young Writers Awards

A well-run, worldwide competition from a college with a serious literary pedigree. Students in grades 9–12 anywhere in the world submit in one category: one to three poems, a short story, or a nonfiction essay. The 2026–27 cycle opens September 1 with a November 1 deadline; note that 12th graders enter through a different route tied to the Common App or Coalition application. First place in each category wins $2,000, with $1,000 and $500 for second and third, and winners who later enrol at Bennington receive a full-tuition scholarship, which is worth knowing but should not drive the decision to enter. Full requirements are at bennington.edu. It suits international students especially well, since it is one of the few US creative prizes with no citizenship restriction, and the single-category rule forces a useful discipline: send your best genre, not everything.

Kenyon Review Patricia Grodd Poetry Prize

A small, sharply defined prize for poets only: high school sophomores and juniors submit exactly one unpublished poem during a November 1–30 window, free, via the Kenyon Review. The winner and runners-up are published in the Kenyon Review, one of America's oldest literary magazines, and the winner receives a full scholarship to a Kenyon Review Young Writers workshop, with results announced in March. One poem against a national field is a long shot by design, but the cost of entry is an evening, the timing sits conveniently beside Bennington's deadline, and publication in a magazine that also prints established poets is a credential few teenagers hold. Suits a poet whose single best piece is genuinely strong.

Low-stakes, high-reps

The New York Times student contests

The best practice circuit in this list. The Learning Network runs a rotating calendar of free contests for students aged 13–19, most open internationally where contest rules allow, with short word limits and published winners. The 2025–26 season included a cultural review contest in January–February, an open letter opinion contest in late winter and a podcast contest in spring, and past years have featured the well-known editorial and 100-word personal narrative contests; the 2026–27 calendar is typically announced in late summer on the Learning Network. Winning is harder than the friendly format suggests, since entries number in the thousands, but the real value is rhythm: tight deadlines, tight word counts, real audience. We often assign these as training before a heavyweight attempt.

NCTE Achievement Awards in Writing

A US programme from the National Council of Teachers of English recognising 10th and 11th graders, with one structural quirk: students cannot enter themselves. Nomination comes through a teacher, the themed prompt is released in summer, and submissions close February 15, with results in May via NCTE. If your child has an English teacher who rates their work, this is a low-effort, respectable national recognition; if not, spend the energy elsewhere.

Immerse Education Essay Competition

Free, open to ages 13–18 worldwide, roughly 500 words, with rounds typically closing in September and early January (see Immerse Education). Be clear about what the prize is: full or partial scholarships to Immerse's own paid summer programmes, not a standalone credential. Treat it as a short-form practice exercise with a possible perk, not a headline achievement.

A calendar that actually works

The trap in competition planning is that everything interesting seems to be due in either early November or late May. Plan backwards from two chosen deadlines and let the rest go. A student aiming at John Locke should be reading around the questions in February and drafting by March, using something like our John Locke essay planner to stage the work, while a Concord Review project needs a running start the summer before. Here is the shape of the year:

Quick answers

How many should my child enter?

Two or three per school year, chosen deliberately: one stretch target matched to their strongest subject and one or two lower-stakes contests for practice. More than that and every entry becomes a rushed entry, which defeats the purpose.

Do these actually help with university admissions?

Sometimes, and unevenly. A Concord Review publication, a John Locke shortlisting or a Scholastic national medal is genuine evidence of sustained intellectual work and admissions readers treat it that way; a participation certificate from anywhere changes nothing, and no award on this list is a golden ticket on its own. Enter because the work itself builds a skill, and treat any admissions benefit as a bonus.

When should we start preparing?

Count back at least eight to twelve weeks from the deadline for an essay prize, and a full term or more for The Concord Review. The students who place are almost never the ones who started when the questions were released; they are the ones who were already reading in the subject months earlier.

If you want experienced help choosing targets and coaching the work itself, that is what our Writing Scholars Program does: 93% of our students were shortlisted for the 2026 John Locke Essay Prize, and 80% of our HIR cohort earned Silver or above. You can see the full record on our results page, or contact us for a placement conversation about which two competitions fit your child's year.