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John Locke Institute Global Essay Prize · 2027 cycle

The John Locke Essay Competition: a complete guide

Each year the John Locke Institute sets thirty questions in ten subjects and invites school students anywhere in the world to answer one of them in 2,000 words. This guide covers who can enter, the rules and dates, how the essays are judged, what a shortlist or a prize is worth, and how to write an essay that has a chance.

By Peregrine Beckett · Checked against the Institute's competition page on October 6, 2026

At a glance

The competition in twelve lines

Official name
John Locke Institute Global Essay Prize
Run by
The John Locke Institute, an educational organisation based in Oxford
Who can enter
Any student under 19 on the submission deadline, from any country
Junior category
Entrants under 15 on the deadline, judged separately on the same questions
The task
One essay answering one of thirty set questions
Length
Up to 2,000 words, excluding notes and bibliography
Subjects
Ten categories, three questions in each
Cost
Free to enter. Late registration and late submission carry fees
Questions published
Late January (2027 questions not yet released)
Deadline
31 May in 2026. The 2027 date has not been announced
Shortlist
Early July by email. 17.5% of contestants in 2026
Awards
Academic conference and awards dinner, held in London in October 2026

Source: the Institute's Global Essay Prize page . The 2027 cycle has not been announced, so 2027 dates in this guide are expectations based on 2026.

What is the John Locke Essay Competition?

It is an annual essay prize for school students, properly called the John Locke Institute Global Essay Prize. The Institute is an educational organisation based in Oxford that also runs summer schools and gap-year courses. It is named after the philosopher John Locke (1632 to 1704), whose work on knowledge and government is a fair emblem for the thing the prize rewards: thinking a hard question through for yourself.

The questions are deliberately open. "Is trial by jury obsolete?" and "Should we be polite to ChatGPT?" were both set in 2026. None has a textbook answer, and the judges, who are academics, are not marking against one. They are reading for a position that is argued well.

The competition has grown quickly. The Institute reported more than 63,000 entries from over 150 countries in 2025, and it now runs ten subject categories where it once ran seven.

Who can enter?

  • Age. In 2026 entrants had to be under 19 on the regular submission deadline (31 May). There is no minimum age.
  • Junior and Senior. Students under 15 on the deadline are judged in the Junior category and everyone else in the Senior category. Since 2026 both answer the same questions; there is no separate Junior paper.
  • Country and school. Any country, any curriculum. Entries come from individual students, not schools.
  • Cost. Free, if you meet the standard deadlines.

If your child turns 15 or 19 close to the end of May, the exact 2027 deadline decides their category. We keep it current on the deadline and timeline page.

Subjects

The ten categories

Three questions are set in each. International Relations, Public Policy and Science & Technology were added in 2026. Each link below has that category's 2026 questions with our analysis; the 2027 questions go up within 48 hours of release.

Calendar

Dates: 2026 as published, 2027 as expected

The Institute has not announced the 2027 cycle. The 2026 calendar ran about a month earlier than 2025, and the safest plan is to assume 2027 follows 2026. Treat every date in the right-hand column as an expectation until the Institute confirms it.

Milestone2026 (published)2027 (expected)
Questions releasedLate January 2026Late January 2027
Registration opens2 February 2026Early February 2027
Registration deadline31 March 2026 (late option to 30 April, US$10)Late March 2027
Submissions open1 April 2026April 2027
Submission deadline31 May 2026Late May 2027
Late submission7 June (£25) or 21 June (£75)Similar paid extensions likely
Shortlist notified7 July 2026Early July 2027
Conference and awardsLondon, 2 to 4 October 2026Autumn 2027

The full calendar, with a backwards plan from the deadline, is on the John Locke deadline and timeline page. Rule changes are logged in the 2027 tracker.

Entering

How to enter, step by step

  1. 01

    Read all thirty questions

    The Institute publishes every category at once, in late January. Read the whole list before settling on a subject. Students often write their best essay outside the subject they expected to choose.

  2. 02

    Register during the free window

    Registration is on the Institute's own site and costs nothing if you do it on time. In 2026 the window ran from 2 February to 31 March, with a paid late option until 30 April.

  3. 03

    Choose one question and write

    One essay answers one question, in up to 2,000 words. The choice of question is the first real decision, and students who change their mind in April rarely finish well.

  4. 04

    Name an academic referee

    The Institute asks for a referee, a school teacher if possible or another responsible adult, whom it can contact to confirm the essay is your own work. Ask them before you submit, not after.

  5. 05

    Submit before the deadline

    Submissions open after registration closes and are made through the Institute's portal as a PDF named in the format it specifies. In 2026 the window was 1 April to 31 May. Aim to submit at least two days early.

  6. 06

    Wait for the shortlist

    Shortlisted entrants are told by email in early July. Some are invited to a short online interview, and all shortlisted students are invited to the academic conference and awards dinner in the autumn.

The rules that catch people out

The full rules are on the Institute's site and are the only version that counts. Read them yourself before you submit. These are the ones we see students trip over.

The word limit is a limit

Two thousand words, excluding notes and bibliography. An essay that runs over is handing the judge a reason to stop reading.

The age cut-off is the regular deadline

Eligibility and the Junior/Senior split are both fixed by your age on the regular submission date, not the day you register or the late deadline.

Late entry costs money, not marks

A paid extension buys a week or three. Late essays are judged to the same standard as the rest.

The essay must be your own

The Institute publishes a plagiarism policy, asks for a referee, and can interview candidates. AI is allowed as a thought partner and nothing more.

Check dates on the official site only

Several prep companies run lookalike domains, and some of the dates and statistics on them are stale or wrong.

Judging

How the essays are judged

The Institute publishes seven criteria and no mark scheme. The names on the left are the Institute's. The reading of each on the right is ours, from two cycles of preparing students and from taking apart the prize essays the Institute has published.

  1. 1

    Knowledge and understanding

    You know the subject well enough to use it, and you define the terms in the question before you argue about them.

  2. 2

    Use of evidence

    Claims rest on something a reader can check: a study, a case, a text, a number. Academic sources carry more weight than opinion pieces.

  3. 3

    Quality of argumentation

    Each paragraph does a job in the argument. The strongest objection is stated fairly and then answered.

  4. 4

    Originality

    The essay says something the judge has not read forty times that morning. Usually that comes from the angle or the example, not from an eccentric conclusion.

  5. 5

    Structure

    A reader can say what your thesis is after the first paragraph and can follow how each section supports it.

  6. 6

    Writing style

    Plain, exact sentences. Long words used to sound clever read as exactly that.

  7. 7

    Persuasive force

    By the end, a sceptical reader is at least less sure of their own view. Summarising both sides and stopping does not do this.

Results

From shortlist to Grand Prize: what each result means

  1. 01

    Shortlist

    17.5% of contestants in 2026, by the Institute's own count. Shortlisted students are invited to the conference.

  2. 02

    Commendation

    Awarded to stronger shortlisted essays. The Institute does not publish how many.

  3. 03

    High Commendation

    The next tier up. Again, no official proportion.

  4. 04

    Very High Commendation

    The highest recognition short of a prize. Third-party estimates put it near the top one per cent of entries; the Institute has not confirmed a figure.

  5. 05

    Category prizes

    First, second and third in each of the ten subjects, with Junior and Senior entrants judged separately. Prizes are scholarships toward the Institute's own programmes: US$5,000, US$2,000 and US$1,000.

  6. 06

    Grand Prize

    The best essay in any subject. A US$10,000 scholarship and an honorary Junior Fellowship of the Institute.

What any of this is worth on a university application depends on the tier and on the rest of the application. We have written that up honestly, including who should not enter, in Is the John Locke Essay Competition prestigious, and worth entering? What happens between the shortlist and the awards is in the interview after shortlisting.

How competitive is it?

17.5%

of all contestants shortlisted in 2026, as announced by the Institute

93%

of Atlantic Ivy students shortlisted the same year (38 of 41)

We put the two numbers side by side because the gap is the useful part. The shortlist is not a lottery. It rewards a set of skills, and those skills can be taught. How our 2026 results were counted

Method

How to write a John Locke essay

This is the order we teach it in. The free John Locke essay planner lays the same steps out as a printable sheet.

  1. 01

    Pick the question you can argue, not the topic you like

    A good question for you is one where you can already see a position and the best objection to it. Liking economics is not a reason to choose an economics question you have nothing to say about.

  2. 02

    Take the question apart

    Underline every term that could mean two things and decide which you mean. Many questions hide a second question inside the first: "Should we fear a cashless society?" is partly a question about who "we" is.

  3. 03

    Read before you have an opinion

    Six to eight weeks of reading is normal for a shortlisted essay. Start with one academic overview, follow its footnotes, and keep a note of every claim you might want to cite with its page number.

  4. 04

    State the thesis in one sentence

    If you cannot, you do not have one yet. The sentence should be something a reasonable person could disagree with.

  5. 05

    Write the objection paragraph first

    Find the strongest case against your thesis and write it as well as its best defender would. If you cannot answer it, change the thesis now, while it is cheap.

  6. 06

    Draft long, then cut

    First drafts run over the limit and hedge too much. That is normal. The second and third drafts are where the argument gets tighter and the adjectives go.

  7. 07

    Reference properly

    Notes and bibliography sit outside the word count, so there is no cost to citing carefully. Check every quotation against the source in the final week.

Six ways good students lose the shortlist

  • Surveying both sides and declining to choose. The criteria reward persuasive force, and a balanced summary has none.
  • Writing a tour of what five philosophers thought. The judges know what they thought. They want to know what you think and why.
  • Answering a neighbouring question that is easier than the one set.
  • Citing news articles and blog posts where a study or a primary text exists.
  • Starting in May. Two thousand words can be typed in a weekend, but the reading behind them cannot.
  • Letting an AI model write passages. The Institute permits AI "for research support and as a thought partner" and warns that detectable reliance can only hurt an essay. Shortlisted students can also be interviewed about their own argument.

Preparing with a mentor

John Locke Essay Competition prep at Atlantic Ivy

You do not need a course to enter, and plenty of shortlisted students never take one. If you want structure, our programmes run in January, February and March 2027, live online in groups of at most eight, with mentors who studied at Oxford, Cambridge, Yale and Harvard and unlimited draft edits on every track. Every price is published.

Compare the programmes Book a free consultation

Common questions

Questions students and parents ask most

Is the John Locke Essay Competition free to enter?

Yes. Registration and submission are free if you meet the standard deadlines. In 2026 late registration cost US$10 and late submission cost £25 for a seven-day extension or £75 for twenty-one days. Attending the academic conference and awards dinner is optional and priced separately. Nobody has to pay anything to compete or to win.

Who is eligible for the John Locke Essay Competition?

Any student from any country who is under 19 on the regular submission deadline, which was 31 May in 2026. There is no minimum age. Entrants under 15 on that date are judged in the Junior category; everyone else is judged in the Senior category. Both groups answer the same questions.

How long should a John Locke essay be?

The limit is 2,000 words, excluding notes and bibliography. There is no prize for brevity, and in our experience the essays that reach the shortlist use most of the allowance, because a real objection and a real answer to it take room.

How many people get shortlisted for the John Locke Essay Competition?

In 2026 the Institute announced that 17.5% of contestants had been shortlisted. It does not publish how many of those go on to a Commendation, High Commendation or Very High Commendation, so any percentage you see quoted for those tiers is a third-party estimate.

What do you get for winning the John Locke Essay Competition?

Category winners receive scholarships toward the Institute's own programmes: US$5,000 for first place, US$2,000 for second and US$1,000 for third, with Junior and Senior entrants judged separately. The Grand Prize for the best essay overall is a US$10,000 scholarship and an honorary Junior Fellowship. The prizes are scholarships, not cash.

When will the 2027 John Locke essay questions be released?

They have not been announced. As of October 6, 2026 the Institute's competition page still describes the 2026 cycle. In both 2025 and 2026 the questions appeared in late January, so late January 2027 is the working assumption. We publish analysis of every category's questions within 48 hours of release.

Can you use AI in the John Locke Essay Competition?

Within limits. The Institute's rules allow large language models "for research support and as a thought partner", not as a substitute for the author. It warns that detectable reliance on AI can only count against an essay, and it may interview shortlisted candidates to confirm the work is their own.

Is there an interview in the John Locke Essay Competition?

For some entrants. The Institute says that some candidates will be invited to participate in an online interview after the shortlist is announced. It is a check that the student can discuss and defend the essay they submitted, and a student who wrote their own essay has little to fear from it.

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