Competition Overview

John Locke Essay Competition

The John Locke Essay Competition, organized by the John Locke Institute, invites students worldwide to engage in critical thinking and rigorous analysis on complex philosophical, political, and social questions. Named after the philosopher John Locke, this competition encourages high school students to explore challenging topics and develop their academic writing skills, judged by experts from top universities.

Eligibility

Age Requirement: Participants must be under 18 years of age.

Group Division

Senior: Open to students ages 18 and under.
Junior: Open to students ages 14 and under.

Registration Deadline

May 31, 2025

Submission Deadline

June 30, 2025

Late entry deadline

July 7, 2025 (for 7-day extension)
July 21, 2025 (for 21-day extension)

Notification of short-listed essayists

July 31, 2025

Academic conference

October 3-5, 2025

Awards dinner

October 4, 2025.

Official Website

here

Subject Categories

Students can choose from several categories, each with thought-provoking prompts:

Philosophy

Politics

Economics

History

Psychology

Theology

Law

Competition Topic Examples

Each category offers a set of questions each year.

Philosophy

Do we have any good reasons to trust our moral intuition?
Do girls have a (moral) right to compete in sporting contests that exclude boys?
Should I be held responsible for what I believe?

Psychology

According to a study by researchers at four British universities, for each 15-point increase in IQ, the likelihood of getting married increases by around 35% for a man but decreases by around 58% for a woman. Why? In the original version of this question we misstated a statistic. This was caused by reproducing an error that appeared in several media summaries of the study. We are grateful to one of our contestants, Xinyi Zhang, who helped us to see (with humility and courtesy) why we should take more care to check our sources. We corrected the text on 4 April. Happily, the correction does not in any way alter the thrust of the question.
There is an unprecedented epidemic of depression and anxiety among young people. Can we fix this? How?
What is the difference between a psychiatric illness and a character flaw?

Law

When, if ever, should a company be permitted to refuse to do business with a person because of that person’s public statements?
In the last five years British police have arrested several thousand people for things they posted on social media. Is the UK becoming a police state?
Your parents say that 11pm is your bedtime. But they don’t punish you if you don’t go to bed by 11pm. Is 11pm really your bedtime?

JUNIOR Prize

Does winning a free and fair election automatically confer a mandate for governing?
Has the anti-racism movement reduced racism?
Is there life after death?
How did it happen that governments came to own and run most high schools, while leaving food production to private enterprise?
When will advancing technology make most of us unemployable? What should we do about this?
Should we trust fourteen-year-olds to make decisions about their own bodies?

Requirements

Word Limit

The paper must be the original work of the participant and not published elsewhere.

Originality

The paper must be the original work of the participant and not published elsewhere.

File Format

The paper must be the original work of the participant and not published elsewhere.

Recommendation

The paper must be the original work of the participant and not published elsewhere.

Prizes

Disciplinary Prize

$2,000 scholarship for the best paper in each category.
Published on the John Locke Institute’s website.

Junior Division Prize

$2,000 scholarship for the best junior division paper.
Published on the Institute’s website.

Overall Champion Prize

$10,000 scholarship for the best paper across all categories.
Scholarship applicable to Summer School or Visiting Scholars program.
Named an Honorary Fellow.

back to all competitions