{"id":60113,"date":"2025-03-31T15:00:00","date_gmt":"2025-03-31T07:00:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/blog.ivy-way.com\/?p=60113"},"modified":"2025-03-31T14:41:46","modified_gmt":"2025-03-31T06:41:46","slug":"2025-john-locke-essay-competition-prompts-the-incredible-transformative-power-of-the-john-locke-institute-essay-competition","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/blog.ivy-way.com\/en\/2025-john-locke-essay-competition-prompts-the-incredible-transformative-power-of-the-john-locke-institute-essay-competition\/","title":{"rendered":"2025 John Locke Essay Competition Prompts Now Available!"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

We’ve written about the John Locke Institute Essay Competition (JLIEC) before<\/a>, discussing the basics of the competition, and how it can improve your chances of college admissions, and shared the success of Ivy-Way students shortlisted for the Junior and regular Essay Competition. In general, the goal of the JLIEC is to encourage \u201cindependent thought, depth of knowledge, clear reasoning, critical analysis and persuasive style.\u201d For the uninitiated, here’s the breakdown of the basic information:<\/p>\n\n\n\n

John Locke Institute Essay Competition Basic Info<\/strong><\/td><\/tr>
Task:<\/strong><\/td>The essay must respond to one of the provided questions in their chosen subject category. Essays should consider counterarguments and objections to be successful.<\/td><\/tr>
Word count:<\/strong><\/td>2,000 words or less (excluding diagrams, tables, endnotes, bibliography, and authorship declaration).<\/td><\/tr>
Subject categories:<\/strong><\/td>1. Economics
2. History
3. Law
4. Philosophy
5. Politics
6. Psychology
7. Theology
Plus a junior category for students 14 and under<\/td><\/tr>
Who can participate?<\/strong><\/td>\u29bf Secondary (high school) students from all countries ages 15 to 18.
\u29bf Junior Category: students 14 and under<\/td><\/tr>
Judging criteria:<\/strong><\/td>Based on \u201con knowledge and understanding of the relevant material, the competent use of evidence, quality of argumentation, originality, structure, writing style and persuasive force.\u201d<\/td><\/tr>
Prizes:<\/strong><\/td>The winner of each subject category receives a US$2,000 scholarship towards the cost of JLI\u2019s summer and gap year programs. The winner of the best overall essay will receive a US$10,000 scholarship for the same.<\/td><\/tr>
Entry fee:<\/strong><\/td>$0<\/td><\/tr>
Important Dates<\/strong><\/td><\/tr>
Registration opens:<\/strong><\/td>1 April, 2025<\/td><\/tr>
Registration deadline:<\/strong><\/td>31 May, 2025<\/td><\/tr>
Submission deadline:<\/strong><\/td>30 June, 2025 11.59 pm BST<\/td><\/tr>
Late entry deadline:<\/strong><\/td>7 July, 2025<\/td><\/tr>
Notification date:<\/strong><\/td>31 July, 2025<\/td><\/tr><\/tbody><\/table><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

You can get the latest information and deadlines, submission guidelines, and questions for each subject directly from the JLI\u2019s website<\/a>. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Given that the JLIEC prompts for 2025 have been released, we thought we would revisit the topic in the form of Q&A. We’ve tried not to cover the same ground we’ve covered before so please take a look at our previous post<\/a> if you still have questions.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Should you consider writing an essay for the John Locke Institute Essay Competition?<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n

If you have any interest in the liberal arts (humanities or social science), especially one of the seven subject categories of the competition (Economics, History, Law, Philosophy, Politics, Psychology, and Theology), Ivy-Way counselors often recommend our students to submit an essay to the John Locke Institute Essay Competition<\/strong>. It’s also a great opportunity for anyone who has even a passing interest in writing.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Why? Regardless of whether you receive a commendation, the process of responding to one of the essay prompts will deepen your understanding of the subject and give you practice in writing a research-based argumentative essay (a common college assignment). Besides, the prompts are interesting; you’ll be sure to learn something useful for you personally, and when you are applying to colleges, you may find that skills and insights gained by writing for the competition will make your applications stand out. Most of the students we’ve guided through the process have reported that it was an incredible, transformative experience. They felt like they became better writers and more critical thinkers. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

What are the prompts like?<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n

All of the prompts have something of a philosophical bent (not just the philosophy prompts). They challenge you to apply concepts from different fields to analyze contemporary and hypothetical scenarios. Take a look at this sample from the 2023 prompts to see what we mean:<\/p>\n\n\n\n