The John Locke Essay Competition questions are starting to be released! The full list will be released on February 1st, so now is a great time to start planning.. Here are 5 things you can do while waiting for the final questions..

 

1. Read widely and wisely

The John Locke Essay Competition questions will cover a wide array of topics, from history to psychology to economics, so you should read widely – anything from philosophical classics to your favorite news outlet. However, keep in mind that you need to use your time wisely. Practice recognising what you can skim-read and what deserves your full attention. If you’re a psychology student, you want to spend more time on Freud than on the latest policy developments on nuclear energy.

 

1. Read past questions and papers

To be able to prepare well, you need to know what awaits you. Make sure to look at past questions and brainstorm how you would go about answering them. Also read past winning papers, and try to identify what they have in common. Pay attention to how successful students conducted research and structured their arguments – and keep these patterns in mind when it comes to your own work.

 

1. Practice with other competitions

Nothing beats practice. It gives you a chance to figure out how you work best, how to set achievable goals, and how to meet deadlines. You can practice how to write a convincing argument by taking part in competitions such as The New York Times student contests. Their contest My List: A Different Kind of Review Contest has a deadline of Feb. 25, 2026 – so you can get started on that competition now and get it out out of the way before intense work begins on the John Locke essay questions. With practice, you’ll then be ready to hit the ground running. Plus, it’ll be less daunting to tackle John Locke if you’ve already experienced a similar project.

 

1. Use momentum

 

Use the momentum you already have from your existing activities, studies, or hobbies. For example, if you are an AP History student or an AP Psychology student, you already have a foundational understanding of your subject area. If you’ve delved into a specific topic as part of a project, you can use that knowledge when it comes to your essay.

 

If you want to tactically dovetail projects, you can also look at subject-specific competitions or publications like The Concord Review and National History Day. You can build up an expertise in one topic, use the same reading list, and deploy it across multiple competitions.

 

1. Plan your schedule

Now is a good time to organise your schedule. Your experience with other competitions will help you to determine how much time to allocate to each step of the process. You will have approximately four months to complete your essay, but make sure to start thinking now about how much time you should dedicate to your essay each week. Your best work won’t be done a day before the deadline. Organisation is the foundational rock of any project of this scale and importance.