John Locke Competition Award Win

Following from our recent article about two of our students being selected as finalists for the John Locke Essay Writing competition, we‘re delighted to share that current Year 13 Yeonjin K has been awarded a High Commendation overall, securing not only the prestige that comes from the competition, but also a valued scholarship for a residential programme with the John Locke Institute in Singapore.

As a reminder, the John Locke Essay Writing Competition invites students to explore and express their ideas on themes related to philosophy, politics, and social theory, inspired by the Enlightenment thinker John Locke. Open to participants from various educational levels, the competition encourages critical thinking and eloquent writing.Students are encouraged to submit essays which address contemporary issues through the lens of Locke’s principles of liberty, democracy, and human rights. Winners receive recognition for their intellectual achievements and the opportunity to contribute to meaningful discourse on fundamental societal questions.

Essay prizes were judged by a panel of academics drawn from leading universities including Oxford and Princeton, under the leadership of the Chairman of Examiners, former Cambridge philosopher, Dr Jamie Whyte.Judges choose their favourite essays from seven subject categories - Philosophy, Politics, Economics, History, Psychology, Theology and Law.

Yeonjin chose the Economics category and set out to answer the question of "Accurate news reporting is a public good. Does it follow that news agencies should be funded from taxation?" She structured her essay around a summary that examines the role of news agencies, the benefits and dangers they bring to society, as well as the consequences of being subsidised by taxation."

Massive congratulations to Yeonjin on this incredible achievement.