What makes a strong John Locke Essay?
The John Locke Essay Competition attracts some of the most intellectually curious students from around the world. However, writing a strong submission requires more than simply researching a topic or presenting interesting ideas.
To better understand what distinguishes strong essays, we spoke with Karim, one of Doxa’s mentors, who has supported many students preparing submissions for the competition. Karim was also employed as a Philosophy marker for the John Locke Essay Competition, giving him first-hand insight into how essays are evaluated.
Drawing on that experience, he shared some of the most common pitfalls and what stronger essays tend to do differently.
What are some common mistakes students make?
One of the most frequent mistakes is failing to answer the essay question precisely. Instead of engaging directly with the prompt, students sometimes treat it as an invitation to speculate more broadly about the topic.
For example, a question might ask whether a particular claim is true or justified. Rather than analysing that claim carefully, some essays drift into general discussions of the surrounding subject area. While this may demonstrate knowledge, it often means the essay loses focus on the specific problem posed by the question.
Another common issue is that essays can be insufficiently argumentative. Students may summarise the views of philosophers or present multiple perspectives without clearly defending a position of their own.
However, the competition rewards argumentation. Judges want to see students making claims, explaining their reasoning, and defending their conclusions. Describing ideas is not enough, the essay needs to show how those ideas support a clear and coherent argument.
What distinguishes a strong essay?
According to our mentor, several qualities consistently appear in stronger submissions.
One of the most important is originality. This does not necessarily mean presenting a completely unprecedented idea, but it often involves making interesting connections between concepts, engaging with less familiar literature, or offering a nuanced answer to the question.
For example, instead of simply answering “yes” or “no”, a strong essay might show that the answer depends on how a key concept is defined, or reveal a complexity that the question initially appears to overlook.
Strong essays also demonstrate excellent writing and structure. Clear prose and logical organisation allow the reader to follow the argument easily, with each paragraph advancing a distinct step in the reasoning.
Finally, strong essays show rigorous argumentation. This includes identifying ambiguities in the question, defining important concepts carefully, and recognising potential objections. A particularly strong essay will make its assumptions explicit, justify each major claim, and address counterarguments where necessary.
One piece of advice for students preparing for the essay
One of the most useful steps students can take is to study winning essays from previous years.
Rather than reading them passively, students should analyse them critically. How do the authors structure their arguments? How do they define key concepts? How do they use sources or respond to objections?
Reflecting on these questions can help reveal the intellectual standards the competition is looking for and provide a useful model when developing your own essay.
Ultimately, the strongest John Locke essays are not simply well-researched; they demonstrate clarity of thought, originality, and careful reasoning. By engaging directly with the question, developing a clear argument, and reflecting critically on ideas, students can significantly strengthen their submissions.
If you would like guidance on developing essay ideas or structuring your John Locke submission, you can contact the Doxa team here: https://doxa.co.uk/contact-us