Godalming College student Alice Thompson was shortlisted for her Economics essay in the John Locke Institute Global Essay Competition. An incredible 63,328 people signed up this year, with essay topics spanning across seven subjects: Philosophy, Politics, Economics, History, Law, Psychology, and Theology. The essays were judged by a panel of senior academics drawn from leading universities, including Oxford and Princeton. Each category offered a choice of three questions, each with a 2,000 word limit. Alice was shortlisted and received a commendation for her essay, an excellent achievement. We caught up with her to find out more.
What made you decide to enter the Global Essay Prize Competition?
I came across it on TikTok. I was looking at super-curricular activities to add to personal statements, and it came up three times, so I thought, maybe it’s a good one to pick!
What subjects are you studying at College?
I’m studying Economics, Maths, and Psychology.
How did you go about selecting your essay topic?
I chose the Economics essay because I want to study Economics at University. Also, I really like looking at both sides, because every policy has more than one issue and I like that there is more than one answer. The question I chose was: “What will be the effect on socio-economic mobility of the UK government's plan to impose value added tax on school fees?” I discussed for and against improving social mobility, about how increasing tax could mean more people go to state schools, and this results in more equal education. However, at the same time, it could mean that good education becomes even more exclusive to some people.
How did you find the writing process? Did you learn a lot through it?
Definitely, like how to reference and cite. That was really good because I’m doing an EPQ (Extended Project Qualification), and that helped me with it. I started doing my EPQ first, so I knew how to research, but I hadn’t written it yet. As I wrote my competition essay first, when it came to writing my EPQ, it was a lot easier.
That’s great, so one fed into the other. Was your Economics teacher helpful during the process?
Ramin Abbassi helped me, and he was very proud. When I wrote my first draft, I sent it to him, and he gave me a website to help me cite things, which was really good.
I understand that you couldn't make it to the event in London to collect your certificate, but what does the commendation mean to you?
Doing well in the essay competition gave me the confidence that I understand economic concepts and can apply them to real world events. It’s motivated me to look into more complex stuff, like how economic indicators affect financial market decisions. It also made me feel proud that my hard work pays off.
You mentioned wanting to study Economics at University. Do you have ideas about what you might do afterwards?
At first, I wanted to go into finance and banking, but when I was writing my personal statement, I looked into being a developmental economist, which is when you help poorer countries grow through economic development schemes, which is quite interesting to me.
Alice’s Economics teacher, Ramin Abassi said: “Working with Alice on her essay was a pleasure. She engaged with a challenging policy question thoughtfully and showed real maturity in how she refined her ideas and analysis. Supporting students as they develop this kind of economic thinking is incredibly rewarding, and I’m very proud of her and all she’s achieved.”
Congratulations Alice! We all wish you the very best of luck in your next steps after Godalming!