John Locke Essay Competition
Hi everyone,
I'm having a really frustrating experience with the John Locke Essay Competition and was wondering if anyone has been in a similar situation.
My parental consent was declined by the system, even though we followed the instructions carefully. I've been trying to contact the competition team for the past 8 days by email (multiple times) and phone, even on LinkedIn, but I haven't received a single response, and now I believe I am over.
I'm actually 18 years old, so I'm also confused as to why I was required to complete parental consent in the first place.
Another thing I noticed is that the Interview tab has appeared on my portal, but I can't click on it. Does this mean my submission has failed because the parental consent wasn't accepted, or is it normal for everyone?
Finally, if this issue isn't resolved before the deadline because the team never responded, would I be entitled to a refund (including the $100 extension fee)?
Has anyone experienced something similar or managed to get a response from the John Locke team?
Posted Jun 30, 2026, 2:50 AM UTC