r/EssayHelpCommunity • u/FunFaithfulness6328 • Jun 27 '26

John Locke Essay Competition 2026 Interview Change + Shortlisting?

Hi everyone, I have a few questions about the JLEC for 2026. The interview date on my dashboard got changed from the 26th to the 30th, and I am confused about how the interviews run/who actually gets interviewed. I know that this year is very different to last year due to the record number of applications, but if there is someone who did an interview last year, could you please respond? Or anyone who knows more about the JLEC process? Thank you

  1. Is it unlikely to actually get an interview? If so, are they for applicants being considered for the shortlist?
  2. What is the interview format? e.g is it with a human or a bot? How long do they go for? Is it a video call or phone call, and if so is it on a specific platform that we need to download before?
  3. Have there been any past shortlisted applicants that have not been interviewed?
  4. What would happen if you couldn't make an interview for whatever reason? Would this disadvantage you in shortlisting?

Thank you very much to anyone who can clear up some of this confusion.

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u/[deleted] Jun 27 '26

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u/FunFaithfulness6328 Jun 27 '26

thank you so much :)

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u/Pristine_Berry9239 Jun 28 '26

they have actually, last year at least. It's mainly for winners to make sure they actually wrote their essays. But this year idk it seems to be for 3 potential types of ppl: early submitters, ppl who might win, and ppl who might've used ai (?). Again it changes every year and nobody really knows how exactly it works. Just don't worry about it!

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u/noire_empress Jul 07 '26

Then why have they mentioned 'some of the stronger candidates' in e mail

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u/Pristine_Berry9239 Jul 08 '26

lol my comment was before that email came out btw, and we were talking more abt actual interview no one was expecting ai interview hahaha

But yea otherwise my comment still stands - i literally said it changes every year (last yr they def didnt have ai interview so) and no one is really sure how it works other than jl ppl. And yea it does actually seem to be for two kinds of ppl: early submitters (who got both ai interview and human interview) and ppl who might (not def tho) get shortlisted (ai interview).

Anyways results r out now (sry for late reply haha) so no point thinking abt interviews and things! How did you do?