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LSESU Essay Competition
FAQ · 2026 Essay Competition

Fourteen questions we hear most often

A consolidated index of the most common questions about the 2026 LSESU Economics Society Essay Competition — eligibility and format, entering and submission, preparation, and awards. For deeper answers see the linked specialist pages. If your question isn’t covered here, our support team responds within one working day.

01 · Eligibility & format

Who can submit, and how the essay must be formatted

For the full rules and rubric see the rules page.

The Essay Competition is one of the most accessible LSE-affiliated programmes for high-school students — free, no school nomination, no nationality cap. The four questions below cover the eligibility checks and essay format that come up most often before candidates commit to write.

Who can submit an essay?
Students in grades 9 through 12 worldwide, or the equivalent year in IB, A-level, AP, or Chinese gaokao. UK Year 10–13 standard equivalent. No nationality restriction, no prior examination requirement, no school nomination. Individual submission only — no team-authored essays.
How long should the essay be, and what’s the format spec?
Up to 1500 words in English, excluding references. Times New Roman 12pt, 1.5 line spacing, page numbers throughout. Use Harvard referencing (APA or Chicago accepted if consistent). File named in English NAME (uppercase) + QUESTION X — e.g. PETER SMITH+QUESTION 1.
Is AI-generated content allowed?
No. AI-generated content is strictly forbidden and adequate referencing is required. Every submission is AI-screened and plagiarism-checked automatically on receipt; violations result in immediate disqualification with no public appeal. Using AI as a spellchecker or to debug a single sentence is fine; using it to draft argument paragraphs is not.
Can I answer more than one of the five questions?
No. One submission per candidate; pick one of the five 2026 questions and stay within 1500 words on that prompt. Multiple submissions from the same candidate are disqualified; partial responses spanning multiple prompts are disqualified. You may change your mind between prompts up to the moment of submission, but you commit to exactly one when you upload your file.
02 · Entering & submission

How to enter, the deadline, and submitting

For the full step-by-step see the How to Enter page.

There is no registration — no form, no account, no fee. The five essay questions are already public on this site and the Society’s official page, so you can start reading and drafting today. When your essay is ready, message us on WhatsApp and we’ll send the submission link. The four questions below cover the most common deadline, fee, and submission concerns raised in the run-up to 1 September.

When is the deadline for 2026?
1 September 2026 at 23:59 GMT+1 (London summer time). Equivalent: 2 September 06:59 Beijing time, 1 September 18:59 New York EDT. There is no extension policy and no exceptions are made for illness, technical failure, school examination clashes, or time-zone confusion. Submit early.
Is there an entry fee?
No. The Essay Competition is completely free to enter, to submit, and at results — the Society never charges candidates, schools, or coordinators, and does not accept payment for any expedited handling. Anyone asking you to pay an “entry fee” for this specific competition is not authorised by the Society.
PDF or Word for the submission file?
Both are accepted. PDF is preferred because it preserves the Times New Roman 12pt / 1.5-spacing / page-numbering specification exactly across operating systems, where Word files can render differently on the assessor’s machine. Whichever format you choose, open the file before you send it to confirm page numbers appear correctly.
What if I start an essay but never submit?
Nothing happens. There’s no registration, no fee, and no record of non-submission — there’s nothing to deactivate. The Society does not keep any kind of permanent record of essays that were never sent. Just enter a future season whenever you’re ready.
03 · Preparation

Reading, writing, and choosing a question

For the full preparation pack, source list, Harvard primer, and 10-week timeline see the resources page.

The strongest essays combine original argument with appropriate evidence in a tight 1500-word structure. The three questions below address the most common preparation concerns — how to get started from zero formal economics, how to pick the right prompt for your background, and whether the optional paid coaching programme is worth the investment for your case.

I haven’t studied economics formally — can I still aim for a Top 3?
Yes, with focused reading. The 10-week timeline on the resources page is calibrated for a candidate with strong school writing skills and limited formal economics. Pick a prompt aligned with your strongest reading area; build a tight thesis from three or four academic sources; write with discipline against the 100-point rubric. Most High Distinction essays are not written by economics specialists — they are written by careful readers and clear writers.
How do I choose which of the five questions to answer?
Pick the prompt you can defend with the most specific evidence — not the most prestigious-sounding one. A tight argument citing three NBER working papers and a recent IMF report on the green-transition question outscores a vague survey of the AI-and-inequality question. The Society’s editorial advice: choose the prompt where you have the clearest thesis, even if it is question 5 rather than question 1.
Should I take a paid coaching programme?
Optional. Many High Distinction essays are written using only the free pack and self-study. Structured coaching is more often useful for candidates who want a critical reader against the rubric, accountability around weekly milestones, or guidance picking the right prompt. The Society’s view: coaching is an accelerator for specific cases, not a substitute for reading and drafting.
04 · Awards & certificates

Tiers, certificates, and the Cambridge programme

For the full four-tier breakdown and certificate design see the awards page.

Awards are designed to be portable across university application systems. Every certificate above High Distinction carries the prompt-setting professor’s hand signature, which is what admissions officers actually look at — not the seal alone, but the named provenance of the person who set the question and judged the essay. The three questions below cover the most common tier, results, and certificate-presentation queries.

How are the four award tiers decided?
All essays are blind double-marked against the 100-point rubric. High Distinction goes to the top 5% of the global submission pool. Top 3 is the three strongest essays per question. Question Winner is the single best essay for each of the five questions (with a £50 Amazon Gift Card). Overall Champion is the single best essay across all five (with a £100 Amazon Gift Card). Distinction-only — no participation certificate is issued.
When and how are results released?
Anticipated October 2026. Marking and moderation take place through September; the editorial committee finalises Top 3 ordering and selects Overall Champion in early October. Each candidate receives an email confirming their tier (or a closing-of-season notice if not placed). Certificates follow within the week. Cambridge eligibility detail for High Distinction awardees is communicated separately by email.
Can I list the certificate on university applications?
Yes. The certificate is designed for academic-honour sections of any standard university application — CommonApp Honors, UCAS Personal Statement, university supplementary forms. Use the official short name “LSESU Economics Society Essay Competition — [Tier] (2026)” and reference the named prompt-setting professor on Top 3 and above certificates. Each certificate is signed by the LSESU EconSoc President; certificates above Question Winner add the prompt-setter’s signature.

If your question isn’t covered here

The fourteen questions above cover the most-asked items for a normal drafting-to-submission journey. Edge cases — schools submitting large cohorts together on WhatsApp, candidates with non-standard academic records, candidates writing from countries with restricted internet access, parents asking on behalf of younger siblings still in lower-secondary school, candidates considering whether a non-English first language is a disadvantage — are best handled directly by the support team, who can advise on the specific case in one or two message exchanges.

If you spot a factual error on any FAQ answer, please flag it via the contact channel and we will verify against the official primary sources (lsesuesec.org, the Society’s published guidance, and the official essay-competition page) and correct the entry within one working day. Material corrections are dated and noted in the page footer; minor wording corrections are made silently.

The Society publishes its competition guidance once per season and refreshes the FAQ in line with each release. Where this FAQ and the official prompt-release document disagree, the official prompt-release document — published on this site and the Society’s official page — takes precedence; the page footer carries the version date of the most recent FAQ refresh.

05 · Still have questions?

Talk to a human

Our international support team responds within one working day, in Mandarin or English. Common cases — eligibility checks for unusual school systems, school cohort logistics, questions about the submission link we send on WhatsApp — are resolved in a single message exchange.

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