Petrus has earned his spot among some of the world’s brightest young minds after being shortlisted for the prestigious 2026 John Locke Institute Global Essay Prize, for his essay on economics.
Western Cape, South Africa (20 July 2026) – Petrus Bosman, a Cambridge AS student at Somerset College, has been shortlisted in the Economics category of the prestigious John Locke Institute Global Essay Prize.
This places him among an exceptional group of young thinkers from around the world!
This year’s competition attracted an incredible 100,227 entrants from 183 countries, making it one of the largest and most competitive editions of the essay prize to date. After a rigorous judging process, only the top 17.5% of eligible submissions were shortlisted. Petrus’ economics essay was one of them.
The John Locke Institute’s annual essay competition challenges students in honing independent thought, clear reasoning, critical analysis and persuasive writing. Essays are judged by senior academics from some of the world’s leading universities, including Oxford, Cambridge, Harvard, Princeton and Stanford.
Students compete across ten subject categories, from Economics and Law to Philosophy, Politics, Psychology and Science & Technology.
Petrus earned his place on the shortlist in the Economics category, where entrants were asked to tackle one of three thought-provoking questions.
In Economics, students could tackle whether we should fear a cashless society, what personalised pricing means for consumers in an increasingly digital economy, or whether Jeff Bezos got rich at the expense of his customers, his employees, both, or neither.
In a congratulatory message, the Director General of the John Locke Institute praised shortlisted entrants for the achievement.
“To be numbered among the best of the best is a remarkable achievement. Well done.”
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His achievement has earned him an invitation to attend the John Locke Institute Global Essay Prize awards ceremony in London this October, where the winners in each category will be revealed.
Whether or not he takes home the top prize, making the shortlist in a competition of this scale is already an extraordinary accomplishment, and one that places Petrus among the world’s most promising young academic writers!
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