2026 COURSES
Our summer schools introduce students aged 12–19 to university-level courses in philosophy, politics, economics, history, law, and related subjects. Designed to reflect the rigour of leading undergraduate programmes, they offer an exceptional opportunity to experience university life abroad and to connect with students who share your academic interests.
BOSTON CAMBRIDGE DUBAI GEORGETOWN HONG KONG OXFORD PRINCETON WASHINGTON D.C.
Home of two of the world’s greatest universities,
Harvard and M.I.T.
Home of the University of Cambridge, second-oldest university in the English-speaking world.
A modern commercial republic of ideas linking continents, prized for stability, openness, and global exchange.
A historic seat of law, diplomacy, and political philosophy at the edge of American government.
A city shaped by common law, free exchange, and a long tradition of intellectual and commercial openness.
Home of John Locke and a collegiate tradition that has shaped philosophy, politics, and reasoned inquiry for centuries.
A deliberately small university town associated with seriousness of thought and theoretical depth.
A rule-of-law city-state combining intellectual ambition, administrative competence, and global outlook.
The institutional centre of American constitutional government and public policy.
THINK. RETHINK.
We bring together the very best students from all over the world and invite inspiring professors to challenge them to listen generously, to think critically, and to develop and deliver robust responses with clarity, precision and persuasive force.
Skills, HABITS & CHARACTER
Our courses are not chiefly concerned with communicating facts; instead we seek to nurture intellectual skills and help our students cultivate habits of mind to make you a better philosopher, political scientist, economist, legal scholar, or historian, and a better thinker, writer, and speaker.
CULTIVATING THE INTELLECTUAL VIRTUES
After attending one of our John Locke Institute courses we expect that you will be a more subtle and sophisticated thinker, more flexible and open-minded, and - in what might appear to be paradoxical (but isn't) - we hope you will acquire not only more intellectual confidence but also more intellectual humility.
ADMISSIONS
We welcome applications from motivated, high-ability students, who would benefit from a demanding curriculum, intensive engagement with other bright students, and close attention from leading academics. In particular we encourage applications from those who would make a valuable contribution to the experience of the other participants, both inside and outside the classroom.
Entry is competitive. Successful candidates are selected following careful assessment of a written application and an online admissions interview with the Institute's Academic Dean in the United States. We typically receive three applications for each place.
"It made a huge difference to my confidence as well as my interest in the subject. I am a lot more confident in exploring political and economic ideas in my essays."
– Ffion Gladwin, 2020
