Plinth Education results for 2026, in one paragraph: fifty-four students selected for CCIR's one-to-one research programme, twenty shortlisted for the John Locke Institute essay competition with two Very High Commendations, twenty-five shortlisted for the Harvard Student Agencies Case Competition, and five nominated for the Diana Award and Ashoka Young Changemakers. Behind them, from the years when this work ran as Projectling, sit admits to Dartmouth on a full scholarship, Stanford, Cornell as a Tata Scholar, USC with a Presidential Scholarship and UNC Chapel Hill with about 90 percent of cost covered.
I am publishing these because parents ask, reasonably, what the work actually produces. None of it is easy, and none of it began in Grade 12. Each result below came from a plan made two or three years earlier and followed, month by month, by a student who did the work.
The CCIR research programme: 54 Indian students selected
Fifty-four of our students have been selected for CCIR, the Cambridge Centre for International Research, where a high school student works one-to-one with a university faculty member, including faculty from Oxford and Cambridge, on a research paper of their own. CCIR is selective and it is paid; it is an independent company rather than part of the University of Cambridge, and we say so because families deserve the accurate description.
What makes a selection count is what happens after it. Our students arrive with a question they have already worked on, which is why their statements of purpose are strong enough to be selected, and they leave with a finished paper and a mentor who can write about how they think. Several have gone on to present their research at student research conferences. How we prepare a student for that application is in how to write a statement of purpose for research programs, and where research sits among everything else a student can do is in the research ladder.
John Locke essay competition shortlist 2026: twenty students, two Very High Commendations
The John Locke Institute's essay competition draws entries from across the world in philosophy, politics, economics, history, psychology, theology and law. In 2026, twenty of our students were shortlisted and two received Very High Commendations, which places an essay in roughly the top one percent of entries. Students have received Very High Commendations in earlier years too.
The method behind it is unglamorous. Students read past winning essays before choosing a question, pick the question they can argue rather than the one that sounds impressive, and draft and redraft an argument that answers its strongest objection. The full approach is in how to win the John Locke essay competition.
Harvard Student Agencies Case Competition: twenty-five shortlisted
The Harvard Student Agencies Case Competition asks teams of high school students to analyse a real business problem and present a recommendation, and it is run by Harvard Student Agencies, the student-run company at Harvard. Twenty-five of our students were shortlisted in 2026. The final results are announced in December, and we will add them here.
For students with a business or economics pillar, a case competition does what an essay prize does for a humanities student: it shows how they reason under pressure, in a format an admissions reader can judge quickly. Where it fits among the competitions worth entering is in the best competitions for Indian high school students.
Diana Award nomination in India, and Ashoka Young Changemakers: five students
Five of our students have been nominated for the Diana Award and Ashoka Young Changemakers in 2026. Both recognise social action that has run for a sustained period and changed something measurable, and neither can be entered like a competition. A nomination is the result of a project that has climbed the impact ladder: from a one-off act of service, to something that runs without the student, to something tied to what they want to study. What each award asks for is in the Diana Award and Ashoka Young Changemakers.
Admits: a Dartmouth full scholarship for an Indian student, and Stanford, Cornell, USC and UNC
Before Plinth, this work ran as Projectling, the activity and research consultancy I founded in 2021 and still own. Students from those years were admitted to:
| University | Outcome |
|---|---|
| Dartmouth College | Admitted on a full scholarship |
| Stanford University | Admitted |
| Cornell University | Admitted as a Tata Scholar |
| University of Southern California | Admitted with a Presidential Scholarship |
| UNC Chapel Hill | Admitted with about 90 percent of cost covered |
What these students had in common was not a type of school or a particular score. Each had two clear pillars by the end of Grade 10, research or competition results inside those pillars by the end of Grade 11, and an application that argued one case rather than listing ten activities. That sequence is the Plinth method, and the Grade 10 to 12 plan that runs it is on admissions counselling.
What these results mean for your child
They are not a promise. Nobody can guarantee an admit, and a firm that implies otherwise is telling you something about how it works. What the results show is that the method produces recognisable outcomes when it starts early enough to build rather than describe: Grade 9 or 10, with two years for research and competitions to happen before the application is written.
If your child is in Grade 9 or 10 and you would like to know which of these routes fits them, request a call. The form shows our fee for their grade before you book.
How these results are reported
We never publish students' names, photographs or admit letters; families can be introduced privately, with consent. Results are counted per student, not per offer. Admits listed here come from students in full counselling or profile-building engagements through Projectling and Plinth. Competition figures are for the 2026 cycle unless stated, and the HSACC result will be updated when the finals are announced. How we count outcomes is set out on the results page.