The 500 Words Competition is the UK’s largest story-writing competition for primary-aged children. The aim of the competition is to get children of all abilities and backgrounds to use their creativity and imagination to write a story that they would love to read themselves.

There are two age categories: 5-7 and 8-11 year-olds. Entries are invited for an original piece of prose fiction, written in English, that is no more than 500 words long. All stories are judged on characterisation, plot, originality, language and enjoyment.

Volunteer judges and official partners The Reading Agency whittle down the thousands of entries over two rounds of judging to produce a list of 50 finalists. The winners are chosen by a panel of judges made up of children’s authors.

All 50 finalists will be invited to a Grand Final event hosted by Her Majesty the Queen. The gold, silver and bronze winners for each age category will also receive bundles of books, an original illustration by a top children’s illustrator and will see their story printed in an exclusive 500 Words winners’ anthology.

Timetable:

• Registration to be a volunteer judge opens in the summer term.
• The 2026 competition opens for entries on 29th September and closes on 6th November.

Cost: Free

About 500 Words: The 500 Words Competition was launched in 2011 by Chris Evans when he was the presenter of the Radio 2 Breakfast Show. After a brief pause, the 500 Words Competition is once hosted by the BBC supported by BBC Teach and a group of partners that include leading UK publishers and literacy organisations.