500 Words: everything you need to know

< 500 Words< Everything about 500 Words

500 Words is the UK's largest story-writing competition for 5-11 year-olds. This year, entries open from Tuesday 29 September and will close at 9pm, Friday 6 November.

500 Words celebrates children's creativity and imagination, encouraging young writers from across the UK to create an original story in 500 words or fewer.

There are two age categories: 5-7 and 8-11 year-olds.

Spelling, punctuation and grammar are not marked - as has always been the case for 500 Words, it's all about our writers' brilliant creativity!

This year, the celebrity judges include Charlie Higson, Francesca Simon, Sir Lenny Henry, Frank Cottrell-Boyceand Rose Ayling-Ellis.

The bronze, silver and gold winners will be revealed by the BBC in early March 2027. Winning stories will be read aloud by well-known celebrities, bringing each young writer's story to life.

Each winner will receive a framed illustration of their story, created by one of Britain's leading children's illustrators. These illustrations, alongside the winning stories, will be published in a special 500 Words winners' book.

The gold winners' schools will also receive 500 books for their school library.

Any schools with 50% free school meals (or higher) that submit entries will also receive a £50 National Book Token.

As an added incentive for schools to enter, every story (excluding bronze, silver and gold winners) will be entered into a random draw. The winning entrant will receive a bundle of books for themselves and their school will also receive 500 books and a literacy wall art, installed by Promote Your School. It only takes one submission per school to be entered in the draw.

Read the amazing stories from all the finalists who made it to the final of the 2025/26 competition

Here at 500 Words, we have always wanted children to have fun writing stories, to be as creative as they can be and to make us laugh, cry or just be blown away by what we are reading. Children are encouraged to write a story they would love to read themselves. Over the years there have been thousands of incredible stories submitted.

There are very few rules for 500 Words but a few points to remember when writing a story.

All 500 Words stories must:

• Be 500 words or less (title is not included in the number)
• Be written by an individual and not a group
• Be a child’s own original idea
• Be prose, not rap or poem

Stories must not:

• Give any personal details of the child, including their name
• Recount an historical event (but they can use a real person or historical character as a source of inspiration)
• Be created, written or developed by AI
• Contain unsuitable material, such as; graphic violence, bad language and offensive content

In every 500 Words competition, all stories are judged on the following criteria:

• Characterisation
• Plot
• Originality
• Language
• Enjoyment

This year's 500 Words Live Lesson takes place on 30 September, so save the date and join us for another inspiring session packed with storytelling tips and creative ideas to help kick-start your class's entries.

Missed last year's special 500 Words Live Lesson? You can catch up and inspire the next generation of story writers here.

Watch 500 Words judge, Sir Lenny Henry, and presenter Naomi Wilkinson, who are on a mission to collect the key ingredients of a brilliant story. From original worlds to unforgettable characters and imaginative words, by the end of the lesson your class will have everything they need to begin their own 500 Words stories.

500 Words encourages literacy! 84% of teachers who submitted stories on behalf of students in 2024/25, felt their students were more engaged with literacy and writing as a result of taking part in the competition.

Here’s what a teacher had to say: ‘My students have really improved in their creative writing skills since they took part in this competition especially the ones who are usually quiet in class so this is an encouragement to me as a teacher to help them gain their confidence…’

Since 2011, when 500 Words began, every story entered into the competition has been sent to our children’s language partner, Oxford University Press. These scholarly superstars have now collected almost a million stories. That's over 500 million words!

Why does that matter? Well, these stories help them to understand the language children are using and how it's developing over time. It helps them work out what kids are interested in: from politics to world events, celebrities to football, and it informs the creation of their dictionaries and learning resources for children. The results from this are taught in seminars and lectures around the world and help leading figures in education to improve the way English is taught in schools.

Catch up on the headlines from the 2025/26 competition's stories to find out more.

So that's why, if you're a teacher, you should send us every story from your class…or if you're a parent, you should encourage your kids to have a go. Their stories will ultimately change education in schools…and who knows, maybe change lives?

Need more inspiration?