500 Words: everything you need to know

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500 Words, the UK's largest story writing competition for 5-11 year-olds, is now open for entries! Make sure you submit stories before the deadline, at 9pm, Friday 6 November.

The competition celebrates children's creativity and imagination, encouraging children 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!

Don’t miss the special 500 Words Live Lesson, at 11am, Wednesday 30 September, hosted by Sir Lenny Henry and Naomi Wilkinson and broadcast live from Punchdrunk Enrichment Stores.

The celebrity panel of judges include Malorie Blackman, Charlie Higson, Francesca Simon, Sir Lenny Henry, Frank Cottrell-Boyce and Rose Ayling-Ellis.

Next year the grand final of 500 Words will come from the very heart of the BBC.

It will all begin with six young authors, bronze, silver and gold in each age category, receiving a royal invitation to have tea with Her Majesty The Queen. This will be followed by a special 500 Words programme with The One Show in early March, supported by Radio 2, where the winning stories will be revealed and read out by celebrities in a truly magical celebration of the imagination and talent of young writers across the UK.

There are brilliant prizes to be won, alongside a framed illustrated cover of their story, created exclusively by Yuval Zommer, Nicola Kent, Matty Long, Diane Ewen, Becky Cameron, and Chanté Timothy.

Kickstart story writing and inspire children now with the amazing stories from the finalists 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 fewer (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. They must be suitable for a primary aged audience.

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

• Characterisation
• Plot
• Originality
• Language
• Enjoyment

Gold, Silver and Bronze in each category will receive a royal invitation to have tea with Her Majesty The Queen. In a special 500 Words programme with The One Show in early March, the winning stories will be revealed and read out by celebrities!

They will also receive a framed illustration of their story, created by one of Britain's best children's illustrators - read more about why our illustrators make them the perfect pick. The illustrations, alongside the winning stories, will be published in a special 500 Words winners' book.

Not only that, winners will take home a National Book Token to spend on books of their choice.

• Gold winners - £75 voucher
• Silver winners - £50 voucher
• Bronze winners - £25 voucher

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

The top 50 entrants (25 from each category) will have their story recorded and published on the 500 Words website.

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.

Any schools that receive 50% free school meals (or higher) that submit entries are entitled to a £75 National Book Token. Eligible schools will be contacted in November. We use data from The Education Company to contact eligible schools. For more information, visit our FAQs.

There's still time to sign up as a volunteer judge for this year's competition. 500 Words relies on the thousands of volunteers across the UK who read and mark the brilliant stories we receive - who knows, you might just read a winning story!

Browse the illustrations from the 2025/2026 competition

Find out more about the winning stories from 500 Words 2025/2026 here

This year's 500 Words Live Lesson takes place on 30 September at 11am, 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.

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?