500 Words writing competition launches for 2024

Budding authors listen up.

The UK's most successful writing competition for children, BBC 500 Words, is back for another year and is open for entries.

Primary school aged children from all over the UK can submit an original short story until 9pm Friday 8 November.

So, pick up your pens, deep dive into your imagination and let your creative juices flow!

Read on to find out all about this year's competition and how you can get involved...

What is the BBC 500 Words competition?

The competition encourages children of all abilities to get really imaginative and write the story they would love to read in 500 words or less, without fear of spelling, grammar or punctuation mistakes.

There are two age categories: 5-7 and 8-11 and each category will have gold, silver and bronze winners who will receive a selection of exciting prizes.

The 50 finalists will be invited to Buckingham Palace for a star-studded final where the top six stories will be read out by celebrities.

What do the 500 Words winners get?

The two gold winners receive not only the height of 500 Words judge, Sir Lenny Henry, in books, but 500 books for their schools.

Silver winners get their hands on the height of Her Majesty in books, and bronze winners receive the average height of a 7 or 11-year-old in books.

The winning stories will be illustrated by children’s illustrators, framed, and put into a 500 Words winners' book.

The competition has been given the support of Her Majesty The Queen.

This year’s winners will have the chance to meet The Queen, with the grand final taking place at Buckingham Palace in February 2025.

Every finalist receives a £20 National Book Token and their stories will be recorded by the BBC Radio Drama Company and published to the BBC Teach website.

Every story (excluding the winners) is entered into a random draw, where one lucky winner will be invited to the grand final, and their school will receive a bundle of 500 books and literacy wall art of their choice.

The competition is open from Tuesday 24 September, and all stories need to be typed and submitted by an adult by 9pm on Friday 8 November.