Enter BBC's 500 Words competition!
“Write a story you would love to read.”
BBC’s 500 Words, the UK’s largest children’s writing competition for children aged 5-11 returns from Tuesday 24 September to Friday 8 November 2024.
There are two age categories: 5-7 year-olds and 8-11 year-olds. All you need to do is write a story that you would love to read in 500 words or less. Spelling, punctuation and grammar are not marked – it’s all about creativity!
The finalists will be invited to go to a glamorous grand final in February next year, where the bronze, silver and gold in each category will have their stories read out by celebrities. There are also lots of prizes to be won – each winner takes home a bundle of books and the gold winners also win 500 books for their school library.
Not only that, the winning stories will take home an original illustration from Dapo Adeola, Nigel Parkinson, Lydia Monks, Momoko Abe, Rob Biddulph or Yasmeen Ismail.
The winning stories will be judged by an official panel including Children’s Laureate Frank Cottrell-Boyce, Sir Lenny Henry, Francesca Simon, Charlie Higson, Malorie Blackman and joining the panel this year, singer-songwriter Olivia Dean.
Need some inspiration? Find out from the judges what makes a brilliant 500 Words story.
Find out more about 500 Words.
Competition closes 9pm Friday 8 November 2024. For more details and to read the Terms and Conditions and Privacy Notices go to bbc.co.uk/500words.