���˿���

< 500 Words

500 Words 2024/25 is now closed for entries. Volunteer judging began on Monday 11 November and shortlisted entrants will be contacted in February.

There are two age categories: 5-7 and 8-11 year-olds and spelling, punctuation and grammar are not marked - it's all about creativity!

50 finalists will be invited to go to a glamorous grand final at Buckingham Palace in February next year, where the bronze, silver and gold winners in each category will have their stories read out by celebrities.

There are also lots of prizes to be won - each winner will take home a bundle of books and the gold winners also win 500 books for their school library.

Not only that, the winning stories will receive an original illustration from Dapo Adeola, Nigel Parkinson, Lydia Monks, Momoko Abe, Rob Biddulph or Yasmeen Ismail.

It's incredibly important to us that children of all abilities and backgrounds are able to take part in the competition; therefore each school that entered a story and receives 50% free school meals or more, is entitled to a £50 National Book Token and three £10 book tokens for their pupils.

500 Words wouldn't be a success without the support of our thousands of volunteer judges who mark the first round. Registration to sign up as a volunteer judge is now OPEN.

Teachers, teachers assistants (in post or in training), SEND and library staff are welcome to apply. As part of the registration process, you will need to be verified as eligible to judge stories before receiving any entries.

Each story read will be marked and will collectively select at least 5000 stories to go through to round two. 500 Words partner, will then choose the finalists.

Each volunteer judge is entered into a random draw and they could see themselves attending the grand final in February 2025.

The official panel will pick the gold, silver and bronze winners, who will be revealed at Buckingham Palace next year.

Here at 500 Words, we want children to have fun writing their stories, be as creative as they can and 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 incredible stories submitted.

There are very few rules on 500 Words but a few points to remember:

All the 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

All stories will be judged on the following criteria:

• Characterisation
• Plot
• Originality
• Language
• Enjoyment

Here's some top tips to kick start story writing

Whilst we wait for the top 50 stories to be revealed, why not show them some of our 2023 young finalists’ stories for some inspiration?

To inspire storytelling all year round, we caught up with three of our judges, Sir Lenny Henry, Frank Cottrell-Boyce and Charlie Higson, who breakdown the marking criteria for 500 Words' stories. Play this short video (on the right) in class or at home to kickstart story writing.

There are more learning resources for ages 5-7 and 7-11, for you to use, to help breakdown story writing into a step by step process. Look out for interviews with authors Nathan Bryon and Elle McNicoll, exciting animations and learning content from our partners, World Book Day, Oxford University Press and Pobble.

The grand final for the 2024/25 competition will take place in February at Buckingham Palace, supported by Her Majesty The Queen.

50 finalists will be invited to the event where the six winners will be revealed and the stories will be read by superstar celebrities. You can catch up the highlights from the competition's 2023/24 final here.

Every story which is submitted (excluding the winners) will be entered into a random draw and one child will be invited to the final, along with their parent/carer. They will also receive a bundle of books and their school will receive 500 books, as well as a Literacy Wall Art installed by Promote Your School

We are excited to announce that singer-songwriter, Olivia Dean, has joined the official panel of judges. Olivia will be one of six judges to crown our next winners, joining Children's Laureate Frank Cottrell-Boyce, Sir Lenny Henry, Malorie Blackman, Francesca Simon and Charlie Higson.

Olivia said: “I’m so happy to be on the judging panel for this year’s ���˿��� 500 Words competition! It was such a special and inspiring moment getting to read one of last year’s winning stories. I can’t wait to read what the children’s imaginations have thought up this time around.”

Find out what makes our panel the perfect pick to judge 500 Words here.

50 shortlisted finalists will be invited to the grand final at Buckingham Palace in February and will receive a £20 National Book Token.

The gold, silver and bronze winners of both categories will win themselves a bundle of books:

• Gold winning stories will receive the height of Sir Lenny Henry in books
• Silver will win the height of Her Majesty The Queen in books
• Bronze winners will the average height of a child relevant to their age category in books

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

Each winning story will have a framed illustrated cover from Dapo Adeola, Nigel Parkinson, Lydia Monks, Momoko Abe, Rob Biddulph or Yasmeen Ismail.

These illustrations, along with their stories, will also be included in a special 500 Words winner's book, which will go home with each bronze, silver and gold winner, in both categories.

In case you missed it, catch up on the Live Lesson for the 2024/25 competition. Join presenters Joe Tasker and Shereen Cutkelvin, as they take your class on a journey inside a props warehouse, to discover how everyday objects can inspire epic stories.

Joining the lesson are our 500 Words judges; Charlie Higson, Francesca Simon and Frank Cottrell-Boyce, who offer their sound advice and inspiration to the next generation of story writers.

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 2023/24 competition with judges Sir Lenny Henry, Frank Cottrell-Boyce and Charlie Higson. Watch our judges explain the Oxford University Press report for children, to help them understand just how important their words are.

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?

To make 500 Words a success and reach children of all backgrounds and abilities, we are working with a host of partners who are bringing their expertise to help us deliver a fun and enjoyable competition, with wonderful prizes, that is accessible to all - so make sure your class gets writing!

You can find out more about our exciting partners here.

Need more inspiration?