About 500 Words –
BBC Radio 2 run an online 500 words competition.
500 Words is the UK’s most successful short story-writing competition for children between the ages of 5 and 13. It was launched back in 2011, after Chris Evans had a dream. He dreamt of getting children excited about reading and writing. All children: no matter what their ability, experience, or background. It’s super simple. All entrants must pen an original story, no more than 500 words in length, and submit it online. It can be about ANYTHING you want – space-ships, grannies, insects, time travel. The list is endless!
Stories are judged anonymously, without regard to grammar, punctuation or spelling.
Who can enter 500 words?
500 Words is open to any child who is aged between 5 and 13 years old on 12th June 2020, and is a full time resident of the UK. The competition celebrates imagination and creativity – not spelling and grammar! – so all children of all abilities are invited to enter.
How to enter?
We can only accept entries that have been submitted through our online form, using a registered 500 Words account. Parents, guardians can create a SUBMITTER ACCOUNT HERE. Entrants must follow steps 1-6 on the submission form to save their story as a draft, before submitting.
If you have already registered for a submitter account – log in HERE
Please don’t leave registration to the last minute!
Stories can be copied and pasted into the submission form within the account (please read our Rules regarding this) or stories can be saved as drafts along the way.
What happens next?
Once stories have been submitted entrants will be able to download a 500 Words certificate to celebrate their achievement!
We’ll be in touch in April to let submitters know whether their stories have made it through the first round of judging.
Get writing, and good luck!