It's that time of year when schools around the country are taking part in the BBC's 500 Words competition, but what does it entail, and how easy is it to take part? We've written a guide to help you understand how your school can benefit:
Key Information
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As experienced school leaders, we knew school leadership should be connected, creative, and inspiring – but it didn’t always feel that way. That’s why we created HeadteacherChat® – a vibrant, energising community where school leaders, senior staff, and planners come together to swap ideas, share their passion, and lift each other up. The BBC 500 Words Competition embodies so much of what we value: creativity, confidence, and the joy of learning. By taking part, we’re not just encouraging pupils to write – we’re uniting leaders and teachers in a shared mission to inspire young storytellers, celebrate their achievements, and make literacy a source of excitement across our schools. Together, we’re building something powerful: a connected way to lead where challenges turn into solutions, confidence grows, and the brilliant things happening in our classrooms are celebrated every single day.
Why does HeadteacherChat® support the 500 Words Competition?
Because storytelling is powerful. It builds confidence, fuels imagination, and helps children make sense of the world. Writing gives children a voice, and that matters.
We’ve seen how excited pupils become when they’re encouraged to write for the sheer joy of it. One of our favourite moments as teachers was listening to children eager to read us their stories. The magic of teaching stays with you forever.
The BBC 500 Words Evaluation Report 2025 confirms this impact:
“500 Words brings creativity, literacy, confidence building and enthusiasm into the classroom – ‘Fun for children taking part’ was a significantly increased reason for teachers to engage. With ‘encouraging creativity’, ‘building writing skills’ and ‘boosting an interest and enthusiasm for writing’ being highlighted as some of the educational benefits and reasons why teachers engaged and encouraged students to enter.” (500 Words Evaluation Report 2025)
What is the 500 Words Competition?
The BBC 500 Words Competition is the UK’s biggest writing competition for children. It invites children to write a story in 500 words or fewer on any topic they choose.
The competition aims to:
- Spark creativity and curiosity.
- Build confidence in writing.
- Encourage storytelling in every child.
Stories are judged on characterisation, plot, originality, language and enjoyment, and importantly, not spelling or grammar.
Watch:
500 Words: everything you need to know
Why should schools get involved?
- It celebrates a love of stories and writing across your school.
- It promotes the teaching of writing skills and helps children enhance their creative writing ability and enjoyment.
- It fosters creativity and encourages children to use their imagination to explore unique story ideas and concepts.
- It introduces children to the magic of a good story, allowing them to explore other worlds and ignite their imagination.
- It’s a great way to celebrate children’s writing and to showcase their work.
- It’s an opportunity to explore different genres such as adventure, mystery, fantasy and more.
- It’s accessible for all and actively promotes diversity and inclusion.
What schools are saying
“The children always love taking part in 500 Words. It's a great way to get the children engaged and enthusiastic about writing within a real project, with low stakes and big prizes. I'd recommend all heads to encourage their teachers to get involved…” Dave McPartlin, Headteacher
“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 and see to it that they are good, and this will also enable me to enrol more students.”
“The BBC 500 Words competition gives all young people the opportunity to write about a subject they care about without the usual shackles of accurate spelling, grammar and punctuation.”
“It really helps the children to express themselves through written word and exposes a lot of personal interests of theirs. It is also great to see children be really creative.”
“I think it is good for the children to take part in something that is external and makes a connection with the outside world and is relatable to them.”
What are the benefits?
- Start the beginning of the year by celebrating children’s writing and instilling a love of stories.
- Gain a snapshot of your children’s writing at the beginning of the school year.
- Schools with 50% free school meals (or higher) that submit entries will receive a £75 National Book Token. Once the competition closes on Friday 7 November, the BBC will notify eligible schools.
- Be a part of the incredible research being carried out by the Oxford University Press, who have collected almost a million stories since the competition began. Their research helps teachers understand what children are interested in – from politics to world events to celebrities and football – and how that is changing over time.
Can the whole school join in?
Yes! Whether it's one class or every pupil from Year 1 to Year 6 – the more, the better.
You’ll need to:
- Collect parental and pupil consent.
- Submit each entry via the BBC 500 Words site (any adult with access can do this).
Think of it as a brilliant way to show what your pupils are capable of.
How to get involved
- Decide which year groups will take part.
- Share the information with teachers.
- Kick it off with an assembly:
Watch the Live Lesson on BBC iPlayer, 24th September
How easy is it for teachers?
Very. Everything is ready to use:
- Full teaching packs and writing prompts.
- Guidance for submitting stories.
- Accessible resources for all year groups.
All teaching resources are ready to go. Just download them from the BBC website, here.
Extra ways to celebrate in school
- Host a story showcase or reading evening.
- Invite an author for a writing day.
- Set up a story display around the school.
- Let parents read and share their own childhood favourites.
- Tie the stories into your curriculum themes.
Useful links
Download a poster here:
500 Words Poster
Visit the website
https://www.bbc.co.uk/teach/500-words
Live Lessons
https://www.bbc.co.uk/teach/live-lessons/articles/zfqvmbk
Inspire Children to Write their Best Story:
https://www.bbc.co.uk/teach/topics/c25y4yjxw0kt
Learning Resources:
https://www.bbc.co.uk/teach/500-words/articles/zhvcnk7
FAQs
https://www.bbc.co.uk/teach/500-words/articles/zdntywx
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The competition closes at 9pm on Friday, 7 November 2025. For more details and to read the Terms and Conditions and Privacy Notices, go to bbc.co.uk/500words.
References
BBC 500 Words Competition
BBC Teach. BBC 500 Words: Everything you need to know. Retrieved August 2025 from https://www.bbc.co.uk/teach/500-words
BBC 500 Words Evaluation Report 2025
BBC Teach. 500 Words Evaluation Report 2025. Research conducted with teachers post 2025 campaign, benchmarked against data from 2023 and 2024.
Oxford University Press Research
Oxford University Press. Children’s Language and Storytelling Research. Retrieved August 2025 from https://global.oup.com/education
National Book Tokens Offer
School Library Association. 2024–2025 500 Words Story Competition Open. Retrieved August 2025 from https://www.sla.org.uk
© 2025 HeadteacherChat®. Portions of this document contain material reproduced with permission from the BBC, National Book Tokens, and Oxford University Press. “BBC 500 Words” and related content are trademarks and copyrighted works of the British Broadcasting Corporation. All rights reserved by their respective copyright holders. This document is for informational and educational purposes only and may not be reproduced, in whole or in part, without permission from the relevant copyright owners.
Updated 26th September 2025