Frequently asked questions

< 500 Words < Everything about 500 Words

500 Words is a story writing competition for children.

This the two age for the 2024/25 categories were 5-7 and 8-11 year-olds. To enter, children needed to write a story that they would love to read which was no more than 500 words.

Children needed to be the relevant age for the age category on the closing date 8 November 2024 and be living in the UK.

The stories, once written by the children, must be submitted by an adult using the entry form on the 500 Words website.

Please note all stories must be typed and submitted by an adult through our website, as we can only accept story entries that have been submitted through our website.

When was the competition open?

The competition was open from 08:00 on Tuesday 24 September until 21:00, Friday 8 November 2024 - we are no longer taking submissions. The grand final took place in February 2025.

Does the story have to be exactly 500 words?

No, the story does not have to be 500 words exactly, it can be less. It cannot go over 500 words though, if it does then it won't be accepted.

How did we come about 5-7 and 8-11 year-olds as our age categories?

We consulted teaching professionals and they agreed that 500 Words is a cleaner fit with the primary school curriculum, where cross-subject activations such as ours are a part of everyday life.

In an ideal world with limitless funds, we would run an enormous 500 Words competition with lots of age categories that everyone could enter with a good chance of winning. But sadly, this is not possible, so we have selected two age categories that we feel can be reasonably compared to each other.

Why is spelling, punctuation and grammar not important for 500 Words?

500 Words celebrates children's creativity - and ever since the competition began, we've encouraged entries from children of all abilities, without the added pressure of spelling, punctuation and grammar.

Can children of active service men or women who live abroad enter?

We would love all children whose parents are active service men or women to be able to enter 500 Words wherever they live but unfortunately due to legal and technical reasons anyone who enters has to be living in the UK, the Channel Islands or the Isle of Man. We are exploring whether this can change for future competitions, particularly where those children follow the UK curriculum.

Does the story have to be original?

The story has to be a child’s original work - they must not copy someone else's story, tv programme or film. Any entry deemed to be a copy by our judges will be disqualified.

The story must be an original piece of fiction and not an account of real events – either historical or current.

However, the stories can:

• Feature well known public figures from today or from history (e.g. Harry Kane or Neil Armstrong)
• Take place in historical eras (e.g. Roman Britain)
• Use real life experiences as a creative springboard as long as the story is fictional

Are story entries checked for AI?

Every story needs to be written by a child and completely original - we will not accept the use of AI during the creation, writing or development of stories. As part of the submission process, the stories need to be submitted by an adult, teacher or parent/guardian, sports club leader or community group leader. As part of the submission process, the person submitting needs to tick that they have read and agreed to the terms and conditions which states that: "All entries must be the original work of the entrant and most not infringe the rights of any other party. In addition, the use of generative AI tools to create any part of the entry is not permitted and will lead to disqualification." As part of the judging process, the stories will be checked for plagiarism. The 50 finalists will be verified by a member of the 500 Words team, which will include confirming that it is the child’s own work.

Can a child write a story with a friend?

Each story must be written by one person.

Can a child write about a character from a book they've read?

Entrants can use fictional or real-life characters, as a creative springboard but we're looking for made-up stories, which will be marked for characterisation, as well as originality, plot, language and enjoyment!

Is there a minimum word limit?

Stories must be 500 words or under. There is no lower limit.

Is the title included in the word limit?

The title will not be included in the word count.

Does the story have to be written in prose?

All entries need to be written in the form of a story and not as a rap, poem, play or dialogue etc. This will make it fairer when marking all entries as they will be in the same format.

Can the stories be written in Welsh/Gaelic?

All stories must be submitted in English as they will be judged in English and having consulted with Welsh language experts, we’re wary that some of the creative ideas and narrative intent may get lost in translation.

Can the stories be written in braille?

All stories must be typed and submitted in English via the 500 Words website. Unfortunately, we are unable to accept stories written in braille, but strongly encourage visually impaired students to enter the competition.

How do I submit stories?

You can sign-up to submit your stories when the competition is open via the 500 Words website.

When was the 500 Words final?

The 500 Words final took place in February 2025.

Can I go to the 500 Words final?

in 2024/25, our 50 shortlisted finalists receive a pair of tickets to the final (for the entrant and a parent or guardian). Once the judges had chosen the winners, each child who submitted a story was entered into a random draw to go to the final with a parent/guardian. The random draw entrant's school also received 500 books and a Literacy Wall Art installed by Promote Your School.

As a thank you, the volunteer judges were also entered into a random draw, with one judge receiving a pair of tickets to the final.

What is the prize for 500 Words?

Each finalist in 2024/25 received a £20 National Book Token. The bronze, silver and gold winners all received bundles of books, with the gold winners also winning 500 books for their school.

The bronze, silver and gold winners also took home a framed illustration of their story, created by a top children's illustrator. The illustrations were also included in a 500 Words winners' book, alongside their story.

If my child is home schooled, are they still able to enter and if they win, would they get books for themselves and 500 books for a school?

500 Words is open to all children, whether they are in a formal school or are home schooled. If a child who is home schooled wins the gold prize, they would receive the advertised prize for individual winners. However, any additional prizes for schools are only for children who go to a formal school.

Do the stories have to be typed?

All stories need to be typed and not sent in by post or handwritten. They must be then submitted via our website. To submit stories you must be signed up as a submitter, to sign up as submitter which you can do once the competition has formally opened. If you have already signed up as a submitter, click here to login. The reason why we only accept stories submitted through our website is due to the volume of stories which 500 Words traditionally receives and the sophisticated system used to run the competition and allocate the stories to thousands of judges.

Can you include emojis in the story?

Please avoid using any emojis in the story - they can cause an issue when uploading the story and parts of the story could be missed.

Can visually impaired students enter?

We’ve had a great success rate among visually impaired students previously, including a finalist! Should your student win, we will make sure that the prize is appropriate.

Is the competition appropriate for children with special needs or learning disabilities?

Ever since the inception of 500 Words, the competition's aim has been to get all children excited about reading and writing, no matter what their ability. If your child struggles to write, then give one of these other options a go, as another way of creating their 500 Words story.

The emphasis of 500 Words - which we communicate to absolutely all of our judges at every stage - is on originality and a WOW factor. To this end, we would like to think that children with special educational needs could still be selected to progress.

We do also work closely with a variety of organisations on subjects like dyslexia and learning disabilities and our marketing campaign is weighted towards schools with high pupil premium. We have worked with about 20,000 schools so far on this competition, a lot of whom teach the competition in schools. We've had a number of medal winners with learning disabilities, and many more among our finalists. Increasing the diversity of our finalists is a constant fight, but we are working very hard on it.

Can people overseas enter?

While we would love to extend the reach of 500 Words, we already are a huge competition - we received 44,000 entries in 2024. We're only a small team working on the competition, so you can imagine that we currently don't have capacity to do so!

We would love all children whose parents are active service men or women to be able to enter 500 Words wherever they live but unfortunately due to legal and technical reasons anyone who enters has to be living in the UK, the Channel Islands or the Isle of Man. The BBC are exploring whether this can change for future competitions, particularly where those children follow the UK curriculum.

Can a story be submitted without an adult’s approval?

No, we need an adult to approve the entry and agree to these Terms and Conditions (including the BBC’s use of the story submitted and the fictional nature of the story) on behalf of the entrant, by way of a check-box in the online form. The adult could be the child’s parent, guardian or teacher, their sports club leader or a community group leader. In cases where it is not the child's parent who is submitting the story, they must have the consent of their parent or guardian.

The adult must provide their own contact details (not the child’s) and the region in which the child lives. They will also be asked to provide the name of the child's school and their date of birth.

Can a close relative of a BBC employee or anyone associated with the competition enter?

As per the terms and conditions for BBC 500 Words, close relatives of BBC employees may not enter the competition. Close relatives of our official 500 Words partners, or anyone connected with the competition or the particular prizes being offered, may not enter the competition either.

If I’ve missed the submission deadline, can still I enter?

Unfortunately, once the 9pm deadline on Friday 8 November 2024 has passed, entries were not accepted.

Can a child submit more than one story?

Only one story may be entered per child and it has to be all the child’s own work. If you enter more than one story for a child then we'll only consider the first submission as part of the competition.

Can an adult correct the spelling of a child's story?

You may correct spelling where the meaning of the word might otherwise be misconstrued. However, we ask that none of the words used are changed. Grammar also has to stay the same. Stories are marked on their creative use of language, not on correct spelling.

May I scribe for my child?

You may scribe for your child, as long as none of the words used are changed. Stories are marked on their creative use of language, not on correct spelling.

What are the criteria for judging the stories?

Entries will be judged on the following criteria:

• Originality
• Plot
• Characterisation
• Language
• Enjoyment

How are the stories marked?

The first round of judging is done by thousands of volunteer teachers, teaching assistants and librarians from across the UK. Registration for volunteer judging will is currently closed.

At least 5000 stories will go through to the second round. You will be notified if your submission has progressed to this stage. The second round of judging will be done by trained professionals at The Reading Agency, who will whittle down our stories to produce our shortlist.

The writers of these stories will be the competition’s finalists who will attend the grand final - once they have been verified by our 500 Words team.

Our final judging panel will convene once the stories have been verified and decide on the six winning stories, bronze, silver and gold in each age category.

Who can apply to be a volunteer judge?

Anyone who is a teacher, teaching assistant, SEN staff or librarian (in training or current) and is a full time resident of the UK (including the Channel Islands and the Isle of Man) can apply to be a volunteer judge as part of 500 Words.

You will be asked to supply contact details of someone who can validate your application.

I am interested in being a judge but I have not registered my interest – am I too late?

Registration is currently closed.

Can teaching assistants or trainee teachers apply?

We're happy to confirm that we welcome volunteer judge applications from teaching assistants and trainee teachers. If you've got the qualifications or experience to assess the written work of children, aged 5-11, then you can be a judge.

Why can only teachers or librarians apply?

We need our volunteer judges to have the experience of assessing children’s written work, because we’re relying upon them to bring this expertise to the first stage of our competition.

The question we ask is whether they’re able to 'assess the written work of children aged 11 and under?'. We receive thousands of requests to judge for the competition, and are delighted to receive them. However, we need a point of qualification or comparison by which to say that our judges definitely are eligible to mark our stories, experience in marking children’s work is crucial.

My child or class is entering the competition, can I become a judge?

Parents or teachers of children entering the competition are very much welcome to sign-up to be a judge. We use a complex database which assigns stories to judges from a region different to their own, so there shouldn’t be any crossover.

Who can validate my application?

This should be a manager (e.g. Head Teacher, Deputy, or Head of Department) who can vouch for your professional eligibility and confirm they are happy for you to volunteer your time.

If you are on a career-break, please use your last employer or someone you deem qualified to vouch for you

If you are having trouble getting someone to verify you get in touch with the 500 Words administrators at [email protected].

When does the first round judging period take place?

The first round of judging for 500 Words 2024/25 took place once the competition has closed to entries, from 11 November to Wednesday 11 December 2024. More information around the next competition will be announced soon.

When will I get my first story to mark?

For the 2024/25 competition, volunteer judges received their first stories on Monday 11 November 2024, after the competition has closed for entries on Friday 8 November 2024.

How many stories will a judge be asked to mark?

Volunteer judges will be asked to read a batch of 10 stories. Each one will be no more than one A4 side. You can request more stories if you want to mark more than 10.

As a volunteer judge can I come to the 500 Words final?

All teachers, teaching assistants and librarians taking part in the judging are entered into a random draw to attend the final. One volunteer judge and guest will be chosen.

The story contains harmful/distressing themes, what should I do?

You can flag the story for harmful content. When you’re marking a story, if you scroll down, there’s a red button which says ‘report story’. Click on the button and enter a few details on why you want to report the story. It will then flag the story to the 500 Words team.

I think the story is plagiarised, what should I do?

Follow the steps for harmful content. There is a plagiarised option on the form.

I won’t have time to mark all the stories, what should I do?

We understand life gets in the way and you might not have time to mark all the stories, you can hand back stories you won't have time to mark and we can re-distribute them to other judges. We just ask you do this, as early as possible to give the 500 Words team more time to distribute them back out.

Need further help?

If you have a question that we haven't answered above, you can contact the 500 Words team on [email protected].

Please add a subject into your email headline regarding your query eg: prizes, judges, password reset.

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