The 2026 Young Writers Competition is now open!
Our theme is The Light.
It is open to all students from KS1 to Sixth Form.
You can find writing resources, guidelines and templates below, and the form to order free materials for your school.
To get involved, email our Schools’ Liaison Fran Baxter through [email protected]
Resources
Here are all the resources you will need to get involved with our Young Writers Competition:
We have provided editable PowerPoints of Writing Resources for your students with story prompts, image banks, reading recommendations and a special launch video from MC Grammar!
Teachers, please refer to the Guidelines for information on entry. Please note: the process for entry has changed this year.
You can also request free promotional stickers, bookmarks and posters to be delivered to your school.
STICKERS & BOOKMARKSClick to find out more
We are always looking for ways to improve and increase the reach of our year-round literacy programme.
This year, we have made some exciting changes to help teachers and students, including extending our deadline and creating a Writing Resources pack with writing prompts, an image bank and tips from bestselling children’s authors. Packs will be emailed to all schools who have previously taken part and teachers can email our Schools Liaison to receive theirs.
Read more about the improvements we made this year below.
Improvements to YWCBenefits of Creative Writing
These are just four of th
e brilliant reasons young people aged between five and 18 gave The National Literacy Trust ’s Annual Literacy survey for why they write. At Wimbledon BookFest we know creative writing is not just fun, it’s an incredibly powerful tool that can help children develop critical thinking skills, creativity and power their imaginations, as well as improving their reading comprehension, grasp of spelling, grammar and punctuation, and communication skills.
It’s why we launched Wimbledon BookFest’s Young Writers Competition.
Read some more great reasons for your school to participate in this year’s competition.
Benefits of WritingJuniors category
There are two prizes – one for stories and one for poetry – for each of the Key Stages below.
Word count is 100 words (Minimum) 500 words (Maximum)
- Key Stage 1 – years 1 & 2
- (Lower) Key Stage 2 – years 3 & 4
- (Upper) Key Stage 2 – years 5 & 6
- There is also a separate category for SEN Schools taking part.
Teachers are asked to select and submit a maximum of 3 entries per category.
(i.e. 3 poems and 3 short stories per Key Stage per school).
Seniors category
There are two prizes – one for stories and one for poetry – for each of the Key Stages below. Word count is 100 words (Minimum) 500 words (Maximum)
- Key Stage 3 – years 7, 8 ,9
- Key Stage 4- years 10 & 11
- Key Stage 5 – years 12 & 13
- There is also a separate category for SEN Schools taking part.
Teachers are asked to select and submit a maximum of 3 entries per category.
(i.e. 3 poems and 3 short stories per Key Stage per school).
Every child that is shortlisted by their school will receive a certificate. 
Winning and highly commended stories and poems will be published in the Wimbledon BookFest’s Anthology of Stories and Poems.
All winners/runner ups plus two guests will be invited to a prize giving event where they will receive a their certificate and a copy of the Wimbledon BookFest’s Anthology their work has been published in.
One lucky overall competition winner (from either the Junior or Senior category) will win an iPad.
All state schools that enter the competition and have their children’s work printed in the anthology will receive 2 free copies for their library.
All entries must be use Wimbledon BookFest’s Entry Form Template, which you can download below.
Entries can only be submitted by teachers/schools once they have screened all their entries internally. Unfortunately we cannot accept independent entries.
They MUST be typewritten and in WORD format (no PDFs/pictures please). Please refer to the Guidelines on how to name and submit entries.
Once we have received your submission, we will send a confirmation email. If you do not receive this email, please contact us.
If you experience difficulties submitting through SharePoint, you can email entries to Fran Baxter, Schools Liaison Officer at [email protected]
Deadline: 8 May 5pm
SUBMISSION FORM WRITING TEMPLATE
2025…The Legend
Our Young Writers Competition theme was The Legend. Our overall winner was Ana Gumende of Ursuline High School.
JUNIOR ANTHOLOGY SENIOR ANTHOLOGY
2024…The Game
In 2024, we were inspired by the Paris Olympics and our Young Writers Competition theme was The Game. Our overall winner was Justin Brown of Melrose School, Mitcham.
JUNIOR ANTHOLOGY SENIOR ANTHOLOGY
2022…The Tree
We were inspired by the timeless symbol of The Tree. Our overall winner was Sara Arshad, from Southfields Academy.
Read 2022’s winning stories and poetry from the senior category Read 2022’s winning stories and poetry from the junior category
2021… My Name is
Overall winner: Jonathan Esenga, Raynes Park High School
Read 2021’s winning stories and poetry from the junior category Read 2021’s winning stories and poetry from the senior category View video of poet Sophia Thakur reading the winning poem
