500 Words is back!

We are pleased to show our support for the BBC Radio 2 annual 500 Words creative writing competition. This is a great opportunity for children to demonstrate their creative writing abilities.

Each year, BBC Radio 2 runs the '500 Words' creative writing competition for children. The competition is divided into two age groups, the first aged 5-9 and the second aged 10-13. Children are invited to write their very best, most creative fictional story of no more than 500 words! Since it's fictional, children can let their imagination run wild.

Please support our work on creative writing and inspiring children to put pen to paper by encouraging your children to enter!

Need some inspiration?

There are plenty of resources on the BBC 500 Words pages to help you get started. You can ask the Alphabot to suggest some words, or check out some of the winning entries from last year.

How To Enter

We encourage all entrants with the help of or their parent or carer to read the contest rules which explain the conditions of entry and some other points specific to children entering the competition. There are a few important things to note about the story too - for example, it's okay to use real world public figures from the past or present, but the story they appear in must be entirely fictional.

Still need persuading?

Here's a very enthusiastic Chris Evans and friends to tell you more: