“Time to Write” Creative Writing Competition for Schools (UK)

Categories 

• Writers in Years 3 and 4: 500 words
• Writers in Years 5 and 6: 650 words
• Writers in Years 7, 8, and 9: 750 words
• Writers in Years 10 and 11: 1000 words
• Note: Word counts are advised lengths and final submissions can be +/- 10%

Prize Information

• The prizes for each winner of a category are:
  • The story submitted will be turned into an illustrated book as defined by the Promoter.
  • A personalised hoodie as defined by the Promoter.
  • A spelling, grammar and punctuation thesaurus from OUP as defined by the Promoter.
  • Additional prizes may be announced and defined by the Promoter.
• The prizes for the two runners-up of a category are:
  • A one-page illustration concept based on their story as defined by the Promoter.
  • Prizes may be announced and defined by the Promoter
• The prizes for the school each winner attends/was entered by are:
  • A selection of OUP fiction and/or non-fiction books as defined by the Promoter.
  • A portable pen scanner as defined by the Promoter.
  • A digital workshop with author Sarah Bentley as defined by the Promoter.
  • Additional prizes may be announced and defined by the Promoter.
• All prizes are non-negotiable, no compensation is payable for competition entries or winners and there are no cash alternatives for the prizes.
• The Promoter reserves the right to present alternative prizes to winners and runners up located outside of the UK in order to solve challenges including delivery of physical products and/or availability of prizes.

Eligibility Criteria

• The competition is open to all pupils worldwide aged 7-16 years as of 2 February 2025, except:
  • employees of the Promoter or its holding or subsidiary companies;
  • employees of agents or suppliers of the Promoter or its holding or subsidiary companies, who are professionally connected with the competition or its administration; or
  • members of the immediate families or households of above.
• In entering the competition, you confirm that you are eligible to do so and the Promoter may require you to provide proof that you are eligible to enter the competition.
• The Promoter will not accept competition entries that are:
  • automatically generated by computer or created by artificial intelligence (including but not limited to chatbots such as ChatGPT or similar software applications);
  • completed by third parties or in bulk;
  • illegible, have been altered, reconstructed, forged or tampered with;
  • photocopies and not originals; or
  • incomplete.
• They are sorry but competition entries cannot be returned.
• The story submitted must be written by an individual and not by a writing pair or team.
• Writers may only submit one story. If more than one story is submitted, only the first story received will be accepted.
• The use of generative AI tools to create any part of an entry is not permitted and will lead to disqualification.
• The story must be a piece of original fiction – stories can reference historical figures and eras but cannot depict events that actually took place and cannot use details of any living person. Stories must not include any personal details about the writer and/or their families/friends/teachers/schools.
• Stories must be unpublished.
• Whilst creative writing often involves tackling challenging topics, the Promoter retains the right to disqualify or adapt any stories the judging panel feel are inappropriate for the category age group.

Judging Criteria

• Which story most creatively:
  • Makes accurate and varied use of vocabulary and language techniques
  • Conveys meaning through tone, style and register
  • Brings a story to life through character and/or theme
  • Uses structure and form to take the reader on a journey.

For more information, visit ISEB.