Complete the form below to let us know that your school or organisation would like to be selected to take an active role in this year’s BBC Student Critics which will involve the following:
1) Receipt of a free copy of the 2026 BBC National Short Story Award anthology for each student.
2) Access to an online BBC Student Critics panel event where questions can be put to our panel of judges, shortlisted writers and friends of the award.
3) An opportunity to receive a visit from a shortlisted writer or a judge for this year’s BBC National Short Story Award, or BBC Young Writers’ Award
4) An opportunity for some students to attend the National Short Story Award/Young Writers' Award ceremony in London in September 2026
To sign up you need to be a member of staff at a secondary school, college, library, youth organisation or a home educator (parent or legal guardian) in the United Kingdom.
We recommend that the young people taking part in your group are between 16-18 years old. Please note that the stories shortlisted for the BBC National Short Story Award with Cambridge University may contain adult themes.
We reserve the right to seek the verification of any information you provide on this form.
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