Unlock Your Writing Potential: Students in Our Writing Competition Preparation Class Are More Likely to Secure Awards
1. What is the Foyle Young Poets Award?
Hosted by The Poetry Society since 1998, the Foyle Young Poets of the Year Award is an annual poetry writing competition for middle and high school students. Foyle is the largest poetry competition for this age group and one of the oldest. Last year, the contest saw over 6,700 applicants with only 100 recognized winners, making the Foyle Award highly prestigious. While this contest is based in the UK with an awards ceremony in England, the Foyle Young Poets Award welcomes international participants from across the world. Middle and high school students with a passion and special talent for poetry writing should consider entering the Foyle Young Poets Award.
2. How to Submit to the Foyle Young Poets Award
The Foyle Young Poets Award contest rules are very open-ended and accommodating to all types of poetry and applicants.
Poem Requirements:
- All genres and styles of poetry are welcome.
- The word limit for each poem is 40 lines. You may submit as many poems as you’d like; however, it’s recommended that you spend extra time perfecting one instead of writing multiple.
- Poems must be written by yourself as the sole author. Collaboration is prohibited.
- Poems must be unpublished, meaning your submitted poems have never been printed in anthologies, school newsletters, online blogs, social media, or similar creative publications. Poems cannot have won any other competition.
- Poems must be written in English with short phrases in another language allowed.
- Winners must provide a biography, photograph, permission form, and proof of age.
3. Who Is Eligible to Enter the Foyle Young Poets Award?
Anyone between the ages of 11-17 (by July 31, 2025) is eligible to enter the poetry contest. Minors aged 11-12 must provide proof of parental permission. Participants from all countries and schools are encouraged to enter. There are no requirements around school enrollment. Your school does not need to be a partner with The Poetry Society for students to participate in the competition. Before submitting, review submission requirements in detail to ensure your entry is not disqualified.
4. When is the Foyle Young Poets Award?
The submission deadline is July 31, 2025, at midnight BST (6:00 PM Eastern Time) for the upcoming Foyle Young Poets Award. Winners will be notified in the fall of 2025 and invited to an Award Ceremony in England.
Free entry to submit to the Foyle Young Poets Award, however, travel fees to the Award Ceremony are not covered by contest hosts. Submit your poem(s) online through the official website for the Foyle Young Poets of the Year Award 2025. Double-check the midnight BST / 6:00 PM ET deadline for your time zone. Note that UK daylight savings begin on March 30, 2025.
90% of Aralia Students Win Awards in Poetry Contests
5. Why Submit to the Foyle Young Poets of the Year Award?
The Foyle Young Poets Award competition is very prestigious, with high competition and low acceptance rates. With over 6,700 applicants from last year and only 100 awards given, the acceptance rate for Foyle Young Poets contest is an incredible 1.5%. Of the 100 recognized poets, 15 top winners are recognized for the prestigious Foyle Young Poets of the Year Award with an acceptance rate of 0.22%. With that being said, the Foyle Young Poets Award contest is recommended for experienced student poets, since non-winners do not receive feedback on their submissions. If you are interested in starting poetry, take a look at 15 Poetry Contests for High School Students.
The Foyle Young Poets Award (with its age limit providing a more level playing ground) is an excellent opportunity for skilled middle and high school students interested in poetry to compete fairly, amongst a similar age group, for a chance to shine! Previous winners of the Foyle Young Poets Award have gone on to become decorated, well-respected poets, including Jay Bernard, Sarah Howe, Helen Mort, Phoebe Power, Caroline Bird, Mukahang Limbu, Richard O’Brien. Click on each award-winning poet to read their work.
Publish Your Poetry in Print
Winners of the Foyle Young Poets of the Year Award receive their prizes at a ceremony at the end of the year. Of the thousands of applicants, the top 15 winners are selected to attend a week-long intensive residential writing mentorship course by Arvon. Read about the 2023 winners’ retreat in England. These top 15 winners will have their work published in the annual Foyle Young Poets Anthology, a notable publication read by innumerable poets, students, and teachers around the world. Additionally, 85 commended poets will be recognized, with their work exhibited alongside the winners in an online anthology with an even larger audience. All 100 winners, top 15 and 85 commended poets included, will receive a year-long youth membership of The Poetry Society and a coveted collection of books selected by prestigious publishers. All entrants will receive an e-certificate for participating in the Foyle Young Poets of the Year Award.
Above all, The Poetry Society’s paid internship program is the best perk of being a Foyle Young Poet Award winner. The summer internship experience “offers emerging arts professionals opportunities to gain skills and experience, and contribute to shaping our young poets’ programmes.” Check back for details on the upcoming summer internship for 2025 Foyle Young Poet winners.
6. Prepare for the Foyle Young Poets Award
Before you start writing your poems for the contest, get to know the previous winners and the current judges of the Foyle Young Poet of the Year Award. Read winning pieces by Foyle Young Poets of the Year 2024. Watch the 2023 Award Ceremony for the Foyle Young Poet Award.
For the 2025 season, the Foyle Young Poets judges are Colette Bryce and Will Harris. Will advises applicants to, “not worry about what’s good, or even true, but more about what’s strange and awkward, which defies paraphrase or understanding, like the kind of thing you might sew into a beach ball and throw off the Eiffel Tower, or place in an ancient stone bell to be discovered three thousand years from now.” Hear award-winning poet Mona Arshi’s advice to applicants of the Foyle Young Poets Award 2022. For more helpful resources and tips, check out The Poetry Society’s YouTube.
Here is the 2024 top 15 winning poem titled, “A Ballad for Cleo.” Learn more about Juliana’s inspiration.
Practice for the Foyle Young Poets Award:
Explore Young Poets Network’s writing challenges, poetry opportunities, and tips and advice for middle and high school student writers. For example, a currently open challenge is Write a poem that breaks the rules. Challenges can be filtered by topic, such as nature, identity, illness, joy, and much more. For each past challenge, you can read the top 3 winning poems and commended poems. This will give you a good idea of what Foyle Young Poets Awards is looking for. Even if a challenge is closed, you can practice writing your own poem for the topic and compare.
7. Take a Poetry class with Aralia Education
Another great option to prepare for poetry competitions is to take Aralia Education’s contest preparation course, specifically designed to help students ace the Foyle Young Poets Award. Our focus on small-group mentorship and tailored feedback ensures that each student maximizes their potential. Learn more about how our poetry class can help you!
Writing Competition – Summer
This class is offered in the summer every year. Students from 13 to 19 years old wanting to learn how to shape their written English into effective and publishable creative pieces will find this particular Writing Competition course very exciting. The class will be shown a range of tools to learn the nuances of controlled, purposeful writing, including: figurative language, effective structuring and specific forms that they will apply to their own pieces.
