Poetry By Heart 2025 launches

Look out for the launch of Poetry by Heart 2025 in October, a national poetry-speaking competition for schools and colleges, which supports students in developing confidence with poetry in an accessible and engaging way.

Registration, participation and competition entry are free for schools and colleges in England and the competition is open to all pupils in key stages 2 to 5 (ages 7-16+). 

Poet Imtiaz Dharker will launch England’s hugely popular national poetry speaking competition, Poetry By Heart, with a special event at Shakespeare's Globe Theatre on National Poetry Day, 3 October.

The Poetry by Heart poetry-speaking competition has now been running for a decade.  During 2024, over 111,000 pupils have taken part in the Poetry by Heart competition, learning poems by heart in their schools;  there were some 50,000 performances of a poem in school events;  and around 4,500 pupils entered the national competition, with over 800 pupils, parents and teachers celebrating their achievements at Shakespeare's Globe in July.

Schools that want to take part in the Poetry by Heart Competition 2025 should register via the Poetry by Heart website when the competition launches early in October. 

To enter, schools are invited to send filmed entries of their pupils performing a poem that has been chosen from the Poetry by Heart website.  Students can choose to enter the Classic category, with a solo performance of two Classic poems chosen from the website;  or to enter the Freestyle category, performing one poem solo or as a pair, small group or whole class.

The 2025 competition will launch on 3rd October, with finalists chosen to perform at Shakespeare's Globe in the summer of 2025.  Encouraging everyone to learn poetry by heart, poet Imtiaz Dharker says, "Once you have learned a poem it doesn't just live in your head, it lives in your heart for ever and keeps giving new gifts back to you. It can mean one thing to you when you are seven, and something quite different when you are seventeen or seventy. It's like having a superpower that will stay with you for the rest of your life."

150 young people from schools across the country will join Imtiaz in the Globe’s Sam Wanamaker Playhouse. Together, they will learn a poem, with guidance from Poetry By Heart's Julie Blake, and then recite it out loud. The audience will also enjoy readings by Imtiaz Dharker from her new book Shadow Reader (Bloodaxe Books) and be treated to performances by seven young people who will take to the stage themselves to perform poems, both classic and contemporary, they have chosen and learned by heart. "I gained confidence and found I love POETRY!!!" says young participant Joshua, of Chorley; "Students engage with a passion with poetry," says Julie Atkins, a teacher from South Yorkshire, "Taking part raises confidence and expressive abilities."  The young people are coming from schools in London, Devon, the West Midlands, Yorkshire and Essex.

Find out more, or send any questions, via the Poetry by Heart website.