Poetry speaking competition Poetry by Heart 2026 opens for entries

Poetry By Heart, a national poetry speaking competition, opens today, National Poetry Day, 2 October 2025, with a call to all schools in England to sign up - and with a preview of Poetry By Heart: the Movie, the inspiring new feature film documentary following schools as they enter the competition.

Poetry By Heart invites young people to choose a poem they love, learn it by heart, and perform it out loud. Age categories for the competition include 7+, 11+, 14+ and 16+. Schools hold internal competitions to select their own winners, with the best from each region invited to a Grand Finale at Shakespeare's Globe, London, next summer to compete for the title of national champion.

Find out how to register for Poetry By Heart

Taking part in Poetry By Heart is all about developing confidence with poetry in an enjoyable, accessible and engaging way, says the organisation. Registration, participation and competition entry are free for schools and colleges in England. There are also resources available on the Poetry By Heart website, to support teaching and learning about poetry - by heart and out loud, and with plenty of choice for young people to explore poems and find the ones they love.

Over 1,600 schools took part in Poetry By Heart 2025; 128,000 young people performed a poem by heart out loud for others; and over 4,300 were entered into the competition final. The Grand Finale of this year's competition will be hosted at Shakespeare's Globe. on Monday, 6 July, 2026.

Key dates 2025/2026
Poetry By Heart opens - Thursday 2 October 2025
2026 competition closes - Thursday 2 April 2026
2026 finalist announcement - Thursday 30 April 2026
2026 Grand Finale - 6 July 2026 Shakespeare's Globe, London

Poetry By Heart: The Movie

Poetry By Heart has also created a new documentary feature film which showcases the competition's impact. Poetry By Heart: The Movie is a celebration of the power of choosing, learning and sharing poetry. The feature film will be released in 2026.

Poetry By Heart has worked with an independent production company run by producer Fern Scott to create the feature film documentary about the nation's biggest poetry recitation competition, following teachers and children in schools across the country as they choose poems that speak to them, learn them by heart, perform them out loud for friends and classmates, and finally experience the thrill of performing at Shakespeare's Globe.

The film showcases the surprising impact that Poetry By Heart has had on young people: from poetry being used to create unity in challenging environments, to encouraging young people to explore and manage their emotions, and giving them a life-long love of the spoken word. It features freestyle entries and moving classic performances. It records pupils staying after school on Fridays just to be a part of poetry club; and stars teachers and pupils as they practice their poems, run competitions and perfect their video submissions.

"National Poetry Day proves that poetry belongs everywhere", said Dr Julie Blake, co-founder and co-director of Poetry By Heart, "but it has a special place in schools. As revealed in our movie, teachers and the young people who take part in Poetry By Heart understand the joy, satisfaction and deep learning that comes from knowing a poem by heart.

"Our film shows that learning poetry by heart is enjoyable and transformative; it illustrates the confidence gained in performing a poem for others, and the development of skills related to oracy. It shows how, by engaging with a poem's meanings, developing their own personal response and crafting their performance of a poem for others, pupils understand poetry better and enjoy it more. It's also full of the sheer joy of learning and speaking poetry.

"We urge all schools to sign up now for Poetry By Heart. It doesn't have to be a big undertaking but however you choose to take part, the impact will be huge."

Background to Poetry By Heart

Poetry By Heart was co-founded by Andrew Motion (Co- Director of The Poetry Archive) and Dr Julie Blake (Co-Director of The Full English and Education Director of The Poetry Archive) in February 2012. Since 2016 Poetry by Heart has been directed by The Full English.

Poetry By Heart is funded with the support of the Department for Education. The direction of Poetry By Heart is supported by the Poetry By Heart consortium, which includes Homerton College University of Cambridge, the Poetry Society, the English Association, CLPE (Centre for Literacy in Primary Education), Shakespeare's Globe, Oxford English Dictionary, the Poetry Archive, the Forward Arts Foundation and NATE (National Association for the Teaching of English), which all have a commitment to promoting opportunities for children and young people to have deep engagement with literature, and in particular poetry.

www.poetrybyheart.org.uk @poetrybyheart  #PoetryByHeart