Young Poet Laureate Programme
The Young Poet Laureate programme aims to inspire a new generation of young poets.
- Championing young poetic voices
- Celebrating poetry as an accessible, diverse and powerful form of expression
- Raising the profile of poetry in schools
- Developing children and young people’s literacy, creativity and confidence
- For children and young people aged 7 to 14 (KS2-KS3)
Created by National Poetry Centre in partnership with National Literacy Trust, and supported by Poet Laureate Simon Armitage, the programme provides children and young people with new opportunities to explore and discover poetry in their schools and communities. Schools will have access to free poetry workshops, online events, teacher training and resources for Key Stage 2 and Key Stage 3 pupils across the country.
This major new initiative, has been scaled up from the hugely successful West Yorkshire programme, championed by Mayor Tracy Brabin, thanks to continued support from West Yorkshire Combined Authority, alongside new funding from Arts Council England and the Charlotte Aitken Trust.
Our goal is to create a national movement of young poets that will raise the profile of poetry, engage diverse audiences and empower young people to express themselves creatively.
What does the programme involve?
Young Poets Week: 24 to 28 November 2025
The programme kicks off with the first ever Young Poets Week during 24 to 28 November, featuring online workshops with our brilliant programme Ambassadors: Laura Mucha and Nikita Gill (with more to be announced soon).
Young Poets Week is a new, weeklong celebration of poets and poetry for KS2 and KS3 pupils, connecting teachers and young people to some of our most exciting and best loved poets, to explore, read, write and perform poetry together.
Schools will have access to an inspirational toolkit of classroom materials developed by our expert team of resource writers based on our ethos of ‘everyone is a poet’.
Celebrate and explore poetry in all its exciting forms – from rhyming couplets to rap, sonnets to spoken word!
Young Poet Laureate Recruitment
An exciting new opportunity for young creative talent across the country will be launched during Young Poets Week. Young people will be invited to apply to be a Young Poet Laureate for their region.
In 2026, 120 young poets will then be shortlisted, published in our celebratory anthology and invited to attend a regional masterclass where they’ll receive support from professional poets before performing to a judging panel.
12 young poets (two per region, one aged 7 to 11, and one aged 11 to 14) will be appointed as a Young Poet Laureate for their region (North, Midlands, London, South-East and South-West of England, as well as West Yorkshire). These young people will receive mentoring from professional poets and a range of opportunities to take part in events to promote poetry, joining the national Poet Laureate, Simon Armitage, as champions for the role that poetry can play in public life.
Sign up to the programme here
If you are teaching in a primary (KS2) or secondary school (KS3) in England, sign up now to take part in the programme, which kicks off in the new academic year (key dates can be found below on this page). By registering, you’ll be on the list to receive detailed updates in the Autumn term about resources, online events, poet workshops in schools and the young laureate submissions process.
Key dates for your diary
30 September 4-4.30pm - Online teacher information session and Q&A about the programme - sign up here
24 to 28 November 2025 - Young Poets Week and launch of the Young Poet Laureate application process
19 January 2026 – Deadline for Young Poet Laureate submissions
March 2026 - Shortlist announcement
20 April to 8 May - Regional masterclasses and judging panels for shortlisted young poets
June 2026 – Announcement and appointing of the 12 Young Poets Laureate
June 2026 to June 2027 – Laureateship: Mentoring programme, publication of anthology, events and celebrations
"Poetry is something where one quiet voice can become a loud voice and can be heard..."
Year 10 pupil
Why is this important?
Our latest writing research for 2025 reveals that the downward trend in the number of children and young people writing for pleasure in the UK continues. Only 1 in 4 (26.6%) young people aged 8 to 18 say they enjoy writing in their free time. Daily writing habits have similarly declined, with just 1 in 10 (10.4%) writing something in their free time each day.
But the report also offers hopeful insights into how we might re-engage children and young people in writing for pleasure by looking at their motivations for writing. Even those children who don’t enjoy writing told us they would be motivated to write if they were able to choose their own topics, select their writing style, respond to inspiring prompts and draw inspiration from memorable experiences they wanted to share. This is exactly what we aim to achieve through the Young Poet Laureate programme, centring children and young people’s voices and experiences, choice and freedom of expression.
Furthermore, in 2024 we published poetry research that revealed the significant benefits poetry can have on children's mental wellbeing, confidence, aptitude for learning and their ability to develop empathy. Only 1 in 2 (48.8%) of 8 to 16 year olds are currently consuming or creating poetry in any form, meaning that over half of children and young people are missing out on these vital benefits. Our research reveals that the main barriers to engaging children with poetry is their feeling that it is boring or about topics that don't interest them. The Young Poet Laureate programme is a tailored solution-based offer to change children and young people's perception of poetry, to address their diverse interests and to offer low-stakes opportunities to enjoy poetry.
“Poetry makes people feel welcomed and important”
Year 8 pupil
Partner information
About National Poetry Centre
The National Poetry Centre is the UK's first dedicated national headquarters, connecting people to poetry from all cultures and backgrounds. A unique hub for awards, events, performances, exhibitions, workshops, open-mic nights, a library, archives, digital access and more, it is also a champion of poetry in schools, healthcare settings, community centres and public spaces across the country. Based in Leeds and guided by the vision of the Poet Laureate Simon Armitage, the National Poetry Centre has been created to support and celebrate poetry everywhere in the UK.
Supporters
We are grateful to support from Arts Council England, West Yorkshire Combined Authority and the Charlotte Aitken Trust.