Young Poet Laureate Programme
About the programme
Created by National Poetry Centre in partnership with National Literacy Trust, and supported by Poet Laureate Simon Armitage, the Young Poet Laureate programme provides children and young people with new opportunities to explore and discover poetry in their schools and communities.
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)
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.
Download poetry toolkits and resources
Find everything you need to support Young Poets Week here. Download poetry toolkits and resources, access teacher briefing and sign up to our events.
The Young Poet Laureate opportunity
Young Poet Laureate submissions are now open! Use the form below to help your students apply to become a young poet laureate for their region.
Key information
How to apply:
A member of school staff will need to upload their students' applications using the form below. Each student will need to submit a word document which includes:
- A personal statement explaining why they would like to be a young poet laureate for their region (max 200 words)
- An original poem (max 40 lines)
More information can be found in the terms and conditions document below.
Shortlisting stages:
120 shortlisted young poets will be announced in March and their work will be published in our celebratory anthology. All shortlisted students will be invited to take part in a regional masterclass (must be accompanied by a member of school staff) where they’ll receive support from professional poets, before performing to a judging panel. The regional judging panels will select their regions' two laureates.
Final stage:
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). The laureateship will run for a year (June 2026 - July 2027).
The appointed laureates will receive mentoring from professional poets and a range of opportunities to write for commission and perform at events to promote poetry, joining the national Poet Laureate, Simon Armitage, as champions for the role that poetry can play in public life.
Timeline:
- 19 January 2026 – Deadline for Young Poet Laureate submissions
- March 2026 - The 120 shortlisted young poets will be announced
- 20 April to 8 May 2026 - Regional masterclasses and judging panels take place
- June 2026 – Announcement and appointment of the 12 Young Poet Laureates
- June 2026 to July 2027 – Laureateship: Mentoring programme, publication of anthology, events and celebrations
Submit your students' applications to apply for the young poet laureate post
Use the form below to submit your students' applications to become a Young Poet Laureate for their region
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, Nikita Gill,Karl Nova and Zohab Zee Khan.
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.
Celebrate and explore poetry in all its exciting forms – from rhyming couplets to rap, sonnets to spoken word!
"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.
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.
“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.