Our historical fiction competition has gone from strength to strength and each year we are so impressed by the number and standard of entries we receive around such a wide range of historical periods and settings. You can take a look at some of our past entries in the additional links.

One of the key attributes of historical fiction is that it has a convincing setting in a past time and place. Students can set their stories in ANY* period or place in the past, so the story can fit in with and extend any historical topic you may be studying. Winning students will each receive a cash prize of £25 and an engraved Bath Aqua Blue glass paperweight. Schools will receive a year's FREE subscription to the HA.
*While we encourage and accept stories from a wide variety of periods and settings, we recognise that some periods and topics carry sensitivities that do not lend themselves easily to fictionalised accounts.
1. Across Years 5 and 6 there will be two prizes for the best individual story.
2. Across Years 7, 8 and 9 there will be three prizes for the best individual story. Individual stories indicate a story written by an individual student who is part of a whole class or year group who are all writing historical stories.
3. NEW CATEGORY: Across Years 10,11, 12 and 13 there will be three prizes for best individual story.
4. There is also a prize for the best fictional historical character in a convincing historical setting. Three prizes will be on offer here across all year groups.
There is no word limit - the entries we receive each year vary from a single page to a more detailed tale told through several 'mini-chapters' and running to several A4 pages. Some young writers like to include an illustration or a 'cover' page, and that's OK too. As a rough guide, we'd suggest a maximum of around 3000 words, but entries with a higher or lower word count will be accepted.