A Short Story Competition for Secondary School Students in Ireland
Quick answer: A short story competition for secondary school students in Ireland that reports back to every entrant: Writory's monthly contest is open from age 13, costs $8 for a story of 100 to 3,000 words in English, Irish or any other language, and is judged blind. Every entrant receives a certificate and a score out of 100.
Open from age 13, so from Second Year through Sixth Year and any First Year who has had their birthday, at $8 a story. Entries close on 25 November 2026 at 11:59 PM IST, and every entrant receives a certificate and a score out of 100 with all five marks on 30 November 2026, whatever the result.
Who can enter from an Irish school, and how the fee is paid
The floor is 13 with no ceiling, which takes in Second Year through Sixth Year and First Years who have had their birthday. There is no schools category and no separate junior prize; a Transition Year student and a working novelist are read in the same blind pool. Stories of 100 to 3,000 words qualify in any genre, and a story written in Irish is read in Irish, not through a translation. Entry is online at /submit-story.
Payment is in US dollars through PayPal: $8 for one story, $14 for two, $25 for five. There is no euro price, so an Irish card is charged at that day's rate, and most students under 18 have a parent pay at the point of submission. Any $100 prize can be paid to a parent's or guardian's account. Schools cannot pay in bulk for the story contest; each entry is paid as it goes in.
Deadlines keep Indian Standard Time. Entries close at 11:59 PM IST, which is 6:29 PM in Ireland during Greenwich Mean Time and 7:29 PM during Irish Summer Time; the first round closes on 25 November 2026 at 11:59 PM IST, with results and certificates on 30 November 2026. Nothing about you travels with the manuscript: no name, no school, no county, no year group.
The certificate and the score, honestly, beside the Junior and Leaving Cert
The certificate carries your name and the contest month and arrives whether you win or not. It is not a State qualification, it carries no CAO points and no Department of Education recognition, and it should be described as an award only if you won the round. It is a dated record that your writing was judged blind against a published standard, which is a sentence a personal statement or a scholarship form can carry without exaggeration.
The score is the practical return. Five marks add to 100: Storytelling and Structure 25, Character and Emotional Impact 25, Language and Craft 20, Originality and Voice 20, Impact and Resonance 10. Leaving Cert English Paper 1 marks its composition out of 100 as well, but that number arrives in August, once, for a story written in about an hour. Here the five marks come back in days, every round, for a story you had weeks to build.
Non-winners' scores are never published, the certificate does not show your marks, and entries are not published, so a low month is between you and the page. Winners take $100 and a free entry to the next round; entering three rounds running earns the Seasoned Quill badge and a free entry with it. You keep all rights, so the story can still go to a school magazine or a national competition afterwards.
Craft notes for an Irish secondary student
Leaving Cert composition trains a story to a time limit and a set title; drop both habits here. There is no set title unless the month announces a theme, you have up to 3,000 words and several weeks, and the judges can tell a second draft from a first. Start where something changes, not with the weather. Retire the ending that reveals it was all a dream; it costs structure marks every time.
Write in the English you actually hear, or in Irish if that is where the story lives. A story set in Athlone or Ballymun, with the speech that belongs there, is read on its own terms, and the 20 marks for Originality and Voice go to the angle nobody else had. Give one character a concrete want on the first page. Read the free Story Craft course at /academy/story-craft for the shape of a short story, then write one, then cut its first paragraph.
The published rubric, 100 points
- Storytelling & Structure (25 points): Does every scene cause the next, and does the ending pay off the opening?
- Character & Emotional Impact (25 points): Do we want something with your character, and does the story make us feel it?
- Language & Craft (20 points): Clean, deliberate prose: rhythm, precision, and nothing wasted.
- Originality & Voice (20 points): The angle only you could write, told in a voice that sounds like nobody else.
- Impact & Resonance (10 points): What the story leaves behind after the last line.
How it works
Submit an original story of 100 to 3,000 words by 25 November 2026 at 11:59 PM IST. Every story is judged blind against the rubric above, and results arrive on 30 November 2026: every entrant receives a certificate with their name and a score out of 100. Writers keep all rights. Monthly winners earn free entry to the next round. Enter at https://writoryofficial.com/submit-story.
Common questions
Can I write my story in Irish?
Yes. Stories are accepted in any language and read in that language, in the same pool as English entries, with no translation step and no separate category. A story as Gaeilge is marked against the same five criteria as everything else. If Irish is the language the story wants, use it.
Does the certificate count for CAO points or anything official?
No. It is not a State qualification and carries no CAO points or Department recognition. It records, with a date and your name, that you entered a blind-judged short story contest and were scored against a published rubric. Scholarship forms and personal statements can say exactly that; only call it an award if you won.
Can my teacher enter our whole class?
Each student enters individually at /submit-story with their own account, and each entry is paid at submission for $8. There is no class batch for the story contest and no school ranking. A teacher can certainly run it as a term project; every student receives their own certificate and score to bring back.
What time does the deadline fall in Ireland?
Entries close at 11:59 PM Indian Standard Time on the closing date, which is 6:29 PM in Ireland during GMT and 7:29 PM during Irish Summer Time. The first round closes on 25 November 2026 at 11:59 PM IST. Submit the evening before rather than after training or a late study session; the form does not reopen.
Can I enter a story I wrote for a Junior Cycle CBA or for English class?
If it is your own original work and runs 100 to 3,000 words, yes. Writory has no previously-unpublished rule. A piece written for class usually wants one more draft before it meets a rubric that weighs character at 25 marks, so give it that draft before the deadline rather than after the scorecard.
I am in First Year and still 12. Can I enter?
Not until you turn 13; the floor has no exceptions. The contest runs every month, so the round after your birthday is open the moment the previous results land. In the meantime the Story Craft course at /academy/story-craft and the prompts at /short-story-prompts are free to read.
More story contest pages
About Writory
Writory (writoryofficial.com) is an international monthly poetry contest founded in 2025 by Shivay Mehra. Poets from 31 countries have entered, readers come from over 150 countries, and every submitted poem is judged and scored out of 100 across five criteria: creativity, emotion, structure, language and impact and resonance. Every entrant receives a certificate; winners receive cash prizes and are published by name. Entries close on the 25th of each month and results are announced on the 30th. Writory is listed by Duotrope, Poetry Kit, Christopher Fielden's competition list and Creative Writing NZ, among other organisations. Past results are public at past winners and the leaderboard.