Poetry By Heart, the national poetry speaking competition, held its Grand Finale at Shakespeare’s Globe, London on 7 July and crowned four young people National Champions.

The competition invites young people to choose a poem, learn it by heart and perform it aloud. Set up in 2012 by then Poet Laureate, Sir Andrew Motion, Poetry By Heart is loved by teachers and young people, who recognise the joy, satisfaction and deep learning that comes from knowing a poem by heart: over 1,600 schools took part this year; 128,000 young people performed a poem by heart out loud for others; and over 4,300 were entered into the competition final.

40 young finalists from across the country performed the poems they had learned by heart for a panel of seven poet judges led by Daljit Nagra, and for a full house of 800 in the theatre. Among those in the audience to applaud them was Catherine McKinnell MP, Minister of State (Minister for School Standards).

Nine teachers also performed poems they had learned by heart in the All School Staff competition, including Teressa Randall, a mid-day supervisor from Thorpe Hall Primary School, Walthamstow, who performed a poem she had composed.

Congratulating the winners and all the performers, Daljit Nagra says, ‘As you stand on the stage here at Shakespeare’s Globe today, you are not just reciting verse, you are keeping alive the ancient dream of poetry as intrinsic to body and soul.’

Dr Julie Blake, co-founder and director of Poetry By Heart says ‘On this incredible stage here today, we have seen and heard brilliant young people (and some school staff), giving their hearts and souls, intelligence and creativity to make a living anthology of poems. Every poem was unique, even if we’ve read it or heard it before, because each poem is inhabited differently by its speaker and brought to life in a new and unique way, infused with their breath and their voice. That is the magic of Poetry By Heart.’

The four National Poetry By Heart Champions are:

(l-r) Anna, Albie, Charlie, Laurissa. Photo by Marcus Duran

Laurissa Homawoo of St Bernadette’s Catholic Primary School, Buckinghamshire is Champion in the Classic KS2 Competition. Laurissa chose to perform ‘Harriet Tubman‘ by Eloise Greenfield in the competition.  The judges said, ‘This was a mature performance, delivered in a clear, confident voice that communicated meaning and emotion to the audience. Laurissa really understood and took ownership of the poem.’ Laurissa also performed ‘Songs for the People’ by Frances E.W. Harper on The Globe’s main stage.

Albie Costain of Shaftesbury School, Dorset is the winner in the Classic KS3 Competition. Albie chose to perform ‘A Forsaken Garden‘ by Algernon Swinburne for the judges, who described his performance as ‘mesmerising, with a wonderful use of voice and a real feeling for the lushness and music of the language.’ They added, ‘This is someone who inhabited the poem so fully, we almost felt they could have written it themselves.’

Anna Barwell of Catmose College, Leicestershire is the winner in the Classic KS4 Competition. Anna chose to perform ‘The Applicant‘ by Sylvia Plath. ‘This was an excellent presentation of a dark and tricky poem, which nonetheless made us smile because the student delivered it with clarity and charisma’, said the judges.

Charlie Liddell of Durham Sixth Form Centre, County Durham is the winner in the Classic KS5 Competition. Charlie chose to perform ‘The Wife of Bath‘ by Geoffrey Chaucer for the judges.  ‘This clear and memorable performance brought out the musicality, cheekiness and humanity of the original’, said the judges, ‘Charlie made it sound like Chaucer’s language was his own.’ Charlie also performed ‘What the Chairman told Tom’ by Basil Bunting on The Globe’s main stage.

Finally, teacher Matt Carmichael from New College Sixth Form College Pontefract won the All School Staff category for his performance of John Clare’s ‘The Mores’. ‘The humour and polemical vignette of John Clare’s poem were combined in his treatment to searing effect in a magnificent performance,” says Dr Julie Blake, “We were left dumbstruck with awe.’

The judges were the Poetry By Heart Poet Advisor, Daljit Nagra and poets Patience Agbabi, Liz Berry, Valerie Bloom, Glyn Maxwell, Paul Munden and Jean Sprackland.

Freestyle All Stars

17 schools had finalists in the Freestyle All Stars category, which showcases creative achievement in speaking a poem and includes group performances. Unforgettable performances included Peace, Agnes and Praise, aka the Freedom Poets from St Thomas More Catholic Voluntary Academy, Derbyshire, who gave an uplifting recitation of ‘I’ve Learned to Sing a Song of Hope’ by Georgia Douglas Johnson, and 14-year-old Emily Dowsett of Woolmer School, Surrey, with her musical performance of ‘Spellbound’ by Emily Bronte, a competition favourite.

Special Awards

There were special awards too for schools who have embraced the opportunities offered by the competition in innovative ways. Young people from Astrea Academy Woodfields, Doncaster, accepted a special award for the way poetry is embedded into school life, something which their teacher Sabaa Hussain says has resulted in its “transformation”; Riverside Primary School, Seacombe, Wirral gave a show-stopping musical performance of Charles Causley’s poem ‘Colonel Fazackerley Butterworth-Toast’ as they collected an award for their creative approach to poetry.

Elmfield School for Deaf Children, Horfield, Bristol received a special award for their innovative, trailblazing approach to poetry performance. A group of fifteen young people from the school performed Edwin Morgan’s poem, ‘Hyena’ as an immersive experience using spoken language and the visual vernacular technique used in sign language poetry. “This performance was different to anything that we have ever had on the stage before” says Dr Julie Blake, ‘Staff and students at Elmfield School for Deaf Children truly have been innovators within the Poetry By Heart competition and have taught us new things about what inclusion can look like when it comes to poetry.’

The 2026 Poetry By Heart competition will open on National Poetry Day, 2 October 2025 and next year’s Grand Finale will return to Shakespeare’s Globe on 6 July 2026.