The Poetry by Heart organisation has launched its 2021 national poetry recitation competition for pupils. The competition is free to enter. Students aged 7-18 (key stages 2, 3, 4 and 5) choose a poem from hundreds available in online anthologies on the Poetry By Heart website. Poems making up the anthologies have been selected by poets and education experts to introduce pupils to a diverse range of poets including those who have traditionally been under-represented in poetry anthologies.

Pupils learn their chosen poem by heart and perform the poem in a school or college competition. The teachers then pick their winner(s), video their performance and upload them for judging. Every entrant receives feedback from the judges and a certificate celebrating their achievement. Finalists will be invited to perform their poems in front of a panel of poets at the British Library in London in spring 2021.

Poetry by Heart was founded by former poet laureate Andrew Motion and educator Dr Julie Blake, and is funded with the support of the Department for Education.