Eligibility

1. The competition is ONLY open to students and homeschoolers who will be in Primary 6 (or its equivalent) in 2026.
2. Participants from international schools in Singapore who will turn 12 in 2026 are also encouraged to submit.

Submission 

1. Only short stories will be accepted. Each entry should be no longer than 450 words. Type the exact word count at the end of the story.
2. Participants must include a title for their short story. 
3. Participants must not combine prompts in their short stories. Please read the winning entries from the previous year for reference.
4. Participants are to submit their entries individually. The submission form only allows one entry per email address.
5. All entries MUST be original and written in English. The submissions must not have been previously published and/or accepted by any publisher (print or online) at the time of submission.
6. Use of Artificial Intelligence (AI) softwares is not allowed. If found, entries will be disqualified.

Rights

1. SOTA retains the non-exclusive, perpetual, world-wide, royalty free license (with right to sublicense) to keep and use submitted entries for any purpose consistent with the mission of SOTA, including educational, archival and research purposes, and for publicizing SOTA or any programme or faculty of SOTA, including derivative works for such purposes.

Important Dates

1. The submission deadline is 16 January 2026 at 5pm.
2. Late submissions will not be accepted.
3. The top 50 finalists will be notified by email in March 2026. 
4. If you do not hear from us by April, please assume that your submission was not placed in the Top 50. 

Others

1. No emails or phone calls to clarify whether submissions have been received will be entertained.
2.  Due to the volume of submissions we receive, we are unable to provide a personal response to each one. 
3. Failure to adhere to any of the competition rules will result in disqualification.
4. Winning entries will be selected by a panel of judges. The judges’ decision is final.
5.  Top 50 finalists will receive an e-certificate and prize vouchers.