National Choir Competition 2025
Submissions for this year are now closed but 2026 entries will open up again in September, with details available from June 2025.
- Event date:
- 4 March 2025
The National Choir Competition has finished for 2025!
Thank you to all the choirs that took part in the both the preliminary round and attended the Grand Final.
We welcomed 1,100 young performers from school and community choirs from across the UK including Northern Ireland, Wales, Cumbria and Kent! 1,000 supporters watched as choirs performed before our wonderful panel of judges: Dan Ludford-Thomas, Karen Gibson MBE, Rob Elliot and Adrian Packer CBE.
We raised over £35K which will go towards our work with children and young people to help them feel safer, happier, healthier and more hopeful.
Feeling inspired? Entries will open up again in September and details will be available from June 2025.
Congratulations to all our winners:
Senior Award Winners 2025
Traditional Category
Winner: Highgate School Chorale with My Lord Has Come
Runner Up: South Hampstead High School Chamber Choir with Even When he is Silent
Popular Category
Winner: Tring Park School for the Performing Arts with I’m a Train
Runner Up: Sedbergh School Chapel Choir with Ain’t Misbehavin’
Judges Award
Mount St Mary’s College Chamber Choir
Overall Winner
Côr Ieuenctid Môn
Junior Award Winners 2025
Traditional Category
Winner: Hereford Cathedral Junior School Choir with KUSIMAMA (Stand Tall)
Runner Up: Farnham Youth Choir with Bee! I’m expecting you!
Popular Category
Winner: Ballyholme Primary School with I can’t help falling in love with you
Runner Up: East Herrington with It don’t mean a Sing Sing Sing
Judges Award
RGS the Grange with Enjoy the Storm
Overall Choir
North London Collegiate School Cannons Choir
What is the National Choir Competition?
The National Choir Competition is the largest schools and community choir competition in the UK and has been running for over 17 years! It's an incredible opportunity to showcase young people's talents and raise money to go towards helping children and young people feel safer, happier, healthier and more hopeful.
Competition format
Age categories
There were two age categories in 2025:
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Junior - up to and including 12 years, as of 4 March 2025.
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Senior - up to and including 18 years, as of 4 March 2025.
Preliminary round
Choirs are invited to submit two pieces of contrasting musical styles for adjudication by our judges. From these pieces, judges will choose who will go through to our Grand Final.
Grand Final
16 choirs, in the Junior and Senior category, competed at the Grand Final on Tuesday 4 March 2025 at Birmingham Symphony Hall.
Musical styles
Performances are judged primarily on musical excellence, technical skill, and a high standard of singing performance.
We are keen to encourage a wide range of musical styles and to inspire more choirs from across the musical spectrum.
If you’d like to, we welcome movement or choreography in the Popular category which might enhance the singing performance, keeping in mind that choirs will be primarily judged on their musical ability.
Choirs can be creative with how their piece is accompanied if it follows the rules below and enhances rather than detracts from the singing.
Therefore, we would love choirs to consider submitting a variety of musical styles such as (but not limited to):
Traditional, including:
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Traditional choral
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World (traditional pieces from different cultures)
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Folk
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Gospel
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Spiritual
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Classical
Popular, including:
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Pop (including all genres)
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Musical theatre / Show
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Film
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New arrangements
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Performance with steps (not full dance routine)
* We would encourage choirs to consider performing two contrasting pieces spanning both traditional and popular, but this is not mandatory.
Awards
Prizes are awarded in the Grand Final as follows:
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Winner and runner up – Traditional Category (best single score for traditional style listed above)
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Winner and runner up – Popular Category (best single score for popular style listed above)
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Overall winning Junior choir* (best combined score for both pieces)
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Overall winning Senior choir* (best combined score for both pieces)
* We would encourage choirs to consider performing two contrasting pieces spanning both traditional and popular, but this is not mandatory.
The overall winning Junior and Senior choirs have been awarded a place at our Young Supporters’ Concert at the Royal Albert Hall in November 2025.
Get involved
Thinking about other ways you could get involved to support children and young people across the UK? Find out more below.
Previous National Choir Competitions
We've been running the National Choir Competition for over 17 years now! Look back at some of the previous winners and choirs involved below.
Our impact
Getting involved with events like the National Choir Competition has a big impact on children and young people all over the UK.