Your free resources plus competition details

Download your free resource kit

You’ll receive lessons 1 – 4 (PPTs) with teacher notes, a quiz (PPTs) (short, medium and long quiz), certificate (personalisable PDF), plus digital information flyers (PDFs) to share with students, parents and other teachers. For primary (years 5 and 6) as above, except there are two lessons. Download your chosen resource kit using the blue buttons below.

Short on time? Just use lesson 4. It summarises the learnings from lessons 1-3, and is a workshop for the competition. Plus, you can spread across Tutor/form time sessions. For primary, just use lesson 2.

Scroll down for details on how to enter the competition

Primary: key stage 2 (upper) Secondary: key stages 3, 4 & 5
Enter the competition

Enter the competition

Step 1: Workshop. Use lesson 4 (or primary lesson 2). Why not run it during the Electoral Commission’s ‘Welcome to Your Vote Week‘, 9 – 15 March.

Step 2: Create. Students produce a pitch of under 60 seconds answering the question: “Is it important to vote and why?”. The format can be social media video, short podcast or written speech. They can get creative – it can even be a poem or rap! Students can do this individually, in pairs or in small teams. Reward students with a certificate.

Step 3: School entry form. The teacher/school co-ordinator should collate entries and fill in a school entry form which you can download here. Upload this completed form with your entries.

Step 4: Upload. The teacher/school co-ordinator should upload entries and a completed school entry form via the competition upload portal (button below) on or before the closing date of 11.30am on Monday 30 March 2026. Digital entries only please (scan or photograph hand-written entries). Upload files or a spreadsheet with links to social posts. See Ts&Cs below.

Any questions? Please email the competition team here.

Upload your entries and school entry form

Competition terms and conditions

The Electoral Commission in partnership with its agents Family & Education (First In Class Limited) and Skating Panda Educate CIC (the “Promoter”) is running a 60-Second Democracy Challenge (the “Competition”). Please read these Terms and Conditions which apply to the Competition. The Competition is free to enter and all Competition entrants will be deemed to have accepted and be bound by these Terms and Conditions. The Promoter reserves the right to refuse entry or award the prize to anyone in breach of these terms and conditions.

  1. Eligibility: The competition is open to all students in England aged 18 or under. Entries must be submitted digitally by a teacher or school coordinator via the upload link.
  2. Entry Requirements:
  • All entries must be under 60 seconds in length (audio/video) or under 150 words (written/poetry/rap).
  • Entries must be original work and must not contain any third-party copyrighted material (e.g., background music without a license).
  • Entries must be submitted via the official website (above) by the closing date deadline of 11.30 GMT on Monday 30 March 2026. Any entries received after the closing date deadline will not be entered into the Competition.
  1. Entry Publicity: By entering, the participant and their parent and/or guardian, agrees to allow the Promoter (and other organisations with which the Promoter works with) to use, reproduce, edit and share the entry for educational, promotional, and archival purposes across all media.
  2. Editing. It may be necessary to edit entries to ensure that the content conforms with the impartiality criteria.
  3. Consent: Entry to the competition requires that parental or guardian consent has been obtained for the entry to be shared as indicated in point 3. The Promoter reserves the right to request written proof of consent at any time.
  4. Winner’s Publicity: The winner and the runners-up may be asked to take part in publicity associated with the Competition, and prior to any publicity the Promoter will notify and seek further consent from parents and/or guardians
  5. Content Standards: Entries must not contain offensive, defamatory, or partisan political campaigning for a specific candidate or party. The focus must remain on the democratic process. The Promoter reserves the right to suspend entries which do not meet the content standards.
  6. Judging: Entries will be judged on oracy (clarity and performance), cognitive strength (logic and structure), impact, originality and how the entrant has answered the competition question. The judges’ decision is final, and binding and no correspondence will be entered into in relation to it.
  7. Prizes: 1 x winner’s prize of £250 of vouchers for the entrant, plus £250 of vouchers for their school. Plus 5 x runners up prizes of £150 of vouchers for the entrant, plus £150 of vouchers for their school.
  8. Notification: The winners and runners-up will be notified within 28 days of the closing date via an email to their teacher or school coordinator.
  9. Data Protection: The Promoter is committed to protecting and respecting your privacy and will only use your personal information in accordance with these Terms and Conditions and the Promoter’s respective privacy policies (the Electoral Commission’s Privacy Policy, Family & Education’s (First In Class Limited) Privacy Policy and Skating Panda Educate CIC’s Privacy Policy). See also conditions 3, 4 and 5 above with regard to publicity.
  10. Personal Information: By entering, you agree that any personal information provided by you personally, and within your school’s entries, may be held and used by the Promoter or its agents and suppliers to administer the competition.
  11. Liability: If for any reason a technical interruption, fault or site failure occurs when submitting entries, The Promoter accepts no responsibility for incomplete or failed submissions and any incomplete submissions will not be considered valid for entry into the Competition.
  12. Cancellation: The Promoter reserves the right to hold, void, cancel, suspend, or amend the competition where it becomes necessary to do so.
  13. Queries: If there are any questions about how to enter or otherwise in connection with the Competition, please email the competition team at vote@familyandeducation.co.uk
  14. Governing Law: The Competition and these Terms & Conditions will be governed by English law and entrants to the Competition submit to the exclusive jurisdiction of the English courts.