The annual BBC Young Reporter Competition, now in its fifth year, is inviting young people aged 11-18 to submit their original story ideas – based on the theme Me and My World – and report on them with the BBC.

Previous winners have reported on personal stories about themselves and issues that matter to young people, including what it’s like living with a disability, teacher diversity and mental health.

The most original and interesting story submissions will be put in front of a panel of presenters, reporters, senior editors and producers from across BBC News, such as Newsbeat and Newsround, as well as BBC Sport, Radio 5 Live and The One Show.

Twenty winners will then be chosen, including five national winners and 15 regional winners from across the UK, including a Welsh language winner.

Both national and regional winners will work with BBC journalists, producers and programme makers to prepare their story for broadcast on BBC platforms.

The competition is open until 23:59 on Friday 31 March 2023 and entrants can submit their stories via the entry form found at bbc.co.uk/youngreportercompetition.

Stories can also be uploaded in Welsh via bbc.co.uk/cystadleuaethgohbyddifanc.

Previous winners include:

David who wanted to investigate the lack of ethnic diversity in primary school teaching. He wrote his report and spoke about it on Radio 5 Live.

Rose’s story about Dyscalculia and the difficulty in navigating numbers featured on BBC News and the Access All podcast.

Jaipal produced a report about surrogacy with BBC Midlands Today.

Tegan’s report about scoliosis was produced with Newsround and featured on TV, the BBC website and TikTok.

Ben’s story, produced with BBC Sport, reflects the reality of being a football apprentice and the impact it can have on players’ mental health.

Jake, Elliot and Jed reported on their campaign for a local skateboard park with BBC Wales.

Zoe produced a story with BBC Breakfast and Newsround talking about life with dwarfism.

The judging panel

A host of BBC journalists and presenters are joining this year’s judging panel to decide the winners, including Huw Edwards, Naga Munchetty, Adam Fleming, Nikki Fox, Ashley John-Baptise, Alex Jones, Ricky Boleto, as well as new judge Pria Rai from BBC Newsbeat.

Pria, says: “Stories don’t belong to journalists. They belong to the people who open up and share their lives and they belong to those who are helped by hearing them. That’s why I think the BBC’s Young Reporter Competition is so exciting and important; it hands over the mic and gets right to the source of what matters to the very people who are growing up to shape our world.

“If you’re thinking about the competition and wondering, is my story good enough – well, if it matters to you, it’s likely it will matter to someone else and there’s no better person to tell your story than you!”

BBC Breakfast and 5 Live’s Naga Munchetty, who returns to the judging panel this year, says: “I’m delighted to be involved again. It's so important that we hear the experiences of young people from them directly. The more we help those stories to be told, the richer our lives are for it.”

Returning judge Ricky Boleto, from BBC Newsround, adds: “It’s such an honour to discover new stories from the brilliant young entrants. Every year I’m so impressed with the variety of stories we get sent and it’s a huge challenge to pick the winners.”

Young people can submit their story ideas as an individual or a group and winners will be announced in June as part of the BBC Young Reporter Festival, which will be hosted from Birmingham.