Achievement Awards in Writing

An annual teacher-nominated writing competition for U.S. high school sophomores and juniors, recognizing outstanding student writing on a national prompt with awards at four distinction levels.

The Achievement Awards in Writing is an annual writing competition administered by the National Council of Teachers of English (NCTE). It recognizes outstanding writing by high school sophomores and juniors across the U.S. and eligible international schools. Students are nominated by their educators to submit original, themed writing responding to a national prompt. The competition honors exemplary writing across four distinction levels, highlighting creativity, maturity, and mastery of language.

Competition Details

Judging Criteria

Submissions are judged holistically by teams of experienced English educators using NCTE's rubric. The evaluation focuses on content, purpose, audience awareness, tone, word choice, organization, development, originality, and control of language rather than surface polish. Writing demonstrating advanced maturity, coherence, originality, and strong command of language achieves higher distinction levels. There are four distinction levels: First Class, Superior, Excellent, and Merit.