It is an annual short story contest in the United Kingdom which is open to UK residents and nationals.
[8] The National Endowment for Science, Technology and the Arts (NESTA) were the main sponsor, with support from BBC Radio 4 and Prospect magazine.
[2] To mark the tenth anniversary, in 2015, the BBC Young Writers' Award was launched, challenging 14-18-year-olds to write a story of up to 1,000 words.
[10][11] In 2018, prize judge Di Speirs noted that the BBC National Short Story Award has never had an all-male shortlist.
[16] In 2012, in honour of the 2012 Summer Olympics hosted in London, the competition was open to a global audience for one year only.