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Fact sheet · updated

LEARNING BY HEART

Learn it by heart,
say it like you mean it.

A poem you know by heart goes everywhere with you.

See what judges look for
A person seen from behind walking along a quiet coastal path at golden hour, holding a small open book as if learning lines
AI-generated image, not a photograph of a real person or place.

BY HEARTnot by rote

Recitation is back in English classrooms and in national contests. The judges' guidance is surprisingly practical: understand every line, keep your own voice, and let the meaning set the pace, not the rhyme.

At a glance

130 poems

Poems to choose from in year one

England's Poetry by Heart contest asked students to memorise two poems from a list of 130, from the 14th-century Sir Gawain and the Green Knight to the present day.

POETRY BY HEART · 2013

+8 points

Bonus for a word-perfect recital

Eight points are added to each judge's sheet when a recitation is perfectly accurate. Missed words and calls to the prompter cost points.

ACCURACY · POETRY OUT LOUD

TWO NUMBERS WORTH KNOWING

A long list,
a short margin.

One figure on how much choice learners get,
one on how much a word-perfect recital is worth.

The Department for Education announced Poetry by Heart in December 2012 with £500,000 of funding to The Poetry Archive, for students aged 14 to 18.

WHAT JUDGES LOOK FOR

Six things
a judge listens for.

Pick part of a recitation to see what Poetry Out Loud judges consider. The bar shows how heavily it counts in the scoring.

Poetry Out Loud is the US contest that Poetry by Heart in England was modelled on. Its criteria are a useful checklist for anyone reciting.

Recitation check

Choose a criterion
Physical presenceStand easy

Posture, eye contact and gestures that arise naturally from the poem. Judges mark down pacing, fidgeting and stiff, locked postures.

Voice and articulationClear, not chanted

Be heard without strain, learn every pronunciation and vary pace and pitch. Natural regional accents are not marked down; a singsong delivery is.

UnderstandingKnow every line

Understand each word, reference and shift in tone. Ask whether a listener new to the poem would understand it better after hearing you.

Overall performanceWeighted more

How well everything works together. Judges may consider a poem's complexity, but the guidance says a longer poem is not necessarily harder.

AccuracyEvery word counts

A separate judge marks missed or wrong words, with deductions for using the prompter. A perfectly accurate recitation earns 8 extra points on each judge's sheet.

Source: Poetry Out Loud, Tips on Reciting and Evaluation Criteria 2026–27. Overall performance and accuracy are weighted slightly more than the other criteria.

THE SHORT ANSWER

Understand it,
then own it.

Learning by heart is part of English lessons again.
The contests show what good recitation sounds like.

IN SCHOOL

Part of the curriculum

England's national curriculum asks Year 1 pupils to recite some poems by heart, and pupils in Years 5 and 6 to learn a wider range.

What schools do

ON STAGE

Meaning before music

Recitation judges look for emphasis on the words that matter to meaning, not a singsong rhythm, and for pauses that clarify rather than decorate.

See the criteria

LEARNING

Find your method

Say it aloud, picture it, or walk while you learn? University of Bristol researchers set out to test whether different methods change how a poem feels.

How to start
A small wooden stage in a village hall with a single microphone stand facing rows of empty chairs in warm evening light
AI-generated image, not a photograph of a real person or place.

FOUR STEPS TO A POEM YOU KNOW

Pick it, learn it,
say it.

You do not need a contest to try this. A poem of 14 lines, the minimum for Bristol's school contest, is a manageable first goal.

  1. Choose one you connect with

    Poetry Out Loud advises choosing poems you feel connected to or that challenge you in meaningful ways, not just long or difficult ones.

  2. Understand before you memorise

    Look up every unfamiliar word, name and reference, and check how each one is pronounced, including the poet's name.

  3. Try more than one method

    Repeat it aloud, picture the images or the page, or move as you learn. Researchers are still testing which works best, so see what suits you.

  4. Let punctuation set the pace

    Not every line break needs a pause. Follow the commas, dashes and full stops, and keep your natural accent.

IN THE CLASSROOM

By heart,
not by rote.

England's national curriculum asks pupils in Year 2 to build up a repertoire of poems learnt by heart and recite some with intonation that makes the meaning clear. In Years 5 and 6 they prepare poems to read aloud and perform, using intonation, tone and volume.

A University of Bristol team notes that advocates claim wider benefits for memorising poetry, but says those claims need reliable empirical evidence rather than anecdote. Their Metre and Memorisation project began testing different learning techniques for that reason.

Two hands holding a small, well-worn paperback poetry book open on a wooden table, the printed lines softly out of focus
AI-generated image, not a photograph of a real person or place.

Questions

Questions people ask

Do children in England have to learn poems by heart?

Yes. The national curriculum asks Year 1 pupils to learn to appreciate rhymes and poems and recite some by heart, Year 2 pupils to build up a repertoire, and pupils in Years 5 and 6 to learn a wider range of poetry by heart.

What is Poetry by Heart?

A national poetry recitation competition run by The Poetry Archive, announced by the Department for Education in December 2012. Students aged 14 to 18 memorise and perform poems chosen from an anthology.

How long should a first poem be?

Bristol by Heart, a school contest run with Poetry by Heart, asked for poems or extracts of between fourteen and forty lines. Poetry Out Loud notes that a longer poem is not necessarily a harder one.

Should I put on a special voice?

No. Poetry Out Loud says natural regional, cultural or multilingual accents are not marked down, and asks performers to avoid affected or imitated accents. Bristol by Heart recommended reciting in your natural accent.

What is the best way to memorise a poem?

There is no settled answer yet. University of Bristol researchers ran an online experiment testing techniques such as repeating aloud, visualising and moving, and intend to seek funding to expand the work.

Sources

Where the facts come from

  1. GOV.UK: National curriculum in England, English programmes of study
  2. GOV.UK press release: Pioneering national poetry competition to inspire teens (2012)
  3. NPR: U.K. asks students to learn poetry 'by heart,' not by rote (2013)
  4. Poetry Out Loud: Tips on reciting and evaluation criteria
  5. University of Bristol, Brigstow Institute: Metre and Memorisation project
  6. University of Bristol, Brigstow Institute: Bristol by Heart poetry recitation contest

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