Primary and secondary pupils from across Portsmouth have been celebrated following the conclusion of the 2026 Portsmouth Multilingual Writing Competition, run by Havant Sixth Form College as part of the Portsmouth 100 celebrations and City of Languages mission.
The competition invited pupils from primary and secondary schools across the city to submit an original poem or short story of up to 250 words in a language other than English, alongside an English translation. Entries explored the theme of “sharing and belonging”, giving young people the opportunity to celebrate their languages, cultures and identities through creative writing.
Pupils from The Portsmouth Academy, Solent Junior School, St Edmunds School and Springfield School took part, submitting work reflecting the rich range of languages spoken across the city.
Following the competition, winning pupils have now been recognised with certificates and book tokens in celebration of their achievements.
Entries have also been brought together in a specially produced ‘Portsmouth Multilingual Writing Competition’ book, creating a lasting collection of the young writers’ work. Copies of this book have been shared with participating schools, as well as the Lord Mayor of Portsmouth and councillors.
Assistant Principal of Havant Sixth Form College, Pete Budd shared:
It was brilliant to run this competition for young people across our linguistically diverse city and celebrate their amazing creativity. I was so impressed with the pupils’ entries to the competition: judging the winners alongside our MFL colleagues at College was a real challenge. Congratulations to all the pupils who took part!
Havant Sixth Form College is proud to have provided young people with an opportunity to showcase their creativity and multilingual skills, while celebrating the communities, cultures and languages that make Portsmouth unique.