About Oxford Big Read
Oxford Big Read is a competition organised by Oxford University Press to get secondary students excited about reading and writing in English.
Thousands of students have taken part since the competition launched in 2013 to create unique and original posters about stories written in English.
Taking part is simple. Students in participating schools read an eligible book and create a poster based on what they read; and teachers select which posters to enter into the national competition.
Entries are judged anonymously by a panel of teachers and the Big Read team at Oxford University Press. The results are announced in January with winners and runners up awarded prizes.
Thank you for your interest in Big Read 2022. Entries for this competition are now closed.
Entry Rules
Please read the Terms and Conditions before submitting an entry as part of the Big Read.
Who can enter
The competition is open to secondary students in Japan. There are two age groups - one for Junior High School, and another for High School.
Dates
- Late April 2022
- Registration open
- 30 November 2022
- Submission deadline
- January 2023
- Winners announced
How to enter
2. Read and create
Students read a book from the list of eligible OUP readers, create a poster, and submit it to their teacher.
3. Submit your entry
Teachers select up to five posters per class and submit them for entry with the submission form by file upload, email or post. For information on submitting entries, read the guide.
What teachers say
Making students take part astheir summer vacation homework, which is counted as part of their final mark, motivates them more than doing traditional print-out drills. For the majority, it is their first time reading an English book, and they appreciate having artistic freedom of expression, and not just simply working with text.
National Institute of Technology, Oita College
The “My Reading Diary” in the Starter Pack supports students when they write their story summaries in English. I assigned filling in this diary as a mandatory task and the poster creation as optional but surprisingly all students, over 200, submitted their posters. Some of the artwork was brilliantly created using professional materials and I had a difficult time choosing 5 for the competition.
Naniwa High School
In the last few years, story text has been replaced by emails, descriptive text and presentation materials in university entrance exams. However, Big Read offers a great opportunity for secondary students to read a wide range of stories and enjoy learning about foreign culture.
Okayama Prefectural Okayama Ichinomiya High School
Big Read 2022 Award Winners
Amelia Earhart
The Bottle Imp
Peter Pan
Sister Love and Other Crime Stories
The Picture of Dorian Gray
The Piano
White Fang
Green Island
The Big Game
Big Ears and Sticky Fingers
A Tale of Two Cities
