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Children Across the UK Invited to Finish the Bayeux Tapestry in National Competition
Nearly a thousand years ago, English embroiderers stitched the story of the Norman Conquest into seventy metres of linen. They never finished it — or if they did, the ending has been lost. Now children across the UK are being invited to complete it.
Today Art Explora, the Franco-British arts organisation which works to widen access to arts and culture across Europe, and English Heritage, the charity which cares for the 1066 battlefield and more than 400 historic sites across England, announce Beyond the Battle — a free national competition for Key Stage 2 primary school pupils, launched to mark the Bayeux Tapestry’s arrival in the UK.
From 10 September 2026 to 11 July 2027, the Bayeux Tapestry will be displayed at the British Museum in Room 30, the Sainsbury Exhibitions Gallery — the first time it has been in England since it was made there in about 1072–77, probably at English Heritage site St Augustine’s Abbey, Canterbury. Demand to see the tapestry has been extraordinary: public tickets for the entire opening period to the end of December 2026 sold out within days of going on sale.
For Art Explora, the loan is a cultural celebration not to be missed — and an opportunity that should reach far beyond those able to travel to Bloomsbury and secure a ticket. Beyond the Battle opens the moment up to classrooms in every part of the country, at no cost to the school.
The challenge
The Tapestry as it survives breaks off abruptly. Its closing section — thought to have shown William’s coronation — has been missing for centuries. Beyond the Battle asks pupils to imagine that missing panel for themselves, and to fill it with something other than conquest. Working as a class, they will create, design and stitch an original textile work that pictures a better tomorrow, and celebrates the actions, people and values that could make that vision real.
Participating schools receive a free learning resource created by embroidery artist and educator Jessica Grady, with lesson plans, practical tips and creative prompts. Grady’s own practice is built on unconventional and recycled materials — painted metal washers, hand-dyed plastic waste, packaging, stripped electrical cable — which means classes can take part using what is already in the art cupboard, the recycling bin or the craft box at home. No specialist equipment or prior textiles experience is needed.
Taking a cross-curricular approach, the programme supports pupils to research the history of the Bayeux Tapestry and the Norman Conquest, using learning resources created by English Heritage, write new collaborative stories, and learn a range of expressive and accessible textile techniques with which to tell them. It links directly to the Key Stage 2 history and art and design curriculum.
The programme also aims to build teacher confidence in using textile-based practice in the classroom, and to raise pupils’ awareness of textiles as a craft, an artistic medium and a potential career.
Prizes
Winning classes will receive a fully funded trip to London to see the Bayeux Tapestry at the British Museum and the opportunity to visit 1066 Battle of Hastings, Abbey and Battlefield, or another Norman site managed by English Heritage. Trips will take place in Summer term 2027. Runner-up classes will receive a funded visit to their nearest English Heritage Norman site.
Winning entries will also be featured in a special exhibition (details to be announced), and each winning school will receive a bespoke textile artwork created by Jessica Grady to commemorate their achievement.
Competition information
Beyond the Battle will launch in late September 2026. Further details, including competition dates, eligibility, judging and how to enter, will be announced soon.
For further information please email: learninguk@artexplora.org
Ahead of the of the official programme launch, schools can start their learning journey by clicking the links below to find English Heritage learning resources and information about school visits.
1066 The Norman Conquest
1066 Battle of Hastings, Abbey and Battlefield
Frédéric Jousset, Founder of Art Explora, said: “Art Explora imagines a future where arts and culture are accessible to everyone, no matter where you live or who you are. I founded Art Explora to be an arts organisation working across Europe. The Bayeux Tapestry is an iconic symbol of our shared European cultural histories. I am delighted to celebrate this historic loan from France to the UK with a national project to encourage all school children to learn and discover this amazing work of art.”
Jemima Montagu, Director of Art Explora UK, said: “The Bayeux Tapestry is storytelling in thread — a thousand-year-old narrative built stitch by stitch, made when people read pictures rather than words. Beyond the Battle lets children discover that craft for themselves: exploring the history, learning the embroiderers’ techniques, then telling a story of their own. That is Art Explora’s mission in miniature — to ignite curiosity, create together, and connect people across time and borders.”
Iona Keen, Head of Learning and Interpretation at English Heritage, said: “1066 is the most famous date in English history, and at Battle Abbey we look after the very ground where the battle was fought. Visitors arrive knowing about the arrow in Harold’s eye, but what stays with them is standing above the site of the battlefield and realising real people were here. Beyond the Battle connects that place to the object that made the story famous and then hands the story over to the next generation to continue. We are thrilled to be working with Art Explora to put it into the hands of pupils across the country.”
Photography © Jessica Grady