Skill competitions
Entrants pay and answer a question that must genuinely deter a significant proportion of people from entering or winning. Easy multiple-choice questions rarely meet that bar.
+ Online competition sites · Guide
Running an online competition site.
Online prize competitions for cars, cash and tech are big business in Great Britain, and the bar rose in 2026 with the DCMS Voluntary Code. Here is what running one properly involves.
01 At a glance
The short version.
- Legal basis
- A genuine skill competition, or a paid draw with a free entry route, under the Gambling Act 2005
- Industry code
- DCMS Voluntary Code of Good Practice for Prize Draw Operators, compliance expected from May 2026
- Minimum age
- 18, with age verification
- Winner selection
- An independent person, or a computer process that produces verifiably random and auditable results
- Where
- Great Britain. Northern Ireland and Ireland work differently.
02 The models
How competition sites run.
Most sites combine paid entries with a free route or a skill test. Each format carries its own obligations.
Paid draws with free postal entry
Paid entries sit alongside a free route, usually by post, that is publicised, no less convenient and gives free entrants exactly the same chance.
Instant wins
Prizes revealed at the point of entry. The Voluntary Code bars credit card payments on instant-win draws altogether.
+ Know before you run
What the Code expects.
- Over-18s only, with age verification before anyone can enter.
- Published odds of winning for every draw.
- No cutting prizes, extending end dates or cancelling draws because of low sales.
- Spend limits, self-suspension of at least six months, and credit card spending capped at £250 a month.
- Winners chosen by an independent person or a verifiably random, auditable computer process.
- Draw-management partners and platforms are covered too, and the government has said legislation may follow if the Code does not work.
03 Questions
Common questions.
Do I need a licence to run a competition website in the UK?
Not if every competition is a genuine skill competition or a paid draw with a free entry route that meets the Gambling Act's conditions. Chance-based draws without a free route are lotteries and need registration or a licence.
What does the Voluntary Code mean for competition sites?
It sets expectations on age verification, spending controls, published odds, fair winner selection and how draws are managed when sales are low. Compliance was expected from May 2026.
Can I offer instant wins?
Instant wins are common, but the Voluntary Code bars credit card payments on instant-win draws. The same rules on free entry or skill still apply.
How do I prove my draws are fair?
The Code accepts a computer process that produces verifiably random and auditable results. A draw sealed before entries open and published in full lets anyone check every winner.
Sources
- Free draws and prize competitions, Gambling Commission
- Voluntary Code of Good Practice for Prize Draw Operators, GOV.UK
- Gambling Act 2005, section 14
- Gambling Act 2005, schedule 2
General information, not legal advice. Rules change and depend on exactly how a draw is run, so take advice for your own model. Reviewed September 2026.
04 Access
Running a competition site? Talk to us.
Every Blockdraws draw is sealed before it opens and verifiable by anyone after it closes, under your own brand and on infrastructure of your own.
Blockdraws is white-label draw software with every draw verifiable by anyone. Available by application.
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