Prize draw UK: who runs the open draws, how entry works and what the code covers
ITV's terms for a UK prize draw quote the closing time to the minute: 4.00pm on Friday 2 October 2026 for its cash-or-monthly-payment draw. Charity raffles print two dates instead: Compassion in World Farming's Harvest Raffle closes on 8 October 2026 and is drawn on 15 October 2026. The government's code for operators is voluntary, so each draw's own terms carry its rules.
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Finding a draw you can still enter: ITV terms and charity raffle pages
ITV's terms pages quote closing times to the minute: 4.00pm on Friday 2 October 2026 for its cash-or-monthly-payment draw, 3.00pm on Thursday 22 October 2026 for its five-figure draw and 10.00am on Tuesday 8 December 2026 for its England-match hospitality draw.
Charity raffles on a shared ticket platform print two dates, a closing date for entries and a later draw date, and each page quotes both. The Macular Society's Autumn Raffle Superdraw takes online entries until 8 December 2026 and is drawn on 11 December. Breast Cancer Now's Christmas Raffle closes on 15 December 2026 and is drawn on 18 December. Tickets carry a flat price on every one of these pages.
Midlands Air Ambulance Charity's Christmas Raffle accepts online entries until 17 December 2026 through a Play now button. Coeliac UK's Christmas raffle uses the same button and adds an early-bird draw for entries made by 5 November 2026.
- The closing time, to the minute at ITV and to the day at the charities.
- The draw date, printed separately from the closing date on the charity raffle pages.
- The entry channel: PRTS, SMS, the App and online at ITV, a Play now button at several charities.
Entering through an app: which ITV closing lines name it
ITV's closing line for its cash-or-monthly-payment draw names four channels: PRTS, SMS, the App and online. The closing lines for the England-match hospitality draw and the five-figure draw name SMS and online only. The App is one channel among several.
Each closing line gives a single time for all its channels, so an entry made through the App has to land before that time like any other, and the number of channels does not stretch the deadline.
A voluntary code for Great Britain's draws: scope and purpose
The UK government publishes the code as a voluntary code of conduct for prize draw operators, which makes adopting it optional. Its scope is specific: it focuses on prize draws and competitions, also known as free draws, in Great Britain, where the outcome, and so the allocation of prizes, is determined by chance and some entry routes cost money while others are free.
In the code's meaning, then, a free draw keeps a free entry route open beside any charged one. Because adopting the code is optional, a mention of it on a page settles nothing; the draw's own terms still have to state the closing time, the entry channels and the conditions.
Tesco and the once-a-day limit: how a retailer's free draw works
Tesco's Clubcard prize draw gives automatic free entry to customers who make a qualifying spend in Tesco stores or on Tesco online grocery orders using Clubcard. The size of the qualifying spend is set in Tesco's terms.
The limit is one entry per Clubcard account per day, so a second qualifying trip on the same day adds nothing. That daily cap sets the number of entries.
Competitions decided by judgement and knowledge
The Gambling Commission's page on free draws and prize competitions separates the two by what decides the result: skill, judgement or knowledge in a competition, chance in a draw.
For an entrant the difference decides what to prepare. A draw needs only a counted entry, through whichever channel the terms list, while a competition asks for a result that can be judged, so the terms of a competition are where to look for what is judged.
Spotting a fake: what the ASA expects a real draw's page to show
CAP Executive guidance on the ASA's site sets tests that a genuine page has to meet. The page design, layout or format of the promotion must not mislead, and a prize-draw poster is held to the same test. Bold or otherwise emphasised text must not create an overall impression that is not true.
Wording and pictures are tested as well. Promoters should avoid unnecessarily complex, confusing or legalistic language, and any images should accurately reflect the product on offer; a caption reading illustration purposes only falls short of fixing an inaccurate picture.
Conditions have a timing test. The ASA interprets the rules as meaning that significant information and conditions belong in the initial marketing material, while all other terms and conditions must be available before or at the time of entry and need less prominence. A page that shows a draw's real conditions only after an entry has been made misses that timing.
A page with hidden conditions, inflated emphasis or dense legal wording carries the very marks that guidance warns against, which is reason enough to stop before entering.
Visa lotteries: the free UK ballot and what Australia does not run
Two statements help separate real visa draws from scams. Collegedunia's guide to UK lottery visa requirements says the UK ballot is a free, random draw held twice a year on the government's own site, with 3,000 places a year. Abbasi Migration's post on the Australia lottery visa says Australia does not have a visa program based on a lottery.
Set against those two statements, a message that asks for a fee to enter a visa draw contradicts the first, and one that offers a lucky-draw visa for Australia contradicts the second.
| Operator and draw | Entry channel | Closes or drawn |
|---|---|---|
| ITV cash-or-monthly-payment draw | PRTS, SMS, the App and online | Closes 4.00pm, Friday 2 October 2026 |
| ITV five-figure prize draw | SMS and online | Closes 3.00pm, Thursday 22 October 2026 |
| ITV England-match hospitality draw | SMS and online | Closes 10.00am, Tuesday 8 December 2026 |
| Compassion in World Farming, Harvest Raffle | Online, flat price per ticket | Closes 8 October 2026; drawn 15 October 2026 |
| Macular Society, Autumn Raffle Superdraw | Online, Play now | Closes 8 December 2026; drawn 11 December 2026 |
| Breast Cancer Now, Christmas Raffle | Online, flat price per ticket | Closes 15 December 2026; drawn 18 December 2026 |
| Midlands Air Ambulance Charity, Christmas Raffle | Online, Play now button | Open until 17 December 2026; draw date not published |
| Coeliac UK, Christmas raffle | Online, Play now button | Early-bird draw for entries by 5 November 2026 |
| Tesco Clubcard prize draw | Automatic free entry with a qualifying spend, one per account per day | Dates not published |
The route
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Find the operator's own terms page
ITV's terms quote closing times to the minute, and each charity raffle page quotes a closing date and a separate draw date. Start on those pages rather than from a forwarded post, and read the entry channels they list.
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Pick a channel the page lists
ITV's closing line for its cash-or-monthly-payment draw lists PRTS, SMS, the App and online, several charity pages use a Play now button, and Tesco's automatic free entry runs through Clubcard. Use a listed channel and nothing else.
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Note the limit per person
Tesco allows at most one entry per Clubcard account per day, so a second qualifying trip on the same day adds nothing. Look for the equivalent line in the terms of every draw.
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Hold the page against the ASA tests
Significant conditions belong in the initial marketing material, other terms must be available before or at entry, and design, emphasis, wording and images must not mislead. A page that fails those tests is a reason to stop.
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Keep the draw date apart from the closing date
The charity pages print both: entries close first and the draw follows, for example 8 October and 15 October 2026 for Compassion in World Farming. Diary the closing date, because that is the one that ends your chance.
Questions from entrants
How do I know that a prize draw UK website is genuine?
A genuine prize draw site states the closing time, the draw date and the entry channels, and its page follows the ASA's tests on design, emphasis, language and conditions. ITV's terms give closing times to the minute and each charity raffle page quotes a closing date and a draw date; a page that hides its conditions until after entry misses the ASA's timing.
How do I enter one of the free prize draws?
Entry to a free prize draw follows the route its terms list. Tesco's Clubcard prize draw gives automatic free entry with a qualifying spend in its stores or on its online grocery orders using Clubcard, limited to one entry per Clubcard account per day.
Do I need an account to enter prize draw competitions?
An account is needed only where the operator's terms say so. Tesco ties its automatic free entry to Clubcard accounts, while the charity raffle pages send entrants to a Play now button and ITV lists PRTS, SMS, the App and online.
How do you choose a winner?
A prize draw decides its winner by chance, and the government's code describes these draws as ones where the outcome, and so the allocation of prizes, is determined by chance. Each charity raffle page names its draw date, such as 15 October 2026 for Compassion in World Farming's Harvest Raffle.
What separates a prize draw from a prize competition?
A prize draw's outcome is determined by chance, while a prize competition's outcome is determined by the participants' skill, judgement or knowledge, in the Gambling Commission's wording. The government's code covers prize draws and competitions in Great Britain where chance decides.
Logbook of sources
- itv.com. itv.com/win/competition/70987/the-choice-is-yours-all-the-cash-at-once-or-a-monthly-cash-bonus/terms.
- raffleplayer.com. raffleplayer.com/ciwf.
- gov.uk. gov.uk/government/publications/voluntary-code-of-good-practice-for-prize-draw-operators.
- gamblingcommission.gov.uk. gamblingcommission.gov.uk/public-and-players/guide/page/free-draws-and-prize-competitions.
- tesco.com. tesco.com/shop/en-GB/category/summer.
No page can confirm that a draw is still open, that a prize will be awarded or that an entry will win, and this one cannot either: each operator's terms decide eligibility, winners and claims. The government code is voluntary, and nothing here shows which operators follow it. The page gives no legal advice; it reports what the UK sources say.
A prize contest that counts votes or likes on a social platform sits under two sets of rules. Meta prohibits selling, buying or exchanging engagement such as likes and shares, and Reddit bans accounts, temporarily or permanently, for vote manipulation. Organisers add their own penalties: BET's sweepstakes rules disqualified attempts to cast votes that were exchanged, bought or received by one person from multiple accounts.
Organisers describe an ordinary voter in their rules. Disney's Mousequerade sweepstakes let each entrant vote once and voided votes above that limit from the same person, email address or household, and the BBC Radio 1 Dance Awards treated votes outside the announced hours as invalid. Ordinary participation therefore comes from separate people inside the period; this describes what organisers count and is not a way past what they check.
In the United States, the FTC says real sweepstakes are free and decided by chance, and calls it illegal to ask you to pay or buy something to enter or to increase your odds of winning. That is why no order for votes is taken for a sweepstakes, giveaway or raffle. A contest decided by public vote is a different kind of thing, and whether paying for votes in one is lawful where you live is a question for a lawyer. Political ballots are refused too.
Votes ordered for a poll or contest that never appear in its count are refunded once the organiser's voting has closed. Timing is the organiser's call: National Geographic did not count likes, shares or other activity before its voting period began, and Sports & Social may end text voting early. A result, a disqualification or a voided vote stays with the organiser.