Running UK Prize Competitions: Skill Questions, Free Postal Entry and the DCMS Code

In Great Britain, most online "raffles" with paid tickets run as prize competitions, not lotteries. The difference is legal, not cosmetic. A paid draw decided by chance alone is a lottery, which most businesses can't run. A competition with a genuine skill question and a free way to enter can fall outside that definition. This guide explains the rules a site has to support, and how the Prize competitions add-on for RaffKing and PrizeX helps you run draws that way.

The two ways a paid draw stays out of lottery rules

Under the Gambling Act 2005, an arrangement is a lottery when people pay to take part and prizes are allocated by a process that relies wholly on chance (section 14). There are two recognised ways out:

• A skill, judgement or knowledge test. It has to be hard enough that it can reasonably be expected to stop a significant proportion of people from entering or from winning. The Gambling Commission says multiple-choice questions, or questions that allow a second try after a wrong answer, rarely meet this test.
• A free entry route. Under Schedule 2, a draw isn't a paid one if everyone can enter either by paying or by sending a communication by ordinary post. The free route has to be publicised to everyone who might enter, and free entries can't be treated differently from paid ones when prizes are allocated. Charging people to find out whether they won, or to claim a prize, counts as payment.

Many UK operators use both: a real question, plus a postal route.

The DCMS code for prize draw operators

The Department for Culture, Media and Sport has published a voluntary code of good practice for prize draw operators. Signatories agreed to implement it fully no later than 20 May 2026. It includes:

• Free entry shown clearly and prominently before purchase, with enough time allowed for postal entries to arrive (2.4).
• An equal chance of winning each prize for free and paid entries (2.2).
• Clear information on the likelihood of winning before entry, where possible (2.3).
• Players aged 18 or over, with a reasonable age verification process (1.1).
• Spend limits: a cap on credit card payments, and monthly spend limits (1.3, 1.4).

How the Prize competitions add-on works

Prize competitions is an add-on for the lottery and raffle features in RaffKing and PrizeX, available from Add-ons in your admin panel. In this version it covers lotteries and raffles. It costs $19.

A skill question on every draw

• Set per draw. On each draw's form you write a question and its accepted answers. A free-text answer is compared after trimming spaces and ignoring capital letters, and you can accept more than one wording.
• Multiple choice is available, but the form warns you, quoting the Gambling Commission, that it rarely meets the test.
• Answered before payment. Every entrant answers before they pay. A blank or wrong answer is refused before any money is taken. The same check runs on every way into the draw: the draw's page, quick play, the mobile app, free prize tickets from games, and free postal entries.
• One answer per account (optional, per draw). A wrong answer locks that account out of the draw, paid or free, so nobody can guess repeatedly. An admin can unlock an account for a good reason, such as a checked typing slip, and every unlock is recorded in the admin log.
• Fixed once tickets sell. After the first ticket is sold, the question and its answers can't be changed, and the competition can't be switched off, because every entry was judged against them.

Free entry by post, with an equal chance

• Shown before purchase. The draw's page shows an "Enter free by post" box beside the question, with the same prominence. It gives the address to write to, what to include (name, account email, the draw and the answer), the date letters must arrive by, and how many free entries each person may make. It also says plainly that a free entry goes into the same draw with the same chance of winning.
• Logged by your team. Your team records each letter on the admin's Free entries page: the customer's account, the draw, their answer, the date it arrived and a reference written on the letter.
• Entered like a paid ticket. The entry is created through the draw's own ticket purchase at no cost, so it's checked, numbered and drawn exactly like a paid ticket. A wrong answer is refused just as it would be for a paid entry.
• Each letter only once. A letter's reference can be entered only once per draw, even if two admins try at the same moment. Letters that arrive after your closing date are flagged.
• One limit for both routes. If the draw has a per-person ticket limit, the per-person limit covers paid and free entries together. The free-entry cap you set on the draw is a further limit on free entries alone.

GB prize competition mode

One setting, GB prize competition mode, starts every new lottery and raffle as a prize competition, with a question and the postal route. You can still switch it on or off per draw. As the setting itself says, it's for Great Britain only. Northern Ireland and other countries have different rules.

What the add-on doesn't cover

• Age verification. Sign-up on RaffKing and PrizeX is limited to 18 and over. Identity and age checks beyond that come with the KYC add-on: a manual ID upload your team reviews, or Sumsub or Veriff.
• Spend limits. Monthly spend limits and credit card caps aren't built in. Plan how you'll meet them, for example through your payment provider's settings.
• Mystery boxes and auctions. This version covers lotteries and raffles only.
• Your terms, marketing and question quality. The add-on checks answers; it can't judge whether your question is hard enough. That's for you and your lawyer.

Never present a prize competition as a way to make money, and never market it to under-18s.

Common questions

What is a UK prize competition?

A paid prize draw that stays outside lottery rules, usually by including a genuine skill question and a free entry route by post. Under the Gambling Act 2005, a paid draw decided wholly by chance is a lottery.

Do free postal entries have the same chance of winning?

They must. With the Prize competitions add-on, a logged postal entry is created through the same ticket purchase as a paid one, so it goes into the same draw with the same chance of winning.

Can entrants try the question again after a wrong answer?

Not if you turn on "one answer per account" for the draw. A wrong answer then locks that account out of the draw, paid or free, unless an admin unlocks it for a good reason.

Does the add-on make my site legally compliant?

No. It supports your compliance with the GB rules for prize competitions, but the operator is responsible for the draw, its terms and its marketing. Check with a UK lawyer before you launch.