Two lucky savers have become millionaires overnight after NS&I announced the winners of May’s Premium Bonds prize draw.
The prize draw distributed almost six million prizes to those who have their cash saved in premium bonds, with the windfalls being collectively worth over £376 million.
Prizes ranged from the smallest and most common amount of £25, to the rarest prize of £1 million, with only two bondholders scooping this. Other prizes are worth anything between £1,000 and £100,000.
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The second £1 million winner holds bond number 643SE292364 and is based in the Scottish Highlands and Islands. They bought their winning bond in September 2025, meaning they held it for less than a year before they scooped the jackpot.
While jackpot winners are announced on the first working day of each month, winners of lower value prizes will not have to wait long until they can find out if they got lucky – you can check if you won from 2 May onwards.
How many people won in the May 2026 Premium Bonds prize draw?
Just under six million people will be richer after the prizes from the May Premium Bonds draw are distributed.
In total, there were 5,947,523 tax-free prizes drawn this month worth a collective £376,180,825.
While most of these prizes will be worth £25, there will still be a significant number of winners for higher-value prizes with 17,682 prizes worth between £1,000 and £100,000 distributed this month.
The table below shows the breakdown of May’s prize draw.
|
Value of prize |
Number of prizes |
|---|---|
|
£1,000,000 |
2 |
|
£100,000 |
71 |
|
£50,000 |
143 |
|
£25,000 |
285 |
|
£10,000 |
712 |
|
£5,000 |
1,425 |
|
£1,000 |
15,046 |
|
£500 |
45,138 |
|
£100 |
1,538,283 |
|
£50 |
1,538,283 |
|
£25 |
2,808,135 |
|
Total value of prizes |
Total number of prizes |
|
£376,180,825 |
5,947,523 |
Source: NS&I, 1 May
In May, the odds of winning a prize of any size stood at 23,000 to 1 for each £1 you have saved in Premium Bonds.
Meanwhile, the prize fund rate, the rate of return a bondholder with “average luck” can expect, was 3.3%.
How to check if you won in May’s prize draw
The jackpot winners in each month’s draw are told they won by receiving a visit from Agent Million, so if you didn’t get a mysterious knock on your door it’s unlikely you won the jackpot.
However, you may still have won a smaller prize.
All winners can check if they won Premium Bonds prizes ranging from £25 to £100,000 the day after the first working day of each month via the Premium Bonds prize checker app or by visiting the NS&I website.
For this month’s draw, you will be able to check if you won from 2 May onwards. Make sure you’ve got your Bond or NS&I number to hand so you can access your account.
As Premium Bonds do not expire, it may be worth checking if you have any prizes waiting for you even if you bought them years ago.
NS&I says over 99% of prizes have been paid to winners since draws began in 1957, but there are still millions of unclaimed Premium Bonds prizes.
We look at the alternatives to Premium Bonds in a separate piece.