NS&I's Ernie selects 255 Premium Bond winners in December 2025 draw

NS&I's Premium Bonds prize draw picker Ernie has selected 255 winners in the December 2025 draw, according to This Is Money, which cited a Daily Mail report. Ernie is NS&I's Electronic Random Number Indicator Equipment, a compact computer used to run the monthly prize draw since 1957. The December draw is part of a program that has drawn hundreds of millions of prizes and remains a staple of Britain's savings options.

On the first working day of every month, more than 22 million Premium Bonds holders await news of a win. Ernie scans through about 133 billion bond numbers in roughly 20 minutes, using quantum-inspired technology to produce random results. Each £1 bond has the same odds of winning, regardless of when it was purchased. Investors may hold between £25 and £50,000 in Premium Bonds, and the average holding sits at around £5,613.

Beyond the headline numbers, the December 2025 draw underscores the mix of names among winners. An analysis of recent draws shows that David and Susan are among the most common first names for Premium Bonds winners over the past five years. In 2025, Ernests—often shortened to Ernie—produced a significant share of winners, with 248 individuals named Ernest winning prizes, while seven winners were named Ernie, underscoring the lighthearted nickname attached to the random-number generator.

In total, 2025 proved a busy year for Ernie. The machine selected around 72 million prize-winning bonds across the year’s monthly draws, a pace that contributes to NS&I’s long-running record of prize distributions. Since the first draw in June 1957, NS&I’s random-number engine has drawn 803 million prizes with a total value of about £39 billion.

Prizes range from £25 to £1 million and are tax-free. The draw is designed so that every £1 bond entered has an equal chance of winning, with the odds increasing with the number of bonds held. Investors can accumulate multiple bonds, potentially boosting the probability of a prize but not guaranteeing one.

The December 2025 set of winners includes top prizes of up to £1 million in multiple regions, along with substantial regional prizes such as £100,000 awards spread across several counties and related prizes of £50,000 in Wiltshire and other amounts. These distributions provide a cross-section of the program’s reach across England and the regions where Premium Bonds are popular.

The Premium Bonds program dates to 1957, and NS&I continues to publish results on the basis of a uniform random process. The prize draw operates on the first working day of each month, reinforcing the ongoing appeal of Premium Bonds as a savings vehicle that offers tax-free prizes and a straightforward, rules-based structure. While media interest in name trends and lottery-like outcomes can be high, NS&I emphasizes that Ernie does not show favoritism; the outcome reflects the random process that governs every bond’s odds.

These notes come as the broader market for savings products remains competitive, with NS&I highlighting the simplicity and reliability of Premium Bonds as a savings option. Editorial notes accompanying coverage emphasize that This Is Money reported on the Daily Mail feature, but NS&I’s official statements confirm that Ernie’s operation is designed to be neutral and random, with a long-standing history in British personal finance.