Advanced oxidation processes (AOPs) are one of the important methods to remove emerging organic contaminants in water. In this study, we investigated the degradation kinetics of carbamazepine (CBZ) during the activation of sulfite by Fe(Ⅱ) (Fe(Ⅱ)/sulfite system) and the contribution of reactive oxidative species to the degradation of CBZ in this process. The research results showed that the removal of CBZ at 20 min in the Fe(Ⅱ)/sulfite system increased with the concentration of sulfite increasing from 0.20 mmol/L to 0.50 mmol/L, while the removal of carbamazepine did not further increase with further increasing the sulfite concentration. CBZ could be degraded in the Fe(Ⅱ)/sulfite system over the initial pH (pH_ini) range of 3.0~7.0. The removal of CBZ at pH_ini 5.0 was the highest and was 87.3% at equilibrium. In addition, SO₄^2- and Cl^- in the Fe(Ⅱ) salt had no influence on the degradation of CBZ in the Fe(Ⅱ)/sulfite system. The results of electron paramagnetic resonance and quenching experiments showed that the reactive oxidative species in the Fe(Ⅱ)/sulfite system included sulfate radical (SO₄^-·), hydroxyl radical (HO·) and peroxymonosulfate radical (SO₅^-·), contributing to the degradation of CBZ,and the degradation of CBZ was mainly contributed by SO₄^-· and HO·.