#SPANC26 location and dates revealed
Gaining inspiration/moodboards
2026 National Awards officially open!
The Student Publication Association National Awards are back for another year, and entries for the 2026 prizes are now open!
Our awards celebrate the exceptional work you've been doing throughout the year, to make your publication and your work stand out from the crowd.
Submissions are due by 11:59pm on Sunday, 15th February. All entries must be submitted via our online entry form.
Winners will be announced at our glitzy awards dinner at #SPANC26 in Norwich on March 28th.
At the SPA, we are aware that our industry's diversity is its strength.
As part of our charitable aims - one of which is to break down barriers - for the first time we will be collecting an opt-in data collection alongside our awards entries, to hold up a mirror to how we are doing in encouraging participation from a range of people and backgrounds.
We're doing this because we want to learn more about the people entering our national awards to continue to improve our representation as a charity and as a player in the industry.
If you want to help us in this, there is a link to a separate form at the end of your awards entry.
Entries close in
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Make sure to read our full awards guide before submitting your nominations. You can also find insider tips by registering for our new membership hub - a central place for all SPA members to access our training and resources.
Our national award winners will be announced as part of the Student Publication Association National Conference 2026 (#SPANC26), the most-anticipated event of the student journalism calendar.
#SPANC26 is heading to Norwich from March 27th to 29th.
Hosted by Concrete, #SPANC26 brings a weekend of talks, workshops, networking and awards to England's first UNESCO City of Literature.
Publication Awards
Individual Awards
The Rules
- The deadline for entries is 11:59pm on Sunday, 15th February. Any work submitted after this will not be accepted.
- Entries will only be accepted from entrants who are students in the current academic year (2025/2026), or those who graduated in the previous academic year (2024/2025).
- All work entered must have been published between Monday 17 February 2025 and Sunday 15 February 2026.
- We cannot accept submissions published in publications which are not SPA members as we cannot ensure this work is fully student-led. You can see if your publication is a member here and if it isn’t, you can apply for it to become a member here.
- The maximum number of entries per category is as follows:
(a) For Best News Story, Best Feature, Best Interview, Best Investigation, Best Comment Piece, Best Lifestyle Piece, Best Arts and Culture Piece, Best Creative Piece, and Best Science or Tech Piece you may nominate yourself a maximum of two times.
(b) For Best Reporter, Best Student Photographer, Rising Star, Best Sports Reporter, and Best Culture Writer you may nominate yourself a maximum of one time.
(c) For categories under (a) and (b) you may also nominate people other than yourself. There is no limit for on the number of other people you can nominate. In the event they nominate themselves for the same category, only their entry/entries will be taken forward. In the event they are nominated more than once/twice - category dependent - by another person the entries taken forward will be at the discretion of the shortlisters.
(d) Once per publication for: Best Publication, Best Specialist Publication, Best Newcomer Publication, Best Website, Best Newspaper Design, Best Magazine Design, Best Overall Digital Media, Best Science Publication or Section, Best Sports Section, and Best Culture Publication or Section(s).
(e) There is no limit on nominations for the Billy Dowling-Reid Award for Outstanding Commitment. - In the event that more than the maximum number of entries is received, the SPA will endeavour to ask the publication’s editor (for publication entries) or the individual journalist (for individual entries) for clarity but
reserves the right to accept only the most recent entry or entries received. - In general, work may not be entered into more than one category.The following exemptions apply:
(a) Entries for the following categories may be formed in part of entries also submitted in other categories: Best Publication, Best Specialist Publication, Best Newcomer Publication, Best Website, Best Overall Digital Media, Best Science Publication or Section, Best Culture Publication or Section(s).
(b) Entries for Best Reporter, Best Sports Reporter, Best Culture Writer and Rising Star may feature one article that has been submitted for another award. If this limit is exceeded, the entry for Best Reporter/Writer will be disregarded.
(c) Entries for the following categories may be similar but may not be identical to each other: Best Publication, Best Specialist Publication, Best Newcomer Publication, Best Website, Best Overall Digital Media, Best Science Publication or Section, Best Culture Publication or Section(s). - Any work that is entered may be used by the SPA for promotional purposes.
- The decisions of shortlisters and judges are final.
- Work can be submitted in English, Welsh or Gaelic.
Should you need to amend a submission, we ask that you email us on admin@spajournalism.com with “CORRECTION: National Awards” in the subject line before the nominations closing date.
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