26 journalists from over 21 publications were honoured in 16 categories, ranging from Sports Coverage to Best Design to Best Newcomer; all of which were judged by a panel of independent judges from across the journalism industry.

Best Comment

This category was judged by Asa Bennett, Assistant Comment Editor of the Telegraph. This category was introduced this year to recognise the best comment writers at a student level, taking into account argument, structure and flow.

Highly Commended: Costas Mourselas, York Vision

Winner: Mike Wrench, The Boar

Best Entertainment

This category was judged by Ella Dove of Prima Magazine. This category can focus on various areas such as music, film and culture. It could be anything from a music preview, a film critique or a theatre review.

Highly Commended: Reece Goodall, Rosie Eagers, Eleanor Dawson, Halimah Manan, Daljinder Johal, Lakshmi Ajay, The Boar

Winner: Dan Troman, The Student

Best Feature

This category was judged by Clare Foggett of Garden News Magazine. This category is for longer magazine style pieces about a specific area or focus. It looks at flow, structure, impact, passion and storytelling.

Special Mention:

• Zac Derler of The Founder at Royal Holloway
• Emma Yeomans of London Student

Highly Commended: Eamonn Crowe and Fiona Potigny, Exepose

Winner: Giusy Urbano, Exepose

Best Interview

This category was judged by Matthew Harris of Made in Cardiff TV. It aims to recognise the best interviews by student publications, whether with politicians, muscians or even a local community worker, looking at style, presentation and impact.

Special Mention: Jesse Samasuwo, The Boar

Highly Commended: Flora Carr, Exepose

Winner: Carwyn Williams, Gair Rhydd

Best News Story

This category was judged by Jonn Ellege, editor of City Metric. It is designed to reward quality news reporting, taking into account quality of source, structure and impact of the article on the intended audience.

Highly Commended: Peter Sheenan and Dan Falvey, Concrete

Winner: Nathan Stilwell, Glasgow Guardian

Best Student Photographer

This category was judged by Laura Garcia, freelancer. It recognises the best student photographers in the country, providing their publications with memorable, high-quality images showing student life and events.

Highly Commended: Jesse Beach Thomas, The Orbital

Winner: Dan West, Forge Press

Best Reporter

This category was judged by Bill Coles. It rewards consistently exceptional news reporting from an individual. It takes into account the range of stories, impact on the intending audience and the quality of journalism.

Highly Commended: Cassie Gilpin, The QH

Winner: Emma Yeomans, London Student

Best Use of Digital Media

This category was judged by Caroline North of Brighton Journalist Works. It aims to recognise the most innovative use of multimedia platforms, including audio and video, to enhance their publication’s content. This also includes the use of social media networks.

Highly Commended: Epigram, Bristol

Winner: Exepose, Exeter

Best Sports Coverage

This category was judged by James Toney, managing editor of Sportsbeat at News Associates. It aims to recognise the best sports coverage by university publications and reporters.

Highly Commended: Concrete, UEA

Winner: Gair Rhydd, Cardiff

Best Design (News)

This category was judged by Roger Kasper, editor of the Kent & Sussex Courier. It aims to recognise the best design and branding of student newspapers.

Highly Commended: Concrete, UEA

Winner: The Boar, Warwick

Best Design (Magazine)

This category was judged by Ashley Austin, head of graphics at the Kent Messenger Group. It aims to recognise the best design and branding of student magazines.

Highly Commended: Orbital, Royal Holloway

Winner: POW! Mag, Middlesex

Best Website

This category was judged by Nick Petrie, Deputy Head of Digital at The Times. It takes into account design, production, content and the overall impact, as well as user engagement.

Highly Commended: CUB Magazine, QMU

Winner: Pi Media, UCL

Outstanding Commitment

This category was jointly judged. Michael O’Connell Davidson, a previous winner of the Outstanding Commitment award, is now on a graduate training scheme with The Daily Mail. Current SPA chair, Jem Collins, also a previous winner of the award, is a freelance journalist. This category aims to reward members of publications who have truly gone above and beyond the call of duty, showing exceptional commitment and making a difference to the future of student media.

Highly Commended: Daniel Green, The Badger

Winner: Ben Jackson, London Student

Best Newcomer

This category was judged by Brenda Wong, Marketing Executive at Voxburner and former staff writer at Hexjam. This category was introduced this year to help encourage and recognise the exceptional work of new publications to the student media landscape in the UK and Ireland. It takes into account the quality of content, relevance to the student community and achievements in other awards and is only open to publications under three years old.

Highly Commended: Steal This ‘Zine, Kent

Winner: London Student

Best Specialist

This category was judged by Mićo Tatalović, the Environment Editor of the New Scientist. This category was introduced this year to recognise the broadening of the SPA to academic journals, supplements, science websites and more. It takes into account quality of content, design and other achievements.

Special Mention:

• Frontier, Concrete (UEA)
• Steal This ‘Zine (Kent)

Highly Commended: Politics Made Public

Winner: The Gist, Glasgow and Strathclyde Universities

Best Publication

This category was judged by Roberta Cohen, Lead Tutor in Postgraduate Diplomas in Multimedia Magazine Journalist at the Press Association. It aims to represent the best overall student publication in the two countries, and takes into account relevance to their student community, quality of content produced and their achievements across the other award categories.

Highly Commended: Epigram, Bristol

Winner: Concrete, UEA

The biggest winners of the night were Concrete with 5 awards.

They were closely followed by Exepose, The Boar and London Student, each with 4 awards each.

The biggest individual winner of the night was Emma Yeomans from London Student, with two awards.