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Your chance to win: SPA Regional Awards 2025 open for entries
Every year, student journalists and publications from across the country enter their best work into our regional awards, going up against their closest neighbours to take home a prize.
The awards are held for each of the SPA’s eight regions: London, the North, the Midlands, the South East, the South West, Ireland & Northern Ireland, Scotland and Wales.
The 2025 Regional Awards are a great opportunity to warm up for our national awards at #SPANC25. The bidding process to host the national conference in the spring of 2025 is currently open with last bids accepted on 13th October at midnight.
For this year’s regional awards, we have an expanded set of eight categories, split evenly between publication and individual, which our members can enter. Find out more on these below, plus how to enter.
Publication awards
Individual awards
Entries Close
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You will be required to sign in with a Google account in order to fill out the entry form and upload files
In-person Events
Following on from the success of the 2024 Regional Awards ceremony held in Ireland earlier this year, we listened to our members from other regions who wanted a similar event of their own. The intention this year is to hold an in-person event, centred around the presentation of the regional awards, in each of the SPA's eight regions. This is one of the primary reasons for the regional awards being brought forward to before Christmas.
These in-person events will take place during the last week of November and first week of December (may extend into early January depending on when each region can organise their event for).
If your publication is interested in hosting an event, reach out to your Regional Officer or the Conference and Events Officer, Roxy-Moon.
Stay tuned for more announcements soon on when, and how, the regional awards ceremonies will be held.
With a revised timeline and expanded categories, the regional awards this year offer more opportunities than ever before for all members, both publications and individuals, to showcase their work from the last year. Entering the regionals is the perfect way to prepare for the national awards, and gives each of our eight regions a chance celebrate their own wonderful student journalists and publications. Wishing all entrants the very best of luck.
The SPA regional awards are a great opportunity to celebrate the magnificent range of talent that Irish student journalism has to offer. I would encourage everyone to submit their work - you never know what may come of it!
Wherever you are - be it Scotland, the South East or Northern Ireland - the SPA regional awards are a fantastic way to give your publication and its journalists a platform. There is so much amazing talent out there, and now is the time for it to be celebrated and recognised!
Entering the Regionals Awards was such a great way to have my work recognised by professional journalists and was such a motivational boost. It set me up well to apply for the National Awards later in the year, and I enjoyed reading the winning entries from across my region.
Regional awards are a brilliant opportunity to showcase your publication’s hard work but also a chance to remind yourself of how far you’ve come - whether you’re submitting your first article or your 50th make sure you show off your best work!
The small print
- The deadline for entries is 11:59pm on November 14th, 2024. Any work submitted after this time will not be accepted.
- Entrants must be students during the current academic year (2024/25) or have graduated last academic year (2023/24).
- All work submitted must have been published in an SPA member publication between January 14, 2024 and November 14, 2024. Unfortunately, we cannot accept submissions published in publications which are not SPA members as we cannot ensure this work is fully student-led. Apply to become a member here.
- Work can be submitted in English, Welsh or Gaelic.
- Entries for awards in the individual category must not have previously been submitted to the national awards in 2024 (please note, entries to the 2025 Regional Awards will not be precluded from the 2025 National Awards). Where a portfolio is required, for example Best Journalist, you may include an article that was submitted to the 2024 National Awards.
- The maximum number of entries per category is as follows:
- One per publication for: Best Publication, Best Digital, Best Design (Print), and Best Specialist Publication.
- Two per individual for: Best Article
- One per individual for: Outstanding Commitment, Best Journalist, and Best Student Photographer
- In the event that more than the maximum number of entries is received, the SPA will endeavour to query with the publication's editor (for publication entries) or the individual journalist (for individual entries), but reserves the right to accept only the most recent entry received.
- Any work that is entered may be used by the SPA for promotional purposes.
- As in previous years, there will be no shortlisting for the regional awards this year.
- The decisions of the judges are final.
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