The awards ceremony, sponsored by Motion Content Group, is set to take place on Friday 26th June 2020 at the BFI Southbank, London.

The RTS Student Television Awards celebrate the best audiovisual work created by students across the UK, with both an Undergraduate and Postgraduate winner awarded in each category across Animation, Comedy & Entertainment, Drama, Factual, News and Short Form.

The awards provide an unparalleled opportunity for students’ work to be seen and critiqued by industry heavyweights, with the judges looking for strong story-telling, innovation, outstanding visual and aural creativity with high quality craft skills.

Chair of the RTS Student Television Awards, Siobhan Greene said: “I was bowled over by the experience of chairing the RTS Student Awards this year.”

“The standards set in each category exceeded every expectation and the work was relentlessly creative and inspiring. I came away feeling uplifted and moved by what I saw.”

“You've got to be in it to win it, and if you are considering entering I would say do it. You don't know who is watching and the impact the work may have. The very best of luck."

All entries must have been made during the 2018/2019 academic year and must be submitted by students attending higher education institutions and from students aged 16 and over attending further education courses.

Applications must be made via the online submission form and the deadline for submissions is Friday 25th October 2019.

Click here for more information and conditions of how to enter

 

Student Television Awards Categories

For each category, two awards will be presented for Undergraduate and Postgraduate entries.

 

Animation

This award is for videos which are primarily cartoons, computer or electronically generated images.

Judges will look for technical competence, originality and the ability for the animation to enhance the way a story can be told or a message conveyed.

There is no maximum running time for entries but you are encouraged to aim at 15 minutes or less.

 

Comedy and Entertainment

This award is for videos of:

• Situation comedies, comedy dramas, or sketch shows
• Entertainment programmes, e.g. game shows, shiny-floor Saturday night programmes, quiz or panel shows, chat shows or other studio-based shows
• Factual entertainment programmes including reality shows and popular factual programmes, e.g. Gogglebox, Love Island or First Dates
• Music programmes or videos 

Judges will look for technical competence (camerawork, sound on location, mixing and dubbing, editing, direction), quality scriptwriting, engaging presentation, humour where appropriate, pace and audience interest and engagement.

For this category, entries have a maximum running time: for Undergraduate entries, it is 30 minutes and for Postgraduate entries, 60 minutes.

 

Drama

This award is for drama and other scripted dramatic work.

Judges will be looking for a strong dramatic storyline, with a script which helps portray and possibly develop characters, direction which adds value to the script, and a range of technical and production competences to deliver a memorable dramatic effect.

For this category, entries have a maximum running time: for Undergraduate entries, it is 30 minutes and for Postgraduate entries, 60 minutes.

Please note if the drama is primarily comedy drama it should be entered in Comedy and Entertainment.

 

Factual

This award is for videos of:

• Documentaries
• Specialist factual programmes such as arts, history, science, natural history and the environment
• Feature programmes such as magazine shows, fashion, cookery, travel, property and other popular formatted programmes

In documentaries and specialist factual, judges will be looking for a strong story, told so that it has impact, with characters who speak well, a script which helps understanding, all conveyed with technical excellence, editing and direction.

In feature programmes, judges will consider more widely the way in which the shows engage viewers and how they are presented.

For this category, entries have a maximum running time: for Undergraduate entries, it is 30 minutes and for Postgraduate entries, 60 minutes.

 

News

This award is for reports of university news or news from the wider community.

Entries are expected to demonstrate an understanding of the aim of television journalism to report the "who, what, when, where, why and how?" of events and issues using video storytelling by camera and sound and, where appropriate, devices such as mobile phones.

Entries should not exceed 15 minutes.

 

Short Form

This award is for short, free-form videos with no restriction on style or content.

Judges will look for originality, creativity and invention in content and techniques.

Entries should not exceed 5 minutes.

 

Craft Skill Awards

Direct entries are not accepted for the Craft Skill Awards but will be made from the winning category entries at both Regional and National Awards Ceremonies.

At the national level, the Craft Skills Awards will be chosen only from the national nominations in each of the following categories:

• Camerawork
• Editing
• Production Design
• Sound
• Writing