RTS Scotland Awards 2025

The RTS Scotland Awards 2025 is now open!

Full Category Criteria via Entry Portal

OR

Download Guidance HERE

What Categories are Awarded? 

New and Updated Categories added for 2025

• Daytime & Features
• Documentary
• Entertainment
• Original Music Score
• Specialist Factual
• Sport 
• Young Journalist Award (Now for those 33 or younger)

Returning Categories for 2025

• Actor – Female
• Actor – Male
• Camera (Craft)
• Children's
• Comedy
• Current Affairs
• Director: Non-Scripted
• Director: Scripted
• Drama
• Live Event 
• News
• On-Screen Personality
• Post Production: Editing (Craft)
• Post Production: Motion Design & Animation
• Short Form
• Sound (Craft)
• Writer

How Do I Enter? 

CLICK HERE to create your account and enter the RTS Scotland awards

• The cost of each entry is £96 (£80 + £16 VAT)
• Please make payment by card online. A link to pay can be found on your invoice that is generated once your entry has been submitted. BACs is unavailable unless you are an approved broadcaster

Criteria & Guidelines

• Creativity
• Originality and innovation
• Entertainment value
• Use of resources
• Professionalism

All work must have been aired on TV, distributed for non-­broadcast or streamed online for the first time between 01 January 2024 and 31 December 2024 inclusive.

Work should be commissioned and not simply self-promoting.

Entries must qualify as a Scottish regional production. To qualify, entries must meet two out of the following three criteria, as agreed by OFCOM:

1. the production company must have a substantive business and production based in Scotland
2. at least 70% of the production budget must be spent in Scotland; and
3. at least 50% of the production talent by cost must have their usual place of employment in Scotland

For more information, visit the link below

Regional Production and Regional Programme Guidance from 2021 (ofcom.org.uk)

Judging Process

• Each entry will be judged by industry experts drawn from appropriate disciplines into sub-committees responsible for specific categories. Each sub-committee will have a chair of the category judging panel. Judges will consider all submitted content, contextual notes and testimonials.
• Judging will take place from April and the decision of the judges will be final and no correspondence can be entered into as to why particular entries were not chosen for nomination. In the event of a tie in any category, the Chair will have the casting vote.
• Programmes scheduled to have episodes from one series in two separate eligibility periods cannot enter the same series in two consecutive years
• Under normal circumstances awards will not be made posthumously. Entries made and judged prior to any individual’s death will be awarded as planned.
• Please take care to comply with the entry requirements of each category. Be careful to follow guidance on length of submitted video material, additional written information and qualifying time period to ensure compliance.
• The entries will be judged based on what entrants submit, not on the judges’ memories of the original transmission or their knowledge of the entrant’s other work.
• Except when otherwise stated, the definition of ‘broadcast’ is taken to include web streaming and Video On Demand.
• The judges retain the right to combine categories or not to offer an award, if there are too few entries in a category.
• Should your entry be nominated you will be expected to provide a broadcast quality clip, for inclusion in the awards ceremony nominee compilation.
• If a clip does not meet the criteria in any way, the entry fee will not be refunded. So please double check that any clips were first transmitted between 01 January 2024 and 31 December 2024 inclusive and qualify as a Scottish production.
• Due to the volume of entries, some categories now request a timecode for judges to begin viewing a 12 - 30 minute except (award dependent).

Nominations

• All nominees will receive a notification email
• All notifications around the awards and award ceremony will be sent to your supplied email address
• The full list of nominations will be available online by May 2025
• Please be aware that should your entry receive a nomination (nominations will be announced at the beginning of May), your 20 second nomination clips will be projected on the large screen at the ceremony in HD.

How to Enter

• Click here to create your account and enter the RTS Scotland Awards

Payment

• Fee: The cost of each entry is £96 (£80 + £16 VAT)
• Payment: Please make payment by card online. A link to pay can be found on your invoice that is generated once your entry has been submitted. BACs is unavailable unless you are an approved broadcaster
• Payment Deadline: Monday 17 March 2025.
• Payment T&Cs:
  
  • Refunds will not be offered once payments have been processed.
  • Entries will not progress to the judging panel until payment is received. To avoid delays, please submit your payment promptly. Approved broadcasters are unaffected.

Entry Uploads

• • Video Formats
    
    • Any clips submitted should preferably be H264 HD .mp4 or .mov.
    • RTS will not be held responsible for any video quality problems

• • Where multiple clips are permissible
    
    • Each clip must come from the same programme or series. E.g. clip 1: This Farming Life :Episode 1 (12 mins ), clip 2 : This Farming Life :Episode 4 (12 mins) and clip 3 : This Farming Life :Episode 5 (12 mins)
    • This is to address the situation where - for instance - one single editor or director has not completed the whole show. They have maybe edited a ‘package’ that is slotted into the main programme E.g. This Farming Life, Island Medics etc.
    • Alternatively, three separate clips from the same programme - Eg a comedy sequence, an action sequence and a dramatic sequence from the same programme. These should not be edited together and must be as they appear in the final programme

• • Timecode
    
    • Due to the volume of entries in some categories a timecode is requested. Judges will use this to start viewing a 12 - 30 minute except (award dependent).
    • If no timecode if provided, judges will view the first 12 - 30 minute except (award dependent) of the uploaded programme

• • Two Stills
    
    • The 18 x 9 and 16 x 9 Programme Publicity Stills can be the same image or entirely different. 
    • If your entry is shortlisted, these images will be used for display and publicity
    • Landscape images preferred. Any images that are incorrectly sized on upload will be cropped without approval

• RTS Scotland Permissions

  • • The RTS requires the rights to show excerpts from the nominated and winning shows and individuals on the night; for use on promotion of the RTS and awards; and on-screen news coverage. This includes the use of music and on screen actor, actresses and personalities
    • The RTS may use any uploaded publicity stills on its website and social media, therefore please ensure they have been cleared for copyright and by uploading them you give the Society permission to use them.

The Award Ceremony

• Takes place on Friday 06 June 2025 at The Old Fruitmarket, Glasgow
• Sign up to our mailing list or follow us on socials to find out when tickets are released

Support Help

• For any general enquires, please contact RTSScotland@rts.org.uk
• For any technical support, please contact RTSScotland@rts.org.uk or call 0207 822 2820

We are a busy industry but try not to leave it to the last day to enter. Give your entry the attention it deserves.

Complete areas with care and check spelling, as we will print the exact information you provide.

Good luck!

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RTS Scotland Website

www.rts.org.uk/region/scotland

Join the RTS

membership@rts.org.uk