Current competitions

The 2012 Sony Radio Awards for Schools will be divided into two categories:

The Music Entertainment Award 

The Documentary/Feature Award 

The Terms and conditions for the competition are as below:

Two awards will be made:

The Music Entertainment Award will be for a programme or programme sequence which seeks to provide entertainment and information, including the presentation of a significant amount of music in the overall mix. Entrants will be expected to demonstrate a lively presentation style combined with a knowledge of both the music and their audience needs. Credit will be given for the incorporation of additional editorial content such as news, competitions and interviews.

 The Feature/Documentary Award will be for a programme or programme excerpt which explores and explains a topic of interest to their audience. Entrants will be expected to demonstrate an engaging style combined with a well researched understanding of their topic and effective interviewing technique (where appropriate).

Both awards will demand a reasonable level of technical proficiency but entrants should not assume that only entries with the highest level of technical support can succeed. Both these awards are tests of creativity and talent, rather than a reflection of the size of the technical budget.

Entries are open to all schools throughout the United Kingdom who have registered with schoolsradio.com. (If you have not yet registered there is still time). Entry forms can be downloaded from www.schoolsradio.com.

Entries may be uploaded to schoolsradio.com or sent on a cd to the address below. Alternatively, entrants may include details of the URL at which the entry may be found as a part of their written submission (see below). Entries should be no more than 15 minutes in length and music tracks should be edited out leaving no more than ‘intro’ and ‘outro’.

All entries must also include a written submission which must contain the following:

The names of all pupils involved and a description of their roles (eg presenter, producer, writer, engineer - it will also be helpful to have an indication of the ages/school year of the students involved).

The name of the responsible member of staff with a brief description of their role and a contact telephone number.

A brief description of the radio facilities employed.

A brief description (not more than 250 words) of the purpose of the entry and the context in which it was originally broadcast.

Written submissions may be e-mailed to schoolsradio.com via the web site or sent to: Schoolsradio.com, PO Box 32, Martock, TA12 6JQ

The closing date for entries is Friday 27 January 2012

The winning schools will receive a trophy and a prize of Sony equipment to the value of £750 to improve their radio station. 

The responsible staff member will be invited to the national Sony Radio Awards dinner alongside the star performers from commercial radio and the BBC.

The winning students will be invited to a boardroom luncheon at the headquarters of Sony in the UK and a chance to see some of the latest Sony innovations in development.