Young Animator of the Year UK 2026

Young Animator of the Year Awards 2026

The Young Animator of the Year Awards are back, with a remit to foster and encourage emerging animation talent in the UK. 

This free nationwide competition invites young animators aged 11-22 to showcase their skills in stop-motion, 2D or 3D animation. The deadline is 1 Sept 2026. 

The successful winning films will premiere in November at the Manchester Animation Festival, the UK’s largest animation event.  As always, we encourage our students here at Animation Apprentice to enter competitions like this one. 

"Young Arrows" Animation Awards Now Open

The "Young Arrows" animation awards are open

Calling all Animation Apprentice graduates working in the advertising industry - The "Young Arrows" animation awards are now open, and entry is completely free.  Up to three entries may be submitted. The "Young Arrows" awards are judged by media professionals in the UK.  To find out how to enter, download the PDF of the entry rules and regulations.   The deadline is September 3rd. 

Young Animator of The Year Competition 2025

Young Animator of the Year Competition 2025

There is still time to enter the Young Animator of the Year Competition 2025.  

The Competition, created by Access VFX and supported by Screen Skills, BAFTA and the BAA Awards, is judged by professional animators. Winning films will be announced and premiered at the Manchester Animation festival.  Entry must be completed by September 1st, and is open to animators in the UK aged 11-22.  You can find more about it here: https://younganimator.uk/competition #animation #YAYUK

Cartoon Museum "Comics Maestro Competition"

"Young Comics Maestro" Competition

The Alison Brown "Young Comics Maestro" Competition closes in 11 days, on 30 June.  London's Cartoon Museum is looking for the next big "18 or Under" comic artist.

Send in your best comic strip to the Cartoon Museum, three pages max, to enter the competition and get your work in front of judges from The Beano, The Phoenix, and The Cartoon Museum. The deadline is Sunday 30 June at 6pm. 

2023 Rookies Now Open

All of our graduating students at Animation Apprentice are encouraged to enter The Rookie Awards, the international competition for young creatives. The competition opens today, Tuesday March 7th 2023 - and the final deadline is 1st June.

The Rookies was founded in 2009 to "showcase the most talented student designers, illustrators, film makers, animators, developers, digital artists, and launch them into the career of their dreams." All our graduating students should enter.

11 Second Club December 2022

This month a number of our student animators are polishing their character animation skills by entering The 11 Second Club, the monthly character animation competition in which aspiring animators compete to win prizes and get their work noticed.   Animators from all over the world participate, animating a character speaking a line of dialogue, which is provided on the first day of every month by the club. 

Young Cartoonist of The Year Awards 2022

The Young Cartoonists of the Year Competition is back. This year the deadline for submissions is 22 January 2023.

Hosted by the Cartoon Museum in London, the annual competition seeks to reward rising cartoon talent. 

Judges include Martin Rowson (The Guardian), Christian Adams (Evening Standard), Banx (FT), Peter Brookes (The Times), Nick Newman (Private Eye), and Matt Pritchard from the Daily Telegraph.  Entry is free. 

Entries can be mailed in (via old school Royal Mail) to the Cartoon Museum,  at 63 Wells St, London W1T 3PT, or emailed to hello@cartoonmuseum.org.

As always, we encourage all our students to enter competitions such as this one. 

Young Cartoonists of the Year Competition 2021

The Young Cartoonists of the Year Competition is back. 

Hosted by the Cartoon Museum, now re-opened after its long Covid-19-slumber, the annual competition seeks to reward rising cartoon talent. 

Judges include leading cartoonists such as Martin Rowson (The Guardian), Christian Adams (Evening Standard), Banx (FT), Peter Brookes (The Times), Nick Newman (Private Eye), and Matt from the Daily Telegraph. 

There are two categories: Under 18 and Under 30; the deadline is 5 January 2022, and entries can be mailed in (old school Royal Mail) to the Cartoon Museum, or emailed to hello@cartoonmuseum.org.