Entry guidelines

AudioUK’s APAs uniquely focus on recognising and celebrating the teams and individuals behind some of your favourite podcasts, radio and audiobooks. Most of the categories now accept entries from individuals or teams of producers working closely together. Please read individual category citations to check what is accepted.

Entry deadline: All entries must be completely received by Wednesday 16th September 2026 at 2.00PM.

Qualifying period: All audio content entered must have been first broadcast, streamed or made available to download in the period 1st June 2025 to 31st May 2026.

Entry fee: Early Bird entry fee is £50+VAT for AudioUK Members and £60+VAT for non-members, and will run for 5 weeks until Sunday 30 August. From 31st August, the standard entry fee will be £65+VAT for AudioUK Members and £70+VAT for non-members until the final deadline on Wednesday 17th September at 2pm (Please Note: there will be no late extension to the entry deadline).

Pay What You Can Scheme supported by Amazon Music: Launched in 2021, the Pay What You Can scheme recognises that financial barriers to entering the Awards often mirror those faced in getting content made. It offers reduced entry fees and ticket prices to ensure talented creators aren’t excluded due to cost. We’re proud to once again partner with Amazon Music to expand the scheme and make the APAs more accessible to people who want to enter the awards, and would otherwise not be able to. Together, we’re committed to promoting inclusivity and equity across the podcast and audio industry.

There is no application process to access the scheme, simply email hello@theapas.co.uk to apply. If you are able to pay the full entry fee, please do so, as this helps to support the work of AudioUK, Audiotrain and the UK Audio industry.

Discount codes: You may see a 'Discount Code' box during payment. This is not active and member and non-member entry prices do not rely on codes. The only discount codes available are for the Pay What You Can scheme.

Payments: This year we are only able to accept online credit card payments. Unfortunately invoicing payments cannot be accepted.

Supporting statements: This is your opportunity to tell the Judges about yourself and your work. We recognise that everyone has different access to opportunities and resources. Judges will consider any challenges faced alongside the judging criteria. Your supporting statement must not exceed 600 words.

Audio clips: The maximum length of entries is 15 minutes. The exception to this is Producer of the Year, Publisher or Network of the Year and Production Company of the Year where the maximum length is 30 minutes. If uploading multiple clips and/or excerpts, the entry needs to include a tracklist (the running order for your entry) and be timestamped (the time at which each new clip comes in).

For example:
0:00 - Introduction to the programme
3:04 - Excerpt from Jazz special
6:23 - Interview with X

Entry content: Entries should be designed to demonstrate a body of work and show the Judges the quality of your work and breadth of production over the qualifying period from 1st June 2025 to 31st May 2026, including either:

• Multiple clips from one episode of a podcast, radio programme, audiobook; or across a series of episodes or programmes 
• Multiple clips from a range of different podcasts or programmes
• One exceptional long clip from a single episode or programme (if you feel this would be the best representation of your work)

Entry content is flexible based on what you feel is the best representation of your work.

Clips must be unedited and not re-mixed - i.e they must be taken from the original broadcast or upload of the podcast, programme or audiobook. Clips need to stand alone, set apart by adding 3 seconds of silence between each, and not linked by stings or jingles.

Please note: each category must receive a minimum of 3 entries. If a category does not achieve the minimum number of entries, the Awards team will contact the entrant prior to judging and will allow them to either transfer their entry into another category, or withdraw their entry and receive a full refund.

Number of entries: Entrants can submit as many entries to as many categories as they'd like but can only enter a maximum of two categories with the same audio content.

Judging: Our Judges are a diverse group of professionals from across the podcast and audio industry. We will publish their names once all judging has been completed but not which individual categories they judged.

Conflict of interest: We always strive for fairness and will allocate our Judges to categories in a way that eliminates any conflict of interest.

Awards: There will only be one award presented at the ceremony, even in group categories. Duplicate awards can be ordered after the event at an additional cost. The engravings on any duplicate award cannot be amended from the original.