Updated 31 August 2025

Awards, prizes and bursaries

THE FREELANCE is aware of the following awards, prizes and bursaries with deadlines coming soon:

Nominations for the Write to End Violence Against Women Awards - endorsed by the NUJ - close on 30 September 2025. Nominate an article here.

Good luck!

Some that you missed

Entries for the Reuters Institute Journalist Fellowship Programme re-open in January 2026: see here. Open to practising, mid-career journalists.
Entries for the Guardian Foundation Emerging Voices Awards (previously the Hugo Young Awards) will re-open in early 2026.
Entries for the Amnesty Media Awards 2025 awards closed on 4 February 2025.
Entries for the Stern-Bryan Fellowship closed at 17:00 on 3 March 2025: see here. The Fellowship offers early-career journalists support to spend three months at the Washington Post and write for the paper.
Entries for the Paul Foot Awards for Investigative and Campaigning Journalism closed at 13:00 on 4 March 2025: see here. Open to all investigative journalists.
Entries for the Orwell Society / NUJ Young Journalists' Award closed on 24 March 2025: see here. Open to employed, freelance and student journalists under 30.
Entries for the Scott Trust Bursary closed on 25 March 2025: see here. Open to students who face financial difficulty in attaining the qualifications needed to pursue a career in journalism.
Entries for the Lyra McKee Investigative Journalism Training and Mentoring Bursary 2025 closed on 31 March 2025 at 23:59: see here. The organisers especially welcome applications from people from poorer backgrounds, people of colour, people with disabilities, carers, members of the LGBTQ+ community, Travellers and anyone who cannot afford to pay for the Centre for Investigative Journalism summer training.
Entries for the 16 US National Press Club Awards closed on 5 May 2025. See eligibility guidance; there was a fee of $140 for those who do not pay for membership of the Club ($338 per year to those outside the DC area).
Entries for the Kurt Schork Awards in International Journalism closed at midnight GMT on Sunday 15 June 2025: apply here. The three awards - for a freelance, a local journalist and a news fixer - commemorate freelance journalist Kurt Schork, who was killed in 2000 while on assignment for Reuters in Sierra Leone.
Entries for the Press Gazette Future of Media Awards - which "recognise the best podcasts, apps, newsletters, video journalism, websites and examples of cutting-edge digital storytelling" - closed on 19 June 2025: apply here.
Applications for the Sir Harry Evans Global Fellowship closed on Monday 7 July 2025. It offers "an exceptional early career journalist: a nine-month fellowship with Durham University and Reuters to undertake an investigative project" and pays £4444 per month. Apply here.
We think applications for the House magazine Lord Cormack Fellowship closed in July 2025. It offered in effect a one-month internship with Parliament’s independent and cross-party publication, paid the London Living Wage, with accommodation provided by the Royal Foundation of St Katharine for those requiring it.
Applications for the European Commission Youth4Regions programme for aspiring journalists closed on 7 July at 16:00 BST. Successful applicants will spend a week in Brussels from 11-17 October 2025 to receive hands-on training, expert mentoring, and newsroom experience. They will also have an opportunity to visit EU institutions and media organisations. Applications are open to those studying or working in journalism, photography, and videography. You must be 18-30 years old and from either an EU member state, a neighbouring country, or a candidate country. Apply here.
Entries for the Rory Peck Awards closed on Thursday 10 July. Thre is a £35 entry fee for freelances, though this may be waived. Apply here.
Entries for the George Viner Memorial Fund bursary to support Black and Asian students on journalism courses closed on Thursday 31 July 2025; apply here.
Entries for the Freelancing for Journalists Freelance Journalism Awards 2025 closed at midnight on Friday 29 August 2025. London Freelance Branch has voted to sponsor two of them. Apply here.