Student Radio Association

Please read the following information carefully as some categories and conditions of entry have been updated since last year.

Entries can ONLY be made by stations that are members of the Student Radio Association at the time of submission.

Only students or recent graduates (within 13 months) can enter the individual award categories of Best Male, Best Female and Best Newcomer.

If you have a member of the community who wishes to enter the awards, we can only allow them to enter as part of a whole station entry (i.e. Best Station, Best Marketing, Best Technical, etc.) or as part of a show team that includes students for the programming awards (i.e. Best Entertainment, Best Specialist, etc.)

If you are part of or run a student radio station that also holds a Community licence, and aren't sure of which categories you can enter, please contact Sarah.

Any member station that needs to renew their membership and wants to enter the awards will need to do so by Wednesday July 20th. An up-to-date list of those members who owe fees is held by Sarah Ghost, Membership & Communications Officer. Any station not a paid-up member, or who has outstanding debts to the SRA by this date will not be eligible for entry.

An entry may ONLY be entered into one category. Where an entry appears eligible for more than one category, entrants should carefully select the category within which their work will be most effectively showcased. Individual clips may be used in multiple entries, provided the entries are significantly different.

Deviation from these guidelines may result in disqualification. The decision of the Student Radio Association Executive Committee will be absolute and final - no correspondence will be entered into.

All material will be judged as received. Please check your submission (both written and audio parts) is clearly labeled and is operating correctly before submitting.

A category will not be judged if insufficient entries are received. In such circumstances entry fees will be returned.

The Gold winner in each category will receive a Student Radio Awards Trophy. A certificate is awarded to Gold, Silver and Bronze winners.

The Student Radio Association cannot undertake the return of submissions and do not guarantee to offer feedback on any of the entries received.

Any part of your entry (written or audio) may be used for promotional purposes, winning entries will be uploaded to the student radio awards website.

The Student Radio Association, The Radio Academy, and BBC Radio 1 accept no responsibility for any entries which are not received - you should verify that any files uploaded, or text submitted are as desired before confirming your entry.

All entrants will receive acknowledgement by the end of July.

This year's awards system will be available on the SRA Awards 2011 web page, available here by May 31st 2011.

Once you have completed your entry form you will need to upload your entry using the online form, and complete the written requirements for your category.

Note: Audio must be submitted as 128 kbps mp3 (or below). Written entries should be entered onto the box on the online form (which will automatically confirm that entries are within the word limit). A photo may be uploaded alongside written entries where this is appropriate. Best Station and Best Marketing & Branding Entries should upload a pdf file in addition to the audio entry. If you do not have software available to produce PDFs a number of free converters are available (for example PrimoPDF)

Online submissions do not have to be completed in one go, entries can be saved and finalised later.

All fields on the online entry form must be completed. If you need any assistance in completing the entry form or have any other queries, please contact the SRA judging co-ordinator, Scott Robinson (webmaster@studentradio.org.uk) who will be pleased to advise.

Payment of £4.00 (£3.33 + VAT) is required for each entry you submit.

Payment for entries can be made by either of the following methods:

• Online payment using paypal (using credit/debit card)
• By payment of an invoice produced online (invoice address can only be a valid Students' Union/Student Station address, personal invoices will not be accepted).

If entering multiple entries (either individually or as a station) these should be paid for together.

Invoices must be paid within 14 days of receipt.

The closing date for entries is Wednesday 20th July 2011 at 5PM.

Audio

• Audio submissions must ONLY be supplied as mp3 files of 128kbps or below.
• The length of the audio section of entries varies so please check category definitions for details before entering.
• In cases where a maximum duration is stated you will not enhance your chances by providing redundant material merely to achieve the full duration.
• No alteration of transmitted material is permitted and items should not be internally edited.
• The judges will consider your entry as heard by your listeners and will not welcome the insertion of other audio material, such as specially recorded voice links or introductions.
• All material will be judged as received. Please check your submission is clearly labeled and is operating correctly before sending it to us.

Written

• Written submissions should include a summary to position your entry and give it a context explaining how it served your audience and met your objectives.
• The length of written sections for each category varies so please check category definitions for details before entering.
• Entries Submitted as pdf (Best Station/Marketing & Station Sound) should have Font size no smaller than 11pt.
• A running order outlining the sequence and content of your audio submission is recommended. This is particularly important when submitting an entry that consists of a compilation of extracts. This will NOT count towards your total word count.
• You are also advised that written entries will be judged on content first and foremost and not presentation.