Written by Paul Worrall
Entering an art competition for the first time is more confusing than it should be — entry fees that seem to come from nowhere, “open submission” language nobody explains properly, and prize structures that range from a few hundred pounds to genuinly significant sums depending entirely on which competition you’ve found. I’ve spent sixteen years in the UK art supplies industry and run Discount Art Supplies, used by over 36,000 UK artists every week, and competition questions come up regularly in our community. Here’s the honest, practical guide — what the different types actually mean, where free entry exists, and which established UK competitions are worth knowing about.
Quick Guide — Types of UK Art Competition
Open submission exhibitions: Anyone can enter, usually for a small fee per work — Royal Academy Summer Exhibition, Royal Society of Portrait Painters Annual Exhibition.
Free entry competitions: No submission fee, often run by brands, organisations or smaller galleries — worth searching specifically for “free entry” before assuming a fee applies.
Age and career-stage specific: Many major competitions run separate categories or entirely separate prizes for under-18s, students and early-career artists.
Themed prizes: Some competitions set an annual theme rather than being fully open — read the brief carefully before submitting.
What Does “Open Submission” Actually Mean?
An open submission exhibition means the organisers accept entries from any artist, professional or amateur, rather than only inviting specific names. This is different from a juried or invitational show, where works are sourced by curators rather than submitted by artists directly. Most major UK open submission exhibitions still go through a selection panel after entries come in — so “open” describes who can apply, not a guarantee that your work will be shown.
The Royal Academy Summer Exhibition is the best known example and the largest open submission exhibition in the world, with a prize fund regularly exceeding £90,000 split across multiple awards. Any medium can be entered, but the exhibition typically receives many thousands of submissions and only a fraction make the final selection — entering is genuinly worthwhile for the experience and exposure, but it’s a competitive, high-volume process rather than a guaranteed showcase.
Where to Find Free Entry Art Competitions
Free entry competitions do exist, though they’re less common than fee-based open submissions, particularly for prestigious national exhibitions. They tend to come from three sources: brand-sponsored prizes (art supply manufacturers, materials brands and retailers occasionally run free competitions as marketing initiatives), regional or local authority-run competitions tied to council arts programmes, and competitions run by smaller or newer organisations building their reputation by removing the financial barrier to entry.
The honest trade-off is usually prize value and prestige — free entry competitions are less likely to carry five-figure prize funds or guarantee exhibition at a major London gallery. They’re still genuinly worth entering, particularly for newer artists building a track record of entries and any wins, however small, before tackling the bigger fee-based exhibitions.
Understanding Entry Fees
Entry fees for major UK open submission exhibitions typically run from around £15 to £25 per work submitted, often with a reduced rate for artists aged 35 and under. The Royal Society of Portrait Painters Annual Exhibition, for example, charges a non-refundable submission fee per work, with free admission to the exhibition itself included in that fee — submission fees on exhibitions like this typically support the not-for-profit programme behind the gallery rather than generating profit for the organisers.
It’s worth budgeting properly if you’re submitting multiple works to multiple competitions across a year — fees add up, and they’re charged whether or not your work is selected. Many serious competition entrants treat this as a deliberate annual investment in their practice and career development rather than a one-off cost, similar to how a working artist might budget for materials or studio costs.
Competitions for Children, Students and Under-18s
A meaningful number of UK art competitions run dedicated categories or entirely separate competitions for younger and student artists, recognising that an under-18 entrant shouldn’t be judged against a 40-year working professional. The BP Portrait Award’s successor, now run under different sponsorship at the National Portrait Gallery, has historically included a dedicated Young Artist Award category for entrants between 18 and 30, alongside the main open competition. Many regional and school-affiliated competitions exist specifically for primary and secondary age groups, often run through local authorities or arts education charities, and these are disproportionately likely to offer free entry compared to the major adult open submissions.
For parents and teachers looking for age-appropriate competitions, searching for the specific age bracket alongside “art competition” — rather than a generic search — tends to surface dedicated school and youth-focused opportunities that don’t compete directly with the major adult exhibitions for attention.
Well-Established UK Competitions Worth Knowing About
Beyond the Royal Academy Summer Exhibition and the Royal Society of Portrait Painters Annual Exhibition already mentioned, several other recurring UK competitions have built genuine reputations over many years and are worth researching directly on their own websites for current entry details.
The National Portrait Gallery’s annual portrait competition — which ran for decades under BP sponsorship before transitioning to new sponsorship — remains the most prestigious portraiture prize in the UK, drawing thousands of international entries annually for a small number of exhibition places.
The Royal West of England Academy in Bristol runs an Annual Open Exhibition with over 170 years of history, open to artists working in painting, printmaking and mixed media. The Royal Scottish Academy runs a similarly long-standing annual selling exhibition in Edinburgh, with smaller cash prizes alongside the wider opportunity of exhibiting in a major Scottish gallery.
The London Graphic Centre Art Prize is a more recent but genuinly significant addition to the UK competition landscape, with a prize fund over £10,000 and a stated commitment to backing artists at every career stage — self-taught, student or established professional. Worth checking directly for current entry windows.
For artists specifically interested in drawing, the Derwent Art Prize is a long-running, well-respected competition dedicated entirely to works on paper using pencil, pastel or similar drawing media — a more focused alternative to the broader open submission exhibitions for anyone whose practice centres on drawing specifically.
What Actually Happens If You Win or Place?
Beyond the prize money itself, placing or being selected for a major open submission exhibition genuinly does open doors that are harder to access otherwise — gallery representation enquiries, commission requests, and a credential that means something when listed on an artist CV or website bio. Selection for the Royal Academy Summer Exhibition or the Royal Society of Portrait Painters Annual Exhibition specifically carries weight precisely because the selection process is genuinly competitive and juried by practising artists rather than handed out freely.
Even being selected rather than winning outright is worth something — exhibition at a major venue puts your work in front of collectors, curators and gallery representatives who attend specifically to discover new artists. Several working portrait painters with established careers today first built visibility through repeated entries to the same major UK exhibitions over several years before securing representation or significant commissions.
A Practical Note on Entering
Read the submission brief properly before paying any entry fee — framing requirements, size restrictions, image quality specifications and submission windows vary significantly between competitions, and works are sometimes withdrawn or disqualified for failing to meet seemingly minor technical requirements. If you’re investing in framing or shipping work to a physical venue for judging, factor that cost in alongside the entry fee itself when deciding whether a competition is worth entering.
For art materials needed ahead of a competition deadline — proper framing, mounting boards, transport cases — our price comparison tool covers UK retailers in real time so you can find the best price before you buy.
