The BASW Social Work Journalism Awards are a chance to celebrate creative, informed and sensitive reporting that demonstrates an outstanding understanding of the profession.
The winners are announced each year at BASW's annual UK conference. The 2026 conference is taking place on 27th October in Birmingham, with the awards ceremony taking place in the evening.
The BASW Social Work Journalism Awards is the UK’s first ever award scheme to recognise high quality reporting of social work in the media.
Call for 2026 journalism award nominations
- Email your entry to awards@basw.co.uk
- State which category your entry is for and provide a link to the content or share more information
- You can nominate any content for the period 1st September 2025 to 4th September 2026
- Deadline for entries is 4th September 2026
Categories
- Written journalism in national media
any article online or in print that involves social work or social workers that is written in an informed and nuanced style across national titles (e.g. The Guardian, The Mirror, BBC.co.uk) - Written journalism in regional/local media
any article online or in print that involves social work or social workers that is written in an informed and nuanced style across regional publications (e.g. Manchester Evening News, The London Standard, Birmingham Mail) - Broadcast: national media
any TV or radio piece that involves social work or social workers that is produced in an informed and nuanced style across national platforms (e.g. LBC, BBC Radio 4, Sky News, BBC News) - Broadcast: regional/local media
any radio piece that involves social work or social workers that is produced in an informed and nuanced style across regional syndication (e.g. Heart, Capital, local BBC stations, BBC Regional TV) - Trade press
any article online or in print that involves social work or social workers that is written in an informed and nuanced style in the social work specific sector (e.g. Community Care, Municipal Journal, Children & Young People Now) - On screen: Fiction TV or Film featuring social work
any Fiction TV program, series or cinematic film that directly depicts social work, social workers or service users
Alison Holt, BBC's social affairs editor, joint winner of the 2023 Outstanding contribution to journalism featuring social work award'I’m thrilled to have received this award... Hopefully the new awards will encourage more understanding of and reporting about these really important issues.'
FAQs
What are the award categories?
- Written journalism in national media
- Written journalism in regional/local media
- Broadcast: national media
- Broadcast: regional/local media
- Trade press
- On screen: TV or Film featuring social work
Who can nominate?
Anyone! Nominations can come from:
- Social workers
- Members of the public
- Individual journalists and media organisations can nominate others or themselves
You can nominate multiple times too.
The awards welcome nominations from anyone with an interest in promoting fair, accurate and responsible reporting of social work in the media.
What are we looking for?
The awards seek to recognise reports that show an outstanding understanding of social work and the role of social workers.
This could include the complex issues practitioners and the people they work with face; the challenging context in which they work; and the difference social workers make to people’s lives.
Whether you have read, listened to or watched something great on social work or are a journalist that has created a piece, we want to hear about it! Your nomination could be recognised in the BASW UK Social Work Journalism Awards.
It's part of the association’s wider campaign to improve public perception of an often misunderstood and misrepresented profession.
As well as seeking journalists to put forward their own work or that of colleagues, we also want social workers and members of the public to nominate work they believe is worthy of praise.
How do I enter/nominate?
- Email your entry to awards@basw.co.uk
- State which category your entry is for and provide a link to the content or share more information
- You can nominate any content for the period 1st September 2025 to 4th September 2026
- Deadline for entries is 4th September 2026
Here are the categories:
- Written journalism in national media
- Written journalism in regional/local media
- Broadcast: national media
- Broadcast: regional/local media
- Trade press
- On Screen: Fiction TV or Film featuring social work
What period do the awards cover?
You can nominate any content for the period 1st September 2025 to 4th September 2026
When's the deadline?
Deadline for entries is 4th September 2026
When will the awards be announced?
The winners of each category will be announced at the Awards Night event at BASW UK Conference on the 27th October 2026
Who’s judging the awards?
Judges will be announced shortly!
Why were The BASW Social Work Journalism Awards launched?
Background
The BASW Social Work Journalism Awards were launched in 2023 to celebrate creative, informed and sensitive reporting that demonstrates an outstanding understanding of the profession.
The winners are announced each year at BASW's annual UK conference.
The BASW Social Work Journalism Awards is the UK’s first ever award scheme to recognise high quality reporting of social work in the media.
We recognise social work is a difficult and complex subject. BASW, as the national organisation for social workers, wants to recognise journalism that demonstrates an in-depth understanding of the field. There is excellent work out there by journalists who deserve praise. By launching these awards, we aim to acknowledge this and also help improve the public’s perception of our profession.
The awards are being led by BASW and supported by SWU which together with the Campaign Collective has published Guidelines on media reporting of social workers. The guidance has been approved by press regulator IMPRESS.
Mithran Samuel, editor of Community Care'It’s an honour to be recognised alongside these talented journalists and by BASW'
