Frequently Asked Questions (FAQ)

With this page, we hope to answer frequently asked questions we get about the awards, if you still have question,s please get in contact for an answer, and keen checking back here for updates.

Who can enter the awards?

Any station, group, or individual involved in community radio as per our eligibility criteria can enter the awards; that criteria is

"An Ofcom licensed and broadcasting radio station, operated by a not-for-profit or charitable entity with a remit to serve a community of location or a locally based community of identity or interest"

Why is it Ofcom only stations?

There are certain legal and compliance conditions that Ofcom based radio stations have to follow unlike internet only stations. Such as the broadcasting code, key commitments, legal entity type, studio in coverage area etc Which adds a level of complexity and costs that that internet only stations do not have to follow, feedback from the sector has always felt this is the best for a sector based awards.

Who submits the entries, does it have to be the station manager?

Anyone involved in Community Radio can enter the awards, it does not have to be the station manager, or station management who submit the awards, and entries can be submitted by individuals independently of their station management.

What do I need to include in the entry?

Read the category details carefully, most have a "judges will be looking for" element, as well as the five judging criteria that each entry will be scored against. We've also produced a best practice guide to putting an entry together, which can be found here 

Who are the judges?

We recruit judges from across the radio industry, BBC, Commercial Radio, and Community Radio (including past Gold Winners), as well as people no longer involved in those sectors, and academics in related subject areas. All together we have around 80 - 90 judges involved each year to judge the hundreds and hundreds of entries we have.

How does the judging work?

It's a semi blind process in that the judges do not know the other judges, each judge scores each entry they are given across the five published critera for the category giving each items a score of 1 to 10. The system produces an average for each entry based on the judges scores, if there are lots of entries in a catergoy there may be additional rounds with more judges scoring. The system produces the shortlist (which then may receive extra judging) and the final Gold, Silver and Bronze winners.

At the initial stage at least 3 judges will judge each entry, normally in category groupings, with additional judges added if we have the judging capacity and also as we progress through the rounds.

There is no panel of judges adjusting scores or advocating on who should win, full details can be found here 

Can judges enter the awards or judge entries from their own stations?

If the judges are actively involved in Community Radio then they can enter the awards in their own right, they are not allowed to judge their own entries or entries that they have involvement with (eg helped put together). They could judge other entries from stations they might have a connection with - but we trust our judges to be fare to all, and we do random audits of judges scoring as we go.

We ask the judges to declare any conflicts of interest as part of the recruitment process, and flag up any issues when they receive their assignments.