Student of the Year 2026 Awards launches
The application window for this year’s Top Student of the Year Awards 2025/2026 opens on Monday 23 February 2026. Opening earlier this year to ensure that students have sufficient time to prepare and submit their applications before the end of the Spring term, this year’s Awards invite students on courses from any landscape, design, land-based and horticultural specialism (Level 2 and above).
Why enter?
It’s a competitive landscape (pun intended!). Past regional and national winners stand out from the crowd – on their CVs and in their self-promotion – and an industry-recognised award can give you a healthy boost in your career and employability prospects.
As well as kudos and the respect of your peers and tutors, you get the chance to step out into the real-life UK landscape sector too. With a £100 student prize for each of our regional winners, you also bag the chance to go forward for the National prize. One overall winner in each of the Landscape and Garden Design categories gets an additional £500 prize PLUS £500 for your college or training provider too.
On top of all of that, each overall winner gets to attend the BALI National Landscape Awards, held in London in December, to accept their award on stage, in person, accompanied by their tutor or course lead.
Then you will truly have grabbed a very sought-after place in your developing UK landscape journey.
What to include in your application
The application is your opportunity to share what you have learned both vocationally and academically, how you have applied these skills in employment or training opportunities and which aspects of your course have interested you the most. The short-answer questions focus on elements including:
- Your knowledge and skills
- The benefits you’ve gained
- Aspects of your course that most interest you and how you’ve applied them
- Any work experience you’ve gained and how you use your skills at work
- Your future plans
Your Application
When the window opens, be sure to submit your application before the deadline of 27 March 2026. Your tutor will then assess all of your course and college applications and select their candidates, one from each of the Landscape and Design categories. Regional winners will be notified in May 2026.
LINK TO APPLICATION FORM 2026 – Window for applications opens 23 February 2026, closes 27 March 2026
LINK TO GUIDELINES 2026 – Full details of the process, the prizes and potential for students and tutors
What are you waiting for?
Much more important than any financial reward is the potential to promote yourself, your skills and gain the respect and appreciation from industry peers at the highest level – all of this with the backing and potential exposure across landscape platforms supported by BALI, the BALI Chalk Fund Champions and Trustees.
Here’s what our 2025 winners Chloe Webster and Archie Matthews think: Winners’ Stories.