Our award-winning students and alumni
Our students regularly win industry recognition in major national and international competitions. Here are our recent highlights:
Vannysha Chang (MA Children's Book Illustration) won the Emerging Illustrator category in this prestigious annual competition, with Kaori Tokunaga runner-up, and Baljinder Kaur took the Illustration for Children top prize. 10 of our students & alumni also made the shortlist.
BA (Hons) Illustration graduating student Ciara Calthrop was shortlisted for this highly competitive international competition, which showcases the very best artworks made in pencil from around the world. Ciara's entry, Cats in the Living Room (pictured), was displayed at the shortlist exhibition in London's OXO Tower during April 2026.
World Illustration Awards 2026
Ciara has also had an animation about dementia shortlisted for the WIA Awards 2026, with the winners announced in September 2026.
BA Illustration graduate Millie Rowlandson was featured in this prestigious list of up-and-coming illustrators.
Animation & Illustration students Nic Denny, Menzith Rodrigues, and Gerald Ani were all nominated for the Aardman Academy Screening Award at this annual national student exhibition.
Royal Television Society East Student Awards 2026
Animation and Illustration student Faisa Awow won the Animation and Craft Skills: Sound categories at these prestigious annual awards for her animated short A Date at Stake (pictured), which you can watch on our Youtube channel.
Graduate Fashion Week Inclusive Fashion Prize
BA (Hons) Fashion Design graduating student Gunta Andrews won the Inclusive Fashion Award at this annual course-ending fashion show in London, and was also nominated for the x Liberty Fabrics competition. Find out more about Gunta's work in our Spotlight interview.
Jussi Awards
MA Film and Television Production alumnus Sherwan Haji won a Jussi award - the Finnish equivalent of a BAFTA - for for his short film My Name is Hope. Sherwan is also an actor, and had a starring role in The Other Side of Hope, which won a major award at the Berlin Film Festival.
BA (Hons) Illustration student Beth Pickett (pictured) was awarded the runner-up prize in the Illustration category for her etching of the sacred Norse tree Yggdrasil, while >MA Children’s Book Illustration's Will Knight won the Children’s Illustration category for his book The House Dragon (pictured), with Vannysha Chang awarded a runner-up prize. Fellow alumnus Naomi Tipping and current student Georgia Lumley were also shortlisted.
Kodak Student Commercial Awards 2025
Students on our BA (Hons) Film Production degree have won “Best Overall” and “Best in Brief” prizes in these annual awards. Their film Eros – The Myth Buster, which aims to popularise the use of condoms, was chosen from 61 entries across the UK by a panel made up of representatives of the advertising agency for each brief, Kodak, and the chair of Nahemi. The filmmakers Claudia Vogt (Director), Lisa-Marie Soulier (Producer), Jack Bryant (Cinematographer), and Karina Bhojwani (Editor) are all 2025 graduates of the course.
Claudia and Lisa-Marie also won The Funke Oyebanjo Award for Best Film at Nahemi’s Eat Our Shorts competition for their graduation film Saturday Night Butch, selected from 30 other films at the final screening.
British Book Design & Production Awards 2025
A new edition of Beowulf, illustrated by our BA (Hons) Illustration alumnus Alice Cao, won both the overall Book of the Year award and the Excellence in Print Production category. Judges described it as a "worthy winner", noting that "the newly commissioned illustrations chime perfectly with the traditional elements, and the quarter bound finish makes this a book to treasure for years".
Madelen Schønningsen, a graduate of our BA (Hons) Animation and Illustration degree, won Best Animation for her short Lossnord (pictured top) at the September 2025 LGBTQ+ Toronto Film Festival, which showcases the best of short films and screenplays from the LGBTQ+ community. You can watch Lossnord on the ARU Youtube channel.
AOI World Illustration Awards 2025
Out of seven of our MA Children's Book Illustration alumni who made the shortlist for this year's prize, two won their categories and two were highly commended: Ping-An Shih was the New Talent winner in the Children's Publishing category, with Lisa Sheehan (pictured) winning the Editorial/Professional category. Heike Scharrer was Highly Commended in the Book Covers category, and Marguerite Davidson in Children's Publishing. Naomi Bennet, Luis López, and Mariajo Illustrajo were also shortlisted.
Macmillan Prize for Illustration 2025
MA Children's Book Illustration graduate Marguerite Davidson (pictured) took first place after receiving a Highly Commended award in 2024, with fellow alumnus Carol Law named runner-up. 14 of 20 Highly Commended awards went to students or graduates from the course.
Broadcast Digital Awards 2025
MA Children's Book Illustration alumnus Matty Long took home the prize for Best Digital Children's Content in these annual awards for a CBBC series based on his picturebook Super Happy Magic Forest. You can watch the programme on BBC iPlayer.
Communication Arts Illustration Competition 2025
Alumni Xiaoyi Zhang, DongFang li, Xinyue Zhang (MA Children’s Book Illustration), and Yakun Li (MA Illustration) were all selected as finalists in this annual competition. See the gallery of their submitted work.
Four of our BA (Hons) Fashion Design students have been nominated for prizes at this year's event in London: Diana Baptista (Digital Fashion / Fashion Illustration); Lucy Docking (Fashion Textiles); Sophia Freedman (Creative Pattern Cutting); and Hannie Willis (Digital Fashion). The winners will be announced at an event on 16 June.
Royal Television Awards East Student Awards 2025
Two graduates from our BA (Hons) Animation & Illustration degree have been nominated for the Royal Television Awards East Student Awards 2025. Megan Cork’s film Are You Home? was shortlisted for three categories: Animation, Production Design, and Sound, while Rodrigo Lopes was nominated for the Sound category for his film Too Much. Our BA (Hons Film and Television Production students also received five nominations: Effects was shortlisted for Drama, Camerawork, Production Design, and Editing, and Our Favourite Place for Writing.
2024 Klaus Flugge Prize
MA Children's Book Illustration alumnus Kate Winter (pictured) – now also a lecturer at ARU – won the £5000 top prize for her book Fossil Hunter. Fellow graduates Angela Vives and Bia Melo also made the 6-person shortlist. Read our Spotlight interview with Kate on our Creative Showcase site.
Stuart Trevor internship
BA (Hons) Fashion Design graduate Amy Kiernan landed an internship with AllSaints founder Stuart Trevor, working on his new sustainable and vintage-focused brand and gaining valuable industry experience. On Amy's instagram she posted: "Stuart’s generosity, kindness, and passion are truly inspiring, and I’m so grateful for the opportunity to learn from him as he launches his exciting new brand. Thank you, Stuart, for believing in me and giving me this once-in-a-lifetime opportunity. I can’t wait to continue this journey and share more along the way!"
Trinity Buoy Wharf Drawing Prize 2024
2023 MA Printmaking alumnus Sara Clark was shortlisted for this prestigious fine art prize. Her work (pictured) was displayed in the October London exhibition, which goes on to tour the UK until October 2025.
Macmillan Prize for Illustration 2024
Our MA Children’s Book Illustration students pulled off an incredible clean sweep, taking the top three prizes in this prestigious competition. Abi Bi (pictured top) took the top prize with It’s Swing Time, after coming second in 2023. Second prize went to Claire Lemp for Charles Makes Tea and third to Antara Raman for Furlock. Nine of the 20 Highly Commended awards also went to Cambridge School of Art students.
V&A Illustration Awards 2024
Recent MA Children’s Book Illustration graduate Aditi Anand was named Emerging Illustrator of 2024 for her book Marigolds in these prestigious annual awards. Fellow graduates Ella Beech, Bethan Welby, Lisa Sheehan and Olivia Daw were also shortlisted.
AOI Top 10 Grads to Watch 2024
BA (Hons) Illustration graduating student Claire Lavelle was selected by the Association of Illustrators as one of their top ten inspiring up-and-coming illustrators for 2024.
Two of our MA Children’s Book Illustration students, Charlotte Durance and Naomi Tipping (work pictured right), were overall winners in the Illustration and Children's Book Illustration categories respectively, with three of our alumni runners-up (Rose Grover, Yue An Xie, Aditi Anand) and three more (Fatima Ordinola Guerra, Katie May and Keiko) making the shortlist.
Royal Television Society Student Television Awards 2024
"Why Don’t You Stay for Tonight?”, a film by our MA Film and Television Production students, won the best Entertainment and Comedy Drama Award. Despite a history of success in the regional competitions, this was the first time an ARU film made it to the national version, so to win a category was an incredible achievement. The MA students involved were Guilherme Pires (Director), Yegor Chmilewsky, Eli Javardi, Gundham Onorati and Christopher Buckenham. The panel called it “A wild card entry that paid off!” and “a visually arresting, surreal and compelling watch.”
Folio Book Illustration Award 2024
MA Children's Book Illustration graduate Zack Rock won the Folio Book Illustration Award 2024. An American illustrator based in Berlin, Zack's work was described by Folio Publishing Director Tom Walker as "...such a visceral and skilful illustration... beautiful and haunting."
Two MA Children's Book Illustration students, Heike Scharrer and Xiaoyun Tian, won first and second place respectively in the Illustration category of PRINT magazine's 2024 Awards, which reflect and celebrate a range of visual design trends, such as a blend of technological advancements, creative explorations in type, texture, and color, and user-centric approaches in both print and digital.
TIGA UK Games Education Awards 2024
BSc Computer Games Technology student Matthew Stracey was named as an "Outstanding Graduate of the Year" in the Programmer category of these awards, offered by games industry network TIGA.
AOI World Illustration Awards 2024
MA Children's Book Illustration students Lauren Sharples and Charlotte Durance make the shortlist along with ten alumni from the course: Sandy Horseley (Exploration category); Kate Rolfe, Pin-Hsuan Chen, Anuska Allepus, Joanne Young, Colleen Larmour, Petronela Dostalova, Rachel Wolf, Emma Chinnery (Children's publishing category); and Anne Roos Kleiss (Publishing category). Xiaoyun Tian, Xiaoyi Zhang, and BA (Hons) Illustration student Scarlett Thomas made the longlist.
Royal Television Society East Student Awards 2024
ARU film Eternity’s Grace by BA (Hons) Film and Television Production students Yegor Chmilewsky, Christopher Buckenham and Emily Miles won in the Camerawork and Drama categories. This follows on from success in 2023, where Martha Wallam (BA (Hons) Film), Kai Wissler and Chloe Kelly (BA (Hons) Film Production) won first place in the Entertainment and Comedy Drama category for their film Therapy; the 2021 RTS Midlands Awards, in which our students won 3 of 9 categories, including the Sir Lenny Henry Award for Lidia Bieniarz; the 2020 RTSE Awards, where they won 4 of 9 prizes including Best Drama and Best Factual; and the 2019 RTSE Awards, where they won 6 of 10 student prizes.
Freelands Painting Prize 2024
BA (Hons) Fine Art student Anugrah Mishra was a winner in the Freelands Painting Prize 2024 – the second year in a row a student from our course has triumphed in the competition after Chloe Culley's success in 2023. Anugrah's work (pictured) was presented at an exhibition at Freelands Foundation in Autumn 2024.
BA (Hons) Musical Theatre student Lara Dailey was shortlisted for this very prestigious award that gives each finalist the unique opportunity to showcase their skills to casting directors, agents and industry professionals in the UK and internationally.
NAHEMI National Student Film Awards 2024
MA Film and Television Production student Eli Hakim won the award for Editing with her film Monsters. Eli said: “I’m honoured. Editing is the art of time, of rhythm, of revealing and concealing. Winning this award affirms that the silences between frames speak as much as the images themselves.”
2024 Yoto Carnegie Medal for Illustration
Three of the eight shortlisted entries were graduates from our MA Children's Book Illustration course: Catalina Echeverri (April's Garden), Mariajo Illustrajo (Lost) and Chloe Savage (The Search for the Giant Arctic Jellyfish).
Waterstones Children's Book Prize 2024
MA Children's Book Illustration graduate Chloe Savage won the Best Illustrated Book category for The Search for the Giant Arctic Jellyfish (pictured). The judges described the book as "A truly gorgeous volume filled with the wonder and magic of science and nature."
BA Illustration alumnus Catherine Rowe won the Contribution to Culture Award at our annual Alumni Awards. Her designs are sold internationally to some of the biggest names in retail, and she is dedicated to supporting up-and-coming artists, including leading courses online and through Pallant House Gallery’s Care for Art programme.
Grads in Games' Search for a Star 2024
Rohith Guruvayurappan, a student on our MSc Computer Games Development (Computing) course, has been selected as a finalist in the VFX Category of Grads in Games' Search for a Star 2024. All finalists will attend an interview in April 2024 with a panel of games industry professionals to discuss their projects, skills and ambitions before the judges decide on the winners.
Bologna Book Fair 2024
MA Children’s Book Illustration students Toby Rampton and Fatima Ordinola plus alumni Birgitta Sif (illustration pictured), Puck Koper and Thea Lu were all winners at the Bologna Book Fair 2024, with their work being chosen for the Illustrators Exhibition, which travels for over two years on an international tour of museums, art galleries and libraries in countries including Japan, Korea, and China, as well as appearing in the renowned Illustrators Annual.
Future Worlds Prize for Fantasy & Science Fiction Writers of Colour 2024
BA (Hons) Writing and English Literature alumnus Inigo Laguda was shortlisted for his book The Yawn of the Pond. Inigo has previously won awards for his poetry from The Young Poet's Society and had his nonfiction work appear in Black Youth Project, Netflix and The Metro, while his short stories have been longlisted for The Commonwealth Short Story Prize and received a special commendation for The Guardian & 4th Estate 2021 Prize.
Arts Scholars Curwen Lithography Bursary 2024
MA Fine Art student Ric Pimentel was the winner of this bursary awarded by Curwen Print Study Centre, and will now attend a fully-funded 10-day residency at their studio in Suffolk.
Venice Biennale 2024
MA Children’s Book Illustration student Elyon Liu was one of the Venice Biennale fellowship winners this year, and spent a month with the British Pavillion developing a new personal project.