2026 SPA Awards Nominations
The SPA Awards are an opportunity to celebrate the achievements of our social policy community.
Nominations for the Social Policy Awards are now open for the following categories:
• Outstanding Achievement in Social Policy
• Public Understanding of Social Policy
• Policy Press Outstanding Teaching
• Richard Titmuss Book Prize
Please read the criteria for each award via the links below before filling in the nomination form.
The deadline for nominations is 5pm on Monday 2nd March 2026.
A blog with further overview information about this year’s awards can be read here.
General Information
Each year the Social Policy Association (SPA) calls for nominations for its annual SPA Awards, to be announced at the SPA Annual Conference in July.
The SPA awards aim to:
1) Advance the interests of the SPA and its members through increased reach and status.
2) Recognise and endorse the work of academics who are both researching and teaching social policy, and who as SPA members contribute to advancing the discipline.
3) Recognise and endorse the work of individuals and organisations who as social policy practitioners and/or advocates, are using academic work produced by the social policy academic community and/or are working with academics to promote the public understanding of social policy.
Process of awards
Where the awards are made on the decision of the SPA-appointed judging panel, the panel will comprise four judges appointed by the Executive to serve for 3 years and will normally include:
- The SPA President
- 1 judge drawn from outside the academic community
- 2 judges appointed from SPA membership
Award categories and nominations process:
We have six categories of awards, each with their own specific aim, eligibility criteria, and nomination process. These are:
- Outstanding Achievement in Social Policy Award
- Excellence in Doctoral Research Award
- The Richard Titmuss Book Award
- Policy Press Outstanding Teaching Award
- Public Understanding of Social Policy Award
- Cambridge University Press Awards for Excellence in Social Policy Scholarship (JSP, SP&S & JCISP)
For the four categories subject to open nominations (see list above), the nomination form can be downloaded here.
Please return the completed form, together with evidence as requested for each award, by email to Dr Hayley Bennett, SPA Awards Officer, University of Edinburgh:Hayley.Bennett@ed.ac.uk
Nomination forms must be received by 5pm Monday 2nd March 2026 – no nominations will be accepted after this date.
Who won in previous years?
You can view a last of past winners at the following link: