How the ARIAS are judged

The ARIAS are the UK audio and radio awards presented annually to recognise, honour and reward outstanding shows and the teams behind them. It is a huge accolade to be nominated. We take our responsibility to everyone who applies really seriously.

The ARIAS are judged by over 200 senior audio professionals, drawn from all sectors of the industry. Judges are organised into judging panels, which range in size from 6 to 12 people per category, depending on the number of entries submitted. Each panel is chaired by a Head Judge, who will bring significant experience in their field.

The Chair of Judges will lead a webinar to offer insights on the judging process and guidance on what to consider when putting together your entry.

Nominations

All but the Radio Times Moment of the Year are organised into three pools.

• Pool A is for content made or commissioned by the BBC
• Pool B is for content made or commissioned by Commercial and Other Radio
• Pool C is for podcasts that don’t come under either of the other pools.  (Pool C doesn’t apply in all categories)

Judges listen to all entries and read all submissions, then anonymously score them against criteria relevant to the category: examples of criteria are Content, Creativity, Impact, Production, Growth, Engagement and Business Success.  The top three entries from each pool form the nominations list.

The judging panel then meet to identify their Bronze, Silver and Gold winners

Each panel judges just one category, and each award is determined in isolation, with the decision of the judging panel being final.

The Radio Times Moment of The Year is judged differently. Radio Academy Members are invited to suggest their favourite moment from across audio and radio in the past year, whether they worked on it or not. A panel of judges formed of Radio Academy Trustees and the Editor of the Radio Times score these and meet to form a shortlist of ten. The readers of Radio Times then vote for their favourite on the Radio Times website.

Equity, Diversity and Inclusion at The ARIAS

Inclusion is an integral part of The Radio Academy’s Values: we strive to be representative of the sector and the UK population in all that we do.

The ARIAS are designed to be open to all – from large broadcasters to independent podcasters and community radio stations – they are intended to celebrate great UK radio and audio; however it is made or distributed. We actively encourage entries from all areas and backgrounds.

We have worked with an independent EDI consultant  to ensure that equity, diversity and inclusion is at the heart of everything we do. With Chico Chakravorty from Doing Diversity Differently, we have created a set of bespoke videos as a guide to fair and equitable judging.

We aim for our group of judges to be representative of the sector and the UK population at large. On every panel, we aim to have representation of people from outside of London, people who are not white, and people who identify as women, men or other.

We ask judges to fill out an anonymous monitoring form, so we can better capture how judges identify their own gender, ethnicity, and other demographic factors.

Editorial Independence

Since 2023 we have worked with an independent editorial advisor at the ARIAS, to offer guidance and recommendations to judges. They do not have executive decision making, which remains uniquely with the judges, but may offer recommendations and context as appropriate.