Calling all UK Art Teachers

Art Teachers are invited by the the Royal Institute of Painters in Water Colours (RI) to submit watercolour artworks by their students aged between 11 and 18 for the RI Coronation Award which celebrates excellence in your artists painting in watercolour and water-based media.

The RI Coronation Award

This is the third year of the RI Coronation Award, introduced in 2024 at the first annual exhibition following the coronation of King Charles III.

What you need to know

• This is the link to the page on the RI website providing information.
• Entries to last year's competition came from schools all over the UK
• The competition is open to school students only - aged between 11 and 18
• All artwork submissions must be in watercolour or water-soluble media (eg inks, acrylic)
• The deadline for entries is 22 December 2025.
• The Winner and two runners-up will be announced in February 2026.

For full details you need to write to ricoronationaward@gmail.com

The prizes are as follows:

• a materials bursary of £800 to the winning school
• art materials (voucher) to the value of £100 to the First Prize Winner
• art materials (voucher) to the value of £50 to each of the two Runners-Up
• Certificates of Merit will also be awarded to up to a further ten entrants who the judges consider worthy of recognition.

The three prizewinners will 

• have reproductions of their paintings exhibited at the 214th Exhibition of the Royal Institute of Painters in Water Colours at the Mall Galleries in London, March 25th until April 11th 2026.
• will also be invited to have their prizes presented to them by the President of the RI and her guest speaker at the Private View of the Exhibition, which will be held at the Mall Galleries, London on Tuesday March 24th 2026 at 6.30 pm.

This year the prize has been generously sponsored by The Borg Scott Charity

[NOTE:  Oddly, I had difficulty finding a link to this award on the RI website (it's under Exhibitions). A link to the Call for Entries on the front page - for both the Open Exhibition - and this competition would be useful. The website currently looks as if it could do with an early spring clean and update! I got my information from the recent post on their Instagram account]