The 2027 Scholastic Art & Writing Awards (Scholastic Awards) opened for entries on October 1, 2026. For students in Irvine and Orange County, who belong to the California Region-at-Large, both art and writing entries close on December 3, 2026 at 8:59 p.m. Pacific Time (11:59 p.m. Eastern Time), six weeks from today.

The 2027 Scholastic Art & Writing Awards: What Happened

The Scholastic Awards are run by the nonprofit Alliance for Young Artists & Writers. The official calendar lists the full 2027 timeline.

Date Milestone
October 1, 2026 The 2027 Awards open for entries
December 1, 2026 Earliest regional deadline nationwide; the latest regions close January 4, 2027
December 3, 2026 California art and writing deadline
January 27, 2027 Regional Announcement Day
March 31, 2027 National Announcement Day
June 8 to 11, 2027 National Awards Week in New York City, including the Carnegie Hall ceremony
July 1, 2027 The season ends and the entry portal closes

According to the official FAQ, more than 100,000 teens in the United States and Canada enter each year. There are no assigned prompts and no restricted topics, so students can enter work they have already created.

What the Scholastic Awards Mean for Irvine Families

The Scholastic Awards assign each student to a region based on the zip code of the student’s school, with one region for art and another for writing, and the two deadlines can differ. Homeschooled and virtual-school students are assigned by home zip code. The official regions page lists local Affiliate Partners by state; California has none, so under the stated rules all California students enter through the Region-at-Large administered by the Alliance itself: California Region-at-Large Art and California Region-at-Large Writing. Both regional pages show the same deadline.

The California regional announcements add three requirements that are easy to miss:

  • Entry fees must be paid by the deadline. All students must pay online through Stripe by 11:59 p.m. Eastern Time on December 3; printed forms are not accepted.
  • Parental permission is required. Students enter a parent or guardian email address when creating an account, and the work enters judging only after the parent approves by email. Returning students must re-verify permission each new season.
  • Names may not appear in the work. Judging is anonymous, and a work with the student’s name in its title or opening lines may be disqualified.

Scholastic Awards Eligibility and Fees

Participants must be in grades 7 through 12, at least 13 years old, and residing in the United States, U.S. territories or military bases, or Canada (excluding Quebec). Seniors graduating mid-year in December are also eligible.

Entry fees are $15 per individual entry and $40 per portfolio, payable by the family or the school. Students who cannot afford the fee may select a fee waiver in the portal, and the official site states that no proof of financial need is required.

The 29 Scholastic Awards Categories

This season has 19 art categories and 10 writing categories, 29 in total. Each work may be entered in only one category. Writing length requirements are as follows:

Writing category Length requirement
Critical Essay 500 to 3,000 words
Journalism 500 to 3,000 words
Personal Essay & Memoir 500 to 3,000 words
Speculative Fiction 500 to 3,000 words
Screenplays & Scripts 500 to 3,000 words; a 250-word summary may be added for longer scripts
Short Story 1,000 to 3,000 words
Flash Fiction Maximum 1,000 words
Novel (excerpt) Up to 3,000 words, including a summary of about 250 words
Poetry 3 to 100 lines, one poem per entry
Writing Portfolio 6 works, graduating seniors only

Writing entries must be typed directly into the portal text box; PDFs and links are not accepted, and entries should be primarily in English. Art categories include Painting, Drawing, Photography, Digital Painting, Drawing & Collage, Graphic Design, Fashion, Film & Animation, and Architecture & Industrial Design, and the Art Portfolio is limited to graduating seniors.

Scholastic Awards AI Rules and Originality Requirements

Since July 1, 2025, the Scholastic Awards have allowed AI to assist the creative process, for example in brainstorming, outlining, or research, and allow software with built-in AI features to edit original work. Any work whose final product is itself AI-generated is ineligible, and awards already given for such work will be revoked. Entrants must state whether and how they used AI, and use within the rules does not affect judging. The official site recommends documenting the creative process, including in-progress photos for art, as evidence if originality is questioned.

Jurors judge three criteria: originality, skill, and the emergence of a personal voice or vision. Judging is anonymous, and jurors do not know an entrant’s gender, age, ethnicity, or hometown.

Scholastic Awards Recognition and Scholarships

All entries are first judged regionally for the Gold Key, Silver Key, and Honorable Mention. Gold Key works advance automatically to national judging for Gold Medals, Silver Medals, and scholarships. Scholarships listed on the official site include:

  • Portfolio Scholarships: graduating seniors who submit a six-work portfolio are eligible for up to $12,500.
  • Best-in-Grade Award: juror favorites from each grade receive $500 each.
  • American Voices & Visions Award: a selection of works from each region receives $500 each.
  • Special awards also include $2,000 for editorial cartoons and $2,500 for works about grief and loss.

EDUBUS Recommendations for the Scholastic Awards

Seniors should check the timeline first. Regional results arrive on January 27, after the University of California’s November 30 application deadline, so this season’s results will not appear in college applications already submitted. Applications can list awards from earlier years; this season’s work is better suited to an art or writing portfolio, which also qualifies for the Scholastic portfolio scholarships.

Students in grades 9 through 11 should treat the Awards as an annual milestone. With no prompts and previously created work allowed, students can select their strongest pieces from the year and revise them to fit category length limits. A record of awards across several years shows sustained commitment better than a single result.

Use AI within the rules and keep a record of the process. Save drafts, revisions, and in-progress photos, and parents should confirm in advance that their inbox can receive the permission email so the entry is not delayed near the deadline.

Category details and past experience appear in the Scholastic Awards writing entry in the EDUBUS competition library, and coaching is available through EDUBUS writing competition prep. Students building art portfolios can look at the digital art course and the photography course. How competition records fit into a college application is covered by the University Admissions Planning service.

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