Scholastic Art & Writing AwardsWriting categories

Run the official Region Locator using your school's zip code; homeschooled students are placed by their home zip code. Two things surprise families: your art region and your writing region are assigned separately, and Southern California deadlines are not uniform. For the 2027 season regional deadlines fall anywhere between 1 December 2026 and 4 January 2027. The classic mistake is preparing against a deadline you heard from another family.

There are two rounds. Your regional affiliate awards Gold Keys, Silver Keys and Honorable Mentions - for the 2027 season regional results are announced on 27 January 2027. Only Gold Key work advances automatically to national judging for Gold Medals, Silver Medals and scholarships, with national results on 31 March 2027. Silver Keys and Honorable Mentions are regional-only recognitions and do not move forward.

No - the same work cannot be entered in more than one category, though a student may enter different works across several categories. The writing categories are Critical Essay, Journalism, Personal Essay & Memoir, Speculative Fiction and Screenplays & Scripts (500-3,000 words); Short Story (1,000-3,000); Flash Fiction (up to 1,000); Novel (an excerpt up to 3,000 words); and Poetry (3-100 lines), plus the Writing Portfolio, which is limited to graduating seniors.

AI may assist the creative process - the official wording cites brainstorming and outlining. A final product that is AI-generated with minimal human involvement is treated as plagiarism and disqualified. The practical line: the ideas and the sentences have to be the student's, so having AI draft or rewrite passages is not safe. Note this differs from the Bennington Young Writers Awards, which ban AI entirely, so do not apply one rulebook to both. Irvine students who want real feedback on where that line sits can work through the Scholastic prep course.

For the 2027 season it is US$15 per individual work and US$40 for a portfolio, payable by the family or the school. Need-based fee waivers are available and are self-certified inside the entry portal - no documentation is required up front, although your regional affiliate may follow up. Requesting a waiver has no bearing on judging; jurors do not see whether a fee was paid or waived.

Grades 7 to 12, and you must be at least 13. Eligibility turns on residence rather than nationality: you must live in the US, a US territory or military base, or Canada outside Quebec. Students on a visa who live and study here meet that test; students enrolled entirely overseas do not. Homeschoolers are eligible and are assigned a region by home zip code, the same way an Irvine public high schooler is assigned by school zip code. The Writing Portfolio is open only to current graduating seniors.

Yes, as long as you label the level honestly. Admissions readers know the structure and know a regional Silver Key is not a National Medal, so 'Silver Key, Personal Essay & Memoir (regional)' reads better than a vague 'Scholastic award', and it fits as an academic entry on a UC Activities List. The more useful signal is continuity: entering every year from ninth grade and moving up the ladder says more about sustained commitment to writing than one isolated result.

Usually yes. The official rules allow previously published or exhibited work provided the original publisher does not hold exclusive rights. Winning entries grant the Alliance a non-exclusive licence while the student keeps copyright. The catch is on the other side: other competitions often require unpublished work, so check each contest's own rules before submitting the same piece in several places.