The British Podcast Awards return for 2026 on Thursday 1st October 2026 at indigo at the O2
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This year the British Podcast Awards celebrates its tenth year as the UK’s biggest celebration of excellence, talent, passion, and originality in British podcasting, returning to
indigo at The O2 on Thursday, 1st October 2026.
The 2025 British Podcast Awards were the biggest to date with a record number of entries, a sell-out ceremony at indigo at The O2, and over 85,000 listeners voting in the Listeners’ Choice Award, underlining podcasting’s place at the heart of British culture.
Building on this, the 2026 awards mark a major milestone as the British Podcast Awards celebrate their tenth year. This year the awards will span across 33 categories, welcoming two brand-new exciting categories, further highlighting the growing success of the UK’s podcasting landscape:
The Amplifier – Recognises podcasts with exceptional reach, influence and cultural impact, open to 300,000+ downloads per episode.
Food & Drink – Recognises podcasts that place food and drink at the centre of their focus.
This year, the awards will also introduce an updated judging structure designed to deepen peer-led judging and engage previous winners, inviting all past finalists to nominate one person from their team to join the longlist judging panel category alongside main stage judges and lead judges.
Those interested in getting involved in judging can self-nominate via THIS link.
The awards will continue to discount fees for freelancers, charities and small production companies, which make up the majority of the sector. The British Podcast Awards continues to partner with the Podcasting Seriously Fund who provide entry fee support from independent BIPOC, Queer and/or Trans audio producers.
BRITISH PODCAST AWARDS - 2026 CATEGORIES
GENRES
ARTS & CULTURE
BUSINESS
COMEDY
DOCUMENTARY
EDUCATION
ENTERTAINMENT
FACTUAL
FICTION
NEW: FOOD & DRINK
HEALTH & WELLBEING
HISTORY
IMPACT
KIDS
LIFESTYLE
NEWS, POLITICS & CURRENT AFFAIRS
PARENTING
SEX & RELATIONSHIPS
SPORT
TRUE CRIME
WELSH LANGUAGE
FORMATS
DAILY
INTERVIEW
NETWORK OR PUBLISHER
NEW PODCAST
VIDEO INNOVATION
PEOPLE AND TEAMS
RISING STAR
BEST HOST(S)
EDITORS’ CHOICE AWARDS
PODCAST CHAMPION
SPECIALIST AWARD
SPOTLIGHT AWARD
NEW: THE AMPLIFIER
PUBLICLY VOTED
LISTENERS’ CHOICE
GRAND PRIX
PODCAST OF THE YEAR
First entry deadline is 30th April 2026 - submit yours now at
britishpodcastawards.com
Get ready for a celebration of podcasting’s finest at the British Podcast Awards 2026 at indigo at the O2 on Thursday, 1st October 2026.
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