Our award-winning students
Our students often receive industry recognition with success in major national and international competitions. Here are a few recent highlights:
Macmillan Prize for Illustration 2024
Our MA Children’s Book Illustration students pulled off an incredible clean sweep, taking the top three prizes in this prestigious competition. Abi Bi (pictured top) took the top prize with It’s Swing Time, after coming second in 2023. Second prize went to Claire Lemp for Charles Makes Tea and third to Antara Raman for Furlock. Nine of the 20 Highly Commended awards also went to Cambridge School of Art students.
AOI Top 10 Grads to Watch 2024
BA (Hons) Illustration graduating student Claire Lavelle was selected by the Association of Illustrators as one of their top ten inspiring up-and-coming illustrators for 2024.
Two of our MA Children’s Book Illustration students, Charlotte Durance and Naomi Tipping (work pictured right), were overall winners in the Illustration and Children's Book Illustration categories respectively, with three of our alumni runners-up and three more making the shortlist.
Two MA Children's Book Illustration students, Heike Scharrer and Xiaoyun Tian, won first and second place respectively in the Illustration category of PRINT magazine's 2024 Awards, which reflect and celebrate a range of visual design trends, such as a blend of technological advancements, creative explorations in type, texture, and color, and user-centric approaches in both print and digital.
AOI World Illustration Awards 2024
MA CBI students Lauren Sharples and Charlotte Durance make the shortlist along with ten alumni from the course, while Xiaoyun Tian, Xiaoyi Zhang BA Illustration student Scarlett Thomas made the longlist. Winners to be announced in September 2024.
Freelands Painting Prize 2024
BA (Hons) Fine Art student Anugrah Mishra was a winner in the Freelands Painting Prize 2024 – the second year in a row a student from our course has triumphed in the competition after Chloe Culley's success in 2023. Anugrah's work (pictured) will be presented at an exhibition at Freelands Foundation in Autumn 2024.
Bologna Book Fair 2024
MA Children’s Book Illustration students Toby Rampton and Fatima Ordinola were winners at the Bologna Book Fair 2024, with their work being chosen for the Illustrators Exhibition, which travels for over two years on an international tour of museums, art galleries and libraries in countries including Japan, Korea, and China, as well as appearing in the renowned Illustrators Annual.
Arts Scholars Curwen Lithography Bursary 2024
MA Fine Art student Ric Pimentel was the winner of this bursary awarded by Curwen Print Study Centre, and will now attend a fully-funded 10-day residency at their studio in Suffolk.
Venice Biennale 2024
MA Children’s Book Illustration student Elyon Liu is one of the Venice Biennale fellowship winners this year, and will spend a month with the British Pavillion developing a new personal project.
AOI World Illustration Awards 2023
Simona Massa won the New Talent category in this year's WIA awards for her book Gino (pictured), developed while studying on our MA Children's Book Illustration course. Ziqian Lin, and Xinyue “Panda” ZhuBA also made the shortlist of these prestigious awards, along with six graduates from the course, while BA (Hons) Illustration student Tess Duffin made the longlist.
Walker Books Picture This! Competition 2023
MA Children's Book Illustration students Aditi Anand (illustration pictured) and Charlotte Durance won the Walker Books Picture This! Competition 2023, along with graduate Chia Hsieh.
Trinity Buoy Wharf Drawing Prize 2023
MA Children's Book Illustration student Heike Scharrer was selected to show at this prestigious exhibition, along with graduate Sandy Horsley, from the 3,000 submissions received.
Global Design Graduate Show 2023 in collaboration with Gucci
MA Fine Art student and BA Fine Art graduate Francesca Gagni was shortlisted for this prestigious show, with the winners announced in October 2023.
New Designers 2023
BA (Hons) Illustration graduating student Klara Gryglicka (pictured) picked up The Association of Illustrators Spotlight Award for her work at New Designers 2023, winning a 1-year illustrator+ folio membership with the AOI for her efforts.
Golden Pinwheel Competition 2023
MA Children’s Book Illustration student Hu Huizi and graduates Thea Lu, Roozeboos (Anne Roos Kleiss), and Narisa Togo and were selected as 4 of 100 finalists in the Golden Pinwheel Competition 2023, and now go on to show their work at China Shanghai International Children’s Book Fair 2023.
Amateur Photographer Magazine's Best in Show
Two of our BA (Hons) Photography students were nominated 'Best in Show' by Amateur Photographer magazine. Mark Morgan and Erin Thorogood had their work selected at the Free Range 2023 show in London, and follow in the footsteps of last year's graduate Aliz Kovacs-Zoldi, who was selected as Student Photographer of the Year 2022 by the magazine.
Stratford Literary Festival 2023
BA (Hons) Illustration student Leah Risby won the 2023 Stratford Literary Festival Design a Book Jacket Competition with her cover for the festival’s Young Poets Collection (pictured), earning a cash prize and a commission with publisher Little Toller Press.
Graduate Fashion Week 2023
BA (Hons) Fashion Design student Alejandro Martinez-Herreros was shortlisted for the Zandra Rhodes Fashion Textiles Award at this annual celebration of student fashion designs.
Macmillan Prize for Illustration 2023
MA Children's Book Illustration students Abi Xinyi Bi and Aditi Anand were awarded the overall second and third place prizes respectively, while another 7 of our students were highly commended.
Batsford Prize 2023
Forest Xiao (MA Children’s Book Illustration) is winner of the Children’s Illustration category for How To Catch An Idea (pictured), with Xinbi Yin (BA Fine Art), Naomi Tipping (BA Illustration) and Justin Worsley (MA Children's Book Illustration) runners-up in their categories. Four other CSA students made the shortlist.
Chloe Culley (BA Fine Art) is 1 of 12 winning students across the UK with her work Untitled (Red) in this celebration of outstanding painting practice at undergraduate level.
AOI World Illustration Awards 2022
MA Children's Book Illustration student Kate Rolfe won this year's Children's Publishing category for her picturebook Navigating Dyslexia (pictured), while Carole Bouvier took home the SAA Agents Award for New Talent, along with a prize of agency representation. A further seven Cambridge School of Art students made the shortlist for their entered category, with another ten making it to the longlist.
V&A Student Illustrator of the Year 2022
Kate Rolfe's Navigating Dyslexia also won this year's V&A Student Illustrator of the Year award, the sixth consecutive year that the prize has been won by a student from our MA Children's Book Illustration course - an astounding achievement. Fellow student Amy Hunter was also shortlisted for the student award, while 2020 graduate Sally Dunne made the shortlist for the V&A Book Cover Design award.
MA Children's Book Illustration students and alumni swept the board at this year's prestigious competition, with Heike Scharrer named overall winner for her picturebook The Queue (pictured), fellow student Jennifer Spooner taking second prize for The Whittling Woodsman, and Kate Rolfe winning third place for Wolf and Bear.
Batsford Prize 2022
MA Children's Book Illustration student Justin Worsley won the Children's Illustration category of this year's Batsford Prize with his picturebook Aliens in the Park, while alumnus Kate Rolfe was runner-up in the same section with her picturebook Wolf and Bear. Frances Ives, from the same course, was awarded a runner-up prize in The People's Choice Award, for her book Sometimes.
Stratford Salariya Children’s Picture Book Prize 2022
MA Children’s Book Illustration student Katarina Dragoslavić (Devlin) won the 2022 Stratford Salariya Children’s Picture Book Prize with her book The Little Hungry Dinosaur (pictured). She took away a prize worth £1000, including career advice from a leading literary agent, publicity through Stratford Literary Festival and the possibility of publication by The Salariya Book Company.
The Zandra Rhodes Fashion Textiles Award 2022
BA (Hons) Fashion Design student Joao Marcelo was shortlisted for this award at Graduate Fashion Week 2022.
Klaus Flugge Prize 2021
PhD student Flavia Z Drago (pictured) won the 2021 Klaus Flugge Prize, awarded to the most exciting and promising newcomer to children’s picture book illustration, for debut picture book Gustavo, The Shy Ghost (Walker Books), which also topped The New York Times' best sellers list for children's picture books.
World Illustration Awards 2021
BA (Hons) Illustration student Tabitha Wall won the 'New Talent' category for her sustainability awareness posters in this hugely prestigious and international competition run by the Association of Illustrators.
New Designers 2021
At New Designers 2021, BA (Hons) Illustration and Animation student Sabine Buhain was awarded the Screening Award, sponsored by the Aardman Academy, for her film Like It Was Yesterday (pictured).
Network Rail competition
BA (Hons) Illustration student Abi Winter was a winner in Network Rail’s “Wish I Was There” competition for her papercut pictures of Portmeirion. As well as receiving a prize of £2,500, Abi’s work will be put on display at several stations around Britain as part of the competition’s travelling exhibition.
Macmillan Prize for Illustration 2021
In the 2021 Macmillan Prize for Illustration, 18 of the 25 highly commended came from students on our MA Children’s Book Illustration, with Laura Winstone being named as overall runner-up for her book The Catmolean Mewseum, and Yichun Ma finishing third with My Quiet Dad.
Penguin Design Awards 2021
Students Kata Kocsispeter (BA Illustration) and Loredana Burdo (BA Graphic Design) made the shortlist of the Penguin Design Awards 2021, Kata in the Non-Fiction cover category, and Loredana in the Fiction Cover category.
Batsford Prize 2021
Kin Choi Lam (MA Children’s Book Illustration) won the Children’s Illustration category in the Batsford Prize 2021, run by Pavilion Books. Fellow students Cathy Eliot and Sidsel Lindhagen achieved runners-up places, while Evie Fridel was the People’s Choise runner-up, and Jihye Seo and Joanna Ghosh also shortlisted.
V&A Illustration Awards 2020
For the fifth successive year, the winner of the V&A Student Illustrator of the Year went to a graduating student from Cambridge School of Art. Sally Dunne, took the top prize of £3000 for her work Home in Kakuma Refugee Camp (pictured). Vyara Boyadjieva was named as the student runner-up, while Eva Eland claimed the V&A’s Book Cover Award and Kate Winter and Laura Winstone were both highly commended. Sally, Eva, Kate and Laura are all graduates of our MA Children's Book Illustration course.
Trinity Buoy Wharf Drawing Prize 2020 exhibition
Joe Dean (MA Fine Art) and Ayeshah Zolghadr (MA Printmaking) were 2 of 56 practitioners selected to exhibit at the international Trinity Buoy Wharf Drawing Prize 2020 exhibition. The pair were chosen from 4,274 submissions received across the UK and internationally.
Carmelite Picture Book Prize 2020
Ellan Rankin, another of our MA Children's Book Illustration students, won the 2020 Carmelite Picture Book Prize, a competition run by the Hachette publishing group and open to students from across the UK. As well as getting to illustrate a new book written by Jeanne Willis, Ellan will receive a cheque for £1,000.
Association of Illustrators' Top Ten Students 2020
Graduating BA (Hons) Illustration students Jodie Howard and Megan Dymock were selected as two of the Association of Illustrators’ Top Ten Students to Watch 2020. Megan was picked for her photographs of 3D sets made from intricate paperwork (pictured), while Jodie’s work consists of illustrations and animations that use gouache and coloured pencil. Every year the AOI work with students from universities all across the UK, so to be picked for this list takes something very special indeed.
New Designers 2019
BA (Hons) Illustration and Animation student Joana Pinto (pictured) won the Screening Room Prize, while BA (Hons) Illustration student Kezia Hulse received the Mollie Makes Associate Prize with her National Trust Spring Walks posters at this annual trade show, where our graduating students get to share their work with prospective clients and employers.
3x3 Student Show 2019
Three of our MA Children's Book Illustration students received Merits in this influential competition run by international illustration magazine 3x3 - Dowon Kwon, Yingan Chen and Chiu-Hsuan Huang, Honourable Mentions also went to fellow MA student Tzu-Chun Chang and BA (Hons) Illustration student Cecelia Wood.
Cambridge Folk Festival T-Shirt Competition 2019
Before her success at New Designers 2019, BA (Hons) Illustration student Kezia Hulse won the 2019 Cambridge Folk Festival T-shirt competition, and was also a winner in our Sustainability Art Prize 2018.
V&A Illustration Awards 2019
MA Children's Book Illustration student Sophie Burrows (pictured) was named Student Illustrator of the Year at the V&A Illustration Awards for her book "Crushing". This was the fourth consecutive year that a student from Cambridge School of Art has won the award, following successes for Joseph Namara Hollis in 2018, Beatriz Lostalé Seijo in 2017, and Kate Milner in 2016.