Rules
Condition of Registration and Entry
1. By registering and entering the Make UK Photography Competition you agree to these rules and all other terms and conditions.
Eligibility
2. Entries must be based on an original photograph taken by the entrant. AI-generated images, or images substantially created, altered or manipulated using generative AI tools, are not permitted. Standard photographic editing and retouching, including cropping, colour correction, exposure adjustment and dust removal, are acceptable, provided the photograph remains a genuine representation of the original scene.
3. Work submitted must not have previously been entered into another competition, including previous Make UK Photography Competitions (previously known as the Make UK Photography Awards).
4. Those who enter may not be included on the judging panel, attend the judging process, or be involved in any part of the judging procedure.
5. No employee of Make UK or sponsor / partner organisations of the competition or their families shall be entitled to enter. Private, supplementary competitions may be administered alongside these categories, for which all other rules apply.
6. Photographs must reflect engineering or manufacturing through products, components or processes that have been made in Britain. Entries need not be confined to British companies so long as they are located in Britain.
7. Entrants under the age of 18 must obtain parental consent prior to submitting their image(s).
Categories
8. Entries to the competition should be made to the following categories:
- Manufacturing Makes Things Possible
- The People Who Make It Possible
- Manufacturing Reimagined
- The Beauty of Industry
9. The judges will then select images from the three different levels of entry: Professional, Amateur and young photographer. The Distinctions between the different levels of entry are defined below:
9.1 Professional category: A Professional is defined as anyone who earns 10% or more of their annual income from photography, or who operates a registered photographic business, or regularly invoices clients for photographic services, commercial prints, or image licensing.
9.2 Amateur category: An Amateur is defined as anyone who takes photographs primarily for pleasure and derives less than 10% of their total annual income from photography. They must not operate a registered photography business or actively market their services for commercial gain.
9.3 Young photographer category: The Young Photographer category is open to anyone who is aged 20 or under on 24 October 2026. Entrants in this category are exempt from the amateur/professional income rules, but the work submitted must be entirely their own. (Note: Entrants under 16 must have parental or guardian consent to enter).
Entry Procedure and Format
10. Entry to the Make UK Photography Competition is free of charge and there is no limit on the number of images that you can enter to the relevant category.
11. Entries for the Make UK Photography Competition should be submitted on-line via the entry website, which is linked from: www.Make UK.org.uk/photocomp26
12. Entrants must agree to complete the required entry fields in the online process.
13. No prints will be accepted.
14. An image may only be entered in to one category and skill level - Amateur, Professional or Young (under 20 on 24th October 2026).
15. Professional images are judged purely as photographs and not as an adjunct to design and art direction. Therefore no copy should appear on your photograph.
16. The entrant’s name must not appear anywhere on the actual image/work.
Image Specifications
17. Images should satisfy the following:
17.1. RGB format
17.2. High-quality JPEG file (level 10 or above in Photoshop)
17.3. The maximum and ideal image size is 3508 x 2480 pixels or 3508 x 3508 pixels if square
17.4. Minimum image size 2400 x 1800 pixels
17.5. Alpha-numeric file names ending in ‘.jpg’.
18. Each image must be accompanied by the following information:
18.1. Entrant’s Name
18.2. Company (or school or college)
18.3. Full postal address
18.4. Telephone number
18.5. Email address
18.6. Image category and skill level
18.7. Image title
18.8. Image caption (to include name and location of the facility / production site)
19. Name your image as you wish but please note that they will be re-named within the entry website system, to identify them uniquely as yours whilst preserving anonymity during judging. However, during upload, your own file name must contain only the letters A-Z (in upper or lower case) and / or the numbers 0-9 and / or the underscore character ("_”) plus the suffix ".jpg”. Any other characters including further dots, hyphens or spaces could result in your file being rejected during the upload process.
20. Each photograph must be accompanied by a caption (narrative) between 50 and 100 words to express why and / or how the image portrays modern manufacturing in Britain; in keeping with the themes of the Make UK Photography Competition.
Judging
21. Entries will be judged by an independent and impartial panel of judges.
22. All images will be judged in digital format.
23. Shortlisting will take place in November 2026
24. The shortlisted entries will be announced on the Make UK Photography Competition website from November 2026
25. Judging will take place in November 2026
Successful Entries
26. The shortlisted entries will be displayed on the Photography Competition area of the Make UK website.
27. The winning images of each category will be announced through Make UK's websites, social media channels, publications and other communications.
28. The successful, winning entries will be displayed indefinitely on the Photography Competition website, as a record of achievement.
Copyright
29. No copyright is transferred in respect of any images entered.
30. By submitting an image, you agree that Make UK Ltd. and any of its partners can display, distribute, publish and alter any of the images in their activities to promote and support UK manufacturing for a period of five years.
31. By entering the Make UK Photography Competition, entrants agree to their photographs being used for publicity purposes. Successful entries will be reproduced and may be used in various activities in connection with the Make UK Photography Competition, which may include the internet, other electronic media, publications or events.
32. Where necessary, entrants must have permission from the client and photographer to submit the work. The entrant shall be deemed to warrant that they own the entire copyright in the work.
33. The entrant undertakes to indemnify the organisers and their partners and sponsors of the Make UK Photography Competition in respect of any breach of the above warranty.
General
34. The organisers reserve the right to use its own discretion throughout the Make UK Photography Competition process which may include, but is not limited to: disqualifying any entrant not complying with the rules; disqualifying any entries not deemed suitable for the Make UK Photography Competition; amalgamating categories if they are under-subscribed; changing or removing the category headings when the selected images are published.
35. There will be no appeals against the decision of the judges and correspondence cannot be entered into regarding the judging.
36. Work will not be moved from one category to another by the judges, as it will be assumed that you will understand, before entering, which category best suits the image(s) entered. So be sure you read, and are aware of, the requirements for the categories first.
37. Any successful entrant to the Make UK Photography Competition may be called upon during the following year to participate in any appropriate marketing and PR activities for and on behalf of the organisers.
38. People in your images – If anyone is identifiable in your image/s you must have written consent from them to be able to enter. Please see an example consent form here and you may be required to present a completed form at shortlisting.