RSA Spark submissions for 2025 are now closed. Thank you to all students who took part.
Our reviewers and partners are busy looking at all the submissions. We will be celebrating the best ideas for each brief at the RSA Spark Showcase, which opens on 23 September 2025.
This is also when we will be launching the new series of RSA Spark briefs for the academic year 2025-2026.
If you have any questions, please contact rsaspark@rsa.org.uk.
Built on the solid foundations of 100 years of the Student Design Awards, RSA Spark has been designed to achieve even greater impact.
RSA Spark welcomes students from across the globe to grow and apply their agency, skills and creativity to real-world briefs that do more good for people, places and the planet.
RSA Spark is free to enter and open to currently enrolled and recently graduated students aged 18 and above from all disciplines, and wherever you are located around the world.
At RSA Spark, we believe great ideas come from diverse perspectives. We especially encourage students from the global majority, those who need financial assistance for education, those with disabilities, and first-generation university students to participate.
We can offer tailored adjustments to ensure everyone can fully participate. This might include alternative submission formats or additional guidance, for example. If you or your students need adjustments, let us know by contacting rsaspark@rsa.org.uk. We’re here to support you.
Working individually or in teams, students are invited to apply their creativity to shape and test the best possible idea in response to a brief.
When you're hearing things on the news to do with climate change its always something that you can just turn off and move on with your day but, RSA Spark really made me stop and think about how I can do my bit to help the environment, and it gave me a better understanding of how, as an individual, I can help.
In 2024/25, students had the opportunity to respond to four exciting briefs. These were:
Students taking part will benefit from feedback from our expert panel, digital badges to evidence their participation, and the chance to be shortlisted for our annual showcase event and The RSA Spark Entrepreneurs programme.
Our briefs have been designed to challenge and inspire students to connect creative learning with future career purpose. Through taking part in RSA Spark, students have an opportunity to grow 10 capabilities for life that are important when innovating in ways that positively impact people, places and planet.
Each brief is designed as a five-stage creative process and so we’ve provided five online learning workshops for each stage to guide submissions.
The workshops are optional to attend and not a prerequisite for participating in RSA Spark. You can join or playback our interactive workshops if you want to strengthen your skills in these areas and earn an RSA Spark digital badge.
To celebrate the best of the submissions this academic year, we will be shortlisting 10 ideas for each brief and inviting them to take part in our exclusive showcase event in September.
The showcase will be live at RSA House for a month, as well as online for a year.
In addition, the £500 Anjool Malde Innovator Prize will be given to the entry that best demonstrates an outstanding idea with market potential from a UK entrant/student.
Finally, eight standout participants with enterprising ideas will have the opportunity to secure a place and seed funding on our new RSA Spark entrepreneurs’ programme.
This award includes a £1,000 seed grant, a four-month-long online peer-learning journey, direct mentorship from a seasoned entrepreneur, an Innovator Digital Badge, and a one-year RSA Fellowship.
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