2026 Shortlist
Huge congratulations to our amazing shortlistees!
The winners will be announced at a glittering live ceremony on Wednesday 13 May.
For further information and to attend the sector’s greatest event, go here.
SELECT Category | 2026
Sponsored by
Visitor Accessibility Award
Shortlisted
- The Royal Air Force Museum
- Historic Royal Palaces Access Guides and Access Videos
- Castle Howard Access and inclusion at Castle Howard: welcoming everyone
- Victoria and Albert Museum Design and Disability
- The Cartoon Museum Accessible Welcome
2026
Museums + Heritage Business of the Year
Shortlisted
- Harwell Restoration
- Losonnante
- Smartify
- TownsWeb Archiving
- Victoria Eggs
- Vox Group
The winner of the new Museums + Heritage Business of the Year category will be determined by a sector-wide vote. Make sure you have your say by voting before 27 March.
VOTE NOW2026
Sector Impact Award
Shortlisted
- National Museums Liverpool Recruitment Outreach Programme
- UAL Decolonising Arts Institute 20/20
- The C Word: The Conservators' Podcast
- Culture, Health & Wellbeing Alliance Working Together: Embedding health and wellbeing leadership in museums and heritage organisations
- Birmingham Museums Trust Birmingham Museums Trust’s Citizens Jury
2026
Sponsored by
Visitor Welcome Award
Shortlisted
- Dorset Museum & Art Gallery Dorset Museum & Art Gallery Visitor Services Team
- Japan House London Omotenashi in practice: delivering welcome through attentiveness and care
- Wimbledon Lawn Tennis Museum Wimbledon Lawn Tennis Museum & Tour
- National Football Museum Visitor First – A world class welcome for every visitor, every day
- Red Lodge (Bristol Museums) Spooky Week: A Walk Through Time
2026
Sponsored by
Sustainable Project of the Year
Shortlisted
- Lambeth Palace Lambeth Palace - Harmonising Heritage and Sustainability
- Wardlaw Museum, University of St Andrews Rewrite the Future
- Gloucestershire Archives Green Pledge Project
- Science and Industry Museum Power Hall: The Andrew Law Gallery at the Science and Industry Museum
- Bradford 2025 UK City of Culture Wild Uplands at Bradford 2025 UK City of Culture
- Natural History Museum Fixing Our Broken Planet
2026
Best Use of Digital – International
Shortlisted
- Qatar Museums Qatar Museums AI Tour (QM AI Tour)
- State Library Victoria Mouthful of Dust
- Industrimuseet Horsens The Director's Dilemma
- Catalan Heritage Agency – Government of Catalonia Els ulls de la història: An immersive digital journey into Catalan heritage
- Ralph Appelbaum Associates Encounters, The National WWI Museum and Memorial
- St John's Co Cathedral Foundation The Caravaggio Wing at St John's Co-Cathedral, Malta
2026
Best Use of Digital – UK
Shortlisted
- Cadw and Jam Creative Studios Ltd Dynamic, Immersive Storytelling: Wealth, power and dangerous liaisons at Caerphilly Castle.
- UCL Grant Museum of Zoology World of Wasps
- The National Gallery Imaginarium
- Sainsbury Centre Day Release
- National Science and Media Museum Bradford Digital Creatives
2026
In partnership with
Team of the Year
Shortlisted
- Manchester City Galleries Collections Care and Management Team
- Attenborough Arts Centre, Leicester Marketing Team
- Wellcome Collection Visitor Experience & Engagement - Delivering Inclusive and Accessible Experiences
- Jane Austen’s House Jane Austen’s House Staff
- Culture Leicestershire, Leicestershire County Council Villiers Revealed: We Have Always Been Here
2026
Community Engagement Programme of the Year
Shortlisted
- The Roman Baths Sanctuary at The Roman Baths
- Gunnersbury Park Museum Peoples Unite! How Southall changed the country
- Touchstones Rochdale Side-by-Side
- Horniman Museum and Gardens All Eyes on Her!: Community Stewardship for Institutional Change
- Maison Dieu (Dover Town Hall) Reawakening the Maison Dieu Community Engagement
- The Bowes Museum Unheard Voices, bringing The Bowes Museum to HMP Deerbolt
2026
Sponsored by
International Exhibition of the Year
Shortlisted
- Atelier Brückner Grand Egyptian Museum – Tutankhamun Gallery
- Ralph Appelbaum Associates Lost Shtetl Museum
- Tūhura Otago Museum Mums Build a Summer Exhibition to Inspire the Next Generation
- Universalmuseum Joanneum, Schloss Eggenberg Ambition & Illusion. Schloss Eggenberg: the Staging of a World
- Suzhou Museum × Gold Mantis Culture Development Co Ltd “I Am Ashurbanipal: King of Assyria” — British Museum Collections at Suzhou Museum
2026
In partnership with
Learning Programme of the Year
Shortlisted
- Turner Contemporary An Apple a Day
- Beamish, The Living Museum of the North Innovative work placement project for SEND and alternative provision school students
- Historic England Heritage Schools
- Powderham Access All Learning: Education on an Event Site
- London Museum Young Londoners' Archive Schools Programme
- The National Civil War Centre and Newark Museum The National Civil War Centre's The World Turned Upside Down Learning Programme
2026
Partnership of the Year
Shortlisted
- Derby Museums in partnership with Vaillant UK Inspiring future makers and engineers in Derby
- Scottish Historic Buildings Trust, Bernat Klein Foundation & National Trust for Scotland Bernat Klein Studio Coaltion
- Exhibition Road Cultural Group South Ken ZEN+ Programme
- North Yorkshire Council Out of the Box Learning
- English Heritage Taskmaster and English Heritage Team Up
2026
Sponsored by
In partnership with
Restoration or Conservation Project of the Year
Shortlisted
- Durham University Conserving the Durham Shakespeare First Folio
- Cannington Shaw Preservation Trust CIC No7 Bottle Shop
- Norfolk Museums Service Norwich Castle: A Royal Palace Reborn
- Dover District Council, The Landmark Trus,; Haverstock, Ingham Pinnock Associates & Pitsilli Graham Reawakening the Maison Dieu
- Buttress Architects & Preston City Council Harris Your Place: The Harris Museum, Art Gallery & Library
2026
In partnership with
Shop of the Year
Shortlisted
- University of Oxford Pitt Rivers Museum Pitt Rivers Museum Shop
- Museum of the Home Museum Shop
- Derby Museums Museum of Making's sustainable retail season
- Chatsworth House The Orangery Shop
- National Theatre National Theatre Bookshop
2026
In partnership with
Volunteers of the Year
Shortlisted
- Commonwealth War Graves Commission Punjab Registers Comparison Project
- Wolverhampton Arts and Culture Wolverhampton Art Gallery Volunteer Visitor Ambassadors
- East Grinstead Museum World War II remembered
- Ullapool Museum Trust Ullapool Museum Young Curators
- The Hovercraft Museum CIO Rising Above: 45 Volunteers Delivering a Nationally Significant Museum
2026
Permanent Exhibition of the Year
Shortlisted
- Natural History Museum Fixing Our Broken Planet
- ZMMA Poole Museum
- Shoemakers Museum at the Alfred Gillett Trust Place, people and purpose in a permanent exhibition
- Avoncroft Museum of Buildings Revealing the Hidden Stories of the Showmen Community
- Science and Industry Museum Power Hall: The Andrew Law Gallery
2026
In partnership with
Temporary or Touring Exhibition of the Year – budget more than £80k
Shortlisted
- The National Gallery Van Gogh: Poets and Lovers
- The National Archives MI5: Official Secrets
- Manchester Museum and Air Giants The Cat That Slept for a Thousand Years
- Wellcome Collection 1880 THAT: Christine Sun Kim and Thomas Mader
2026
In partnership with
Temporary or Touring Exhibition of the Year – budget less than £80k
Shortlisted
- Food Museum School Dinners
- Thackray Museum of Medicine Poo!
- Museum of Transology TRANSCESTRY: 10 years of the Museum of Transology
- Winchester Cathedral Whales
- The Harris (Preston City Council) Wallace and Gromit In A Case at the Museum
- New Forest Heritage Centre & Romani Community Archaeology The Close
2026
Sponsored by
In partnership with
Marketing + Communications Campaign of the Year
Shortlisted
- Hayward Gallery, Southbank Centre Nara
- Imperial War Museums VE Day 80th Anniversary PR campaign
- Cyfarthfa Foundation and Merthyr Tydfil County Borough Council Cyfarthfa200 – Maximising a Historical Milestone
- Natural History Museum Space: Could Life Exist Beyond Earth?
- The Fitzwilliam Museum Made in Ancient Egypt Marketing and Communications strategy
2026