A picture can be worth a thousand words...

We're proud to have students join us from over 85 countries and even more who are studying around the world. We want to hear your story and showcase this to the city of Bath!

The International Photo Competition is designed to highlight and celebrate the international diversity of our university, while giving you the opportunity to reflect on your international identity or experience.

This year’s competition will take place from 16 March – 13 April 2026 (11.59pm).

Themes for 2026

We are very thankful to the sponsor of this year’s competition, The Royal Commonwealth Society: Bath and District Branch, for generously contributing to this year’s prizes. Follow the links in the dropdowns below to find out more about our themes for this year.

Capture how connection shapes your experience as a student. Through your lens, reveal a moment, place, or action that shows how relationships, support and shared experiences bring people together. We’re looking for visuals that speak to community building and the everyday ways people nurture and care for each other – and in turn, ourselves.

 You might photograph:

  • Shared meals or celebrations
  • Cultural exchange
  • Helping someone
  • Study groups or creative collaboration
  • A place or activity where you feel included
  • An act of kindness from a stranger.

Show us a moment that captures your inner strength. Let the image tell a story of belief, courage and self-assuredness. This could be a visible act of confidence – performing, leading, speaking, creating – or a quieter moment of self-belief in a new or unfamiliar space. Your photo should show what confidence looks like in real life.

You might photograph:

  • Trying something new
  • Cultural pride or self-expression
  • Exploring a new place alone
  • A moment of achievement
  • A moment that made you feel strong and self-assure.

Prizes and recognition

First place submissions in each category will win a £100 City of Bath Gift Card!*

In addition, students submitting the highest scoring entries will be invited to a reception with the Mayor of Bath on the evening of 29 April at the Bath Royal Literary and Scientific Institution. The highest ranked photos in each category will be on display and light refreshments will be available. Winners in each category will be announced at this event.  

Bath Spa University is excited to be running this photo competition in parallel with the University of Bath and Norland College. Students from all institutions will be invited to the celebratory event and photos from all will be on display.

Eligibility 

For the purposes of this competition, we are defining ‘international’ broadly and will consider you eligible if you are:

  • A full-time, current student studying at Bath Spa University, a Bath Spa University Partner in the UK or Transnational Education Partners abroad and one of the following:
    • A non-UK national (Student visa, Settled, Pre-settled, or other visa status)
    • A UK citizen studying on an international exchange or placement abroad
    • Another international identity explained as part of your entry.

Submissions

The competition opens for submissions on 16 March 2026. The deadline for submissions is 11.59pm on 13 April 2026. 

To submit your photo, please use your university email address to email your photos to studentvoice@bathspa.ac.uk with the subject line "International Photo Competition".

In the body of the email, include:

  • The title of your photo 
  • A description of how your photo answers the theme you chose (up to 100 words) 
  • Attach your photo or provide a link where we can download it.

You may submit one photo in each category.

Terms and conditions

By submitting your photo, you agree to the terms and conditions outlined below: 

  • By entering this photo contest, I agree Bath Spa University may use this photo in future promotional material and/or web-based media.  Photos will be credited but you will receive no additional payment.  
  • You may submit one photo per category that you are eligible for.  
  • Photos must be taken by you and not include yourself in the photo unless the photo was also taken by you (selfie).   
  • Any people identifiable in the photo must have given you permission to take the photo.  
  • Photos should have been taken after starting your course at Bath Spa University.  
  • The competition is open to full-time, current students only, including our UK and international TNE partners.   
  • Photos should be submitted in JPEG format, and the file size limit is 100 MB. You may include a link to a downloadable photo instead of attaching the photo if you would like.   
  • Each photo should come with a title and reflection of 100 words or less describing the photo and how it relates to the category to help the audience better understand your experience.  
  • Photos may be taken on a camera or smartphone but are judged equally.   
  • Light editing that helps you express your vision and connect to the theme is allowed. You may also change your photo to black and white or other tones if you wish. You may use Adobe software or similar editing tools to do this. Heavy edits or major changes that alter the original photo’s integrity are discouraged.   
  • Judging will be based on the criteria below, not on the level of editing used.  
  • Photos will be checked for authenticity.
  • If the student is outside Bath, the Bath gift card will be substituted for an equivalent prize.

Photos will be judged by academics and staff at Bath Spa University and the Royal Commonwealth Society.

Photos submitted will be anonymised and judges will score each photo using the following criteria:

  • Relevance to the Theme – How well does the photo align with the chosen category’s prompt?  
  • Storytelling and Emotional Impact  – Does the photo convey a compelling story or message?  
  • Creativity and Originality  – Does the image present an unexpected or new perspective? Does it demonstrate creativity in composition, subject or interpretation?  
  • Composition and Visual Impact – Is the image visually engaging? Does the framing, technical aspects and editing enhance the story being told?

This is an amateur photo competition. You do not need previous experience to participate. Judges will come from a variety of backgrounds. Ultimately, we are interested your story and seeing the creative ways in which you express it.   

Additional information

If you have further questions about the competition, please email studentvoice@bathspa.ac.uk.

You can find the winning photos from last year's competition here.

Image credit: Abhinav Kukreja, MA Business Administration (Leadership).