120 FINALISTS ANNOUNCED

GUINNESS WORLD RECORDS® TITLE FOR LARGEST POSTAGE STAMP DESIGN COMPETITION

The Art department would like to say a huge THANKYOU to all students that entered the Heroes Stamp Design Competition.

They have just received notification from the Royal mail:

We are delighted to announce details of the 120 children who have made it to the regional finalist stage of the competition. An incredible 606,049 entries were received from children across the UK, with an amazing 7,479 schools taking part.

Congratulations to all the children at your school who entered, as their designs contributed towards a GUINNESS WORLD RECORDS™ title for the largest postage stamp design competition!

Prime Minister Boris Johnson said: “It is of great credit to the children of this country that in world record breaking numbers they picked up their paintbrushes, pens and paints and paid artistic tribute to the heroes of our coronavirus response. Their brilliant efforts represent the collective gratitude of the nation to everyone who went above and beyond during the pandemic. Congratulations to all those who have made it to the next round and thank you to everyone who has taken part.”

Simon Thompson, Royal Mail CEO, said: “We would like to thank all of the 606,049 children who submitted such brilliant designs to the competition. We have been humbled by the sheer volume of entries. And to have achieved a Guinness World Records title in the process shows how much the UK’s children value those heroes who have kept the nation moving during such a difficult period. To the 120 Regional Finalists – Well Done! We are really looking forward to seeing the winning eight designs!”

To arrive at the 120 regional finalists, a network of judges, consisting of current and retired art teachers, evaluated each of the 606,049 entries. Over a three-month period, the best entries from Northern Ireland, Scotland, Wales and the nine regions of England were chosen from each age group. You can see these final 120 entries on the competition website.

From these 120 regional finalists, a special panel of judges will now determine the winning 24 regional designs and these will be announced in November.

From these 24 entries, eight winning images will be chosen as official Royal Mail stamps. They will then appear on millions of items of mail across the UK when they are issued in the Spring of 2022.

Please note, all entries apart from the 120 regional finalists, have now been securely shredded and recycled.