For many participants, their Scholastic Awards Portal information was affected by a large-scale technical error that occurred during Regional Announcements on January 28. This caused incorrect results to appear in one particular part of the Scholastic Awards Portal for a short time, though correct information appeared elsewhere. If you saw that one or more of your works was listed as having received a Gold Key on January 28, but you no longer see those results in your Portal account, you were affected by the technical error.

The issue has been fixed, and the results currently displayed in your Portal are accurate.

We are truly sorry for this error, and for the disappointment and frustration it caused.

Please know that no award was given and later rescinded or removed. The technical error caused some works that did not receive an award to incorrectly appear as Gold Key recipients on the Entries Page; you may have noticed there was not a certificate of an award for that work on your dashboard, where the results information was correct. Your work was carefully reviewed by judges, and we stand by the results of the 2026 Scholastic Art & Writing Awards. Please know also that this error was the responsibility of the Alliance for Young Artists & Writers, the organization that administers the larger Scholastic Art & Writing Awards program, and not the fault of any partner organization serving as a regional affiliate.

We understand how much courage it takes to put your work out there to be judged. Our small team works year-round because we believe in your creativity. Hundreds of thousands of works are entered, reflecting the greatest efforts and talents of your generation. We know how disappointing it is to not receive an award, especially when you were shown incorrect information or felt confused. We are devastated to have disappointed some of the teens we work so hard to lift up.

By entering your work, you are a part of the Scholastic Art & Writing Awards. Your effort and your bravery fuel our work. Not receiving an award doesn’t make your art and writing any less meaningful, valid or impressive, and we hope you continue creating and sharing it with the world. We truly wish we could undo this mistake, and understand the hurt and frustration you may feel if you were impacted by the error. If this experience inspires a new piece, we’d love to see it.