ITV Academy Original Voices

Eligibility and project requirements

Applicants need at least one paid experience writing for film, television, audio drama, theatre or online content, a strong interest in continuing drama storytelling, and the ability to work to deadlines and respond to editorial feedback. Identity criteria are encouragement rather than a gate: the initiative particularly welcomes applications from People of Colour, Deaf, Disabled and Neurodivergent people and those from working-class backgrounds, and ITV operates a Disability Confident guarantee to progress disabled applicants who meet the minimum criteria. No residency or right-to-work requirement is published, which is a genuine gap for a paid UK employment contract. The role is hybrid but based at either Coronation Street in Manchester or Emmerdale in Leeds. Note the two official sources describe different application tasks: the press release says applicants write consecutive scenes from a provided story arc, while the careers listing asked for a one-page outline for a character-led storyline.

Formats

TV Pilot

Open to

United Kingdom

Deadlines & fees

Dates and fees checked against the official site 9 Aug 2026. That is longer ago than we aim for; confirm on the official site before entering.

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Prizes

This is a paid three-month full-time fixed-term contract, and ITV states no numeric rate anywhere. The only pay statement published is a floor: ITV is an accredited Living Wage employer and will pay no less than the Living Wage for any role. Because weekly hours are not published either, no total placement value can be calculated, and we have deliberately not estimated one. The fee for the shadow script commission is also unpublished. Standard ITV employment benefits are listed, including holiday, an annual bonus opportunity and pension contribution. RIGHTS: nothing is published. No option, first refusal, first look or exclusivity clause appears in the announcement or the archived listing, and there is no terms document. The engagement is a fixed-term employment contract, which ordinarily vests output in the employer, but since ITV publishes nothing on the point this should be treated as unverified rather than absent.

Judging

Applications ran through ITV's careers site as a job application rather than a competition, and that listing now returns a 404. No selectors are named for 2026. Mentoring comes from the Script Producer, Script Editors and the writer whose episode the placement follows. The 2023 cycle drew more than five hundred submissions for four places. Named alumni include David Proud, who joined Coronation Street in 2020, and Yassmin Abdel-Magied, who joined Emmerdale in 2024. Note that the 2023 cycle promised a further twelve months of mentoring after the initiative closed, and the 2026 announcement drops that.

Frequently asked questions