About the Contest

The Model of the Year contest is aimed at girls with little or no experience to help them get a foot in the door of the modelling industry, as well as helping models with more experience continue to progress further. The contest each year has a mixture of models who have lots of experience and new models who have never done a shoot before!

Our contest helps them gain confidence, get experience and much needed publicity, and gives them the chance to win some fantastic prizes and take their first step into the limelight!

After Kerri's experiences in many modelling competitions throughout the years it soon emerged that many were fixed, a scam to make the organisers money, and a complete waste of time.

Even judging regional heats for top beauty pageants it soon came to light that no matter which girls the judges chose to win, the organisers always picked their favourites over the judges decisions and fixing the competitions.

A lot of beauty pageants cost girls hundreds of pounds to enter, with even the regional heats entry fee's being upwards of £150 and some national heats charging a staggering £600 to enter!

Many companies have tried to capitalise on this and make money from the girls, knowing that new models will pay anything to get a name for themselves by winning a competition, and sadly new competitions are springing up every day to try and rip girls off.

The result is girls are paying more to enter and new competitions are springing up to offer girls fame and fortune, when really they are just scams to make money. Just look at how many variations of 'Miss' contests there about now, where the girls will pay lots to enter and sadly get nowhere for it. Kerri has recently been on the BBC talking about how so many girls are ripped off with new beauty pageants, you can read all about her interviews in the Model of the Year press pages.

Kerri decided to set up a beauty pageant where every member of the Academy can enter as many online heats as they like for free, and the finalists are chosen on beauty, personality and brains. Not which girls parents would cover the entry or sponsorship fee as is the case in many competitions now.

Kerri's experiences as a contestant and also a judge has shown many competitions are fixed, by the organisers, sponsors, and companies involved. This is unfair on the girls who never had a chance of winning, the effort they went to, and the costs they paid to be there in the final. We have made sure that the Model of the Year final is completely open and honest to all contestants involved, without any elements being fixed. In all monthly rounds and other competition heats, the girls can see who has entered, and the winners are chosen through public voting or by a judge that we elect to pick a winner.

At the Model of the Year finals the judges mark girls on certain criteria, all of which is communicated to the girls on the day. The Academy does not influence the judges in any way and the score sheets are available to all contestants after the winner has been elected. This shows contestants that it is an honest and fair competition and that anyone could win it on the night! It also helps them see how they scored in comparison to the other girls and to see which areas they need to work on for future contests.

The Model of the Year competition is open to girls 14 years of age and upwards, regardless of experience. The live final consists of up to 50 contestants chosen as competition winners throughout the year and from all over the UK. Our youngest finalist to date was aged 14 in our 2009 competition, and our eldest aged 28 in our 2008 competition!

Model of the Month photographic contests are held each month inside the Academy, with the twelve winners all featuring in our yearly Model of the Year calendar. Celebrity judges such as Big Brother winner Rachel Rice, and FHM High Street Honey winner and covergirl Natalie Pike have chosen a winner each month to go to the final. Other competition heats include live contests at Model Tutorial Days and events with the Academy.

The winner each year will become the face of the Academy for the following year, before handing her crown over to the next winner! Unlike many other UK beauty pageants which do not permit their winners to do any work other than as organised by themselves, and do not permit them to enter further competitions we encourage it and we also help find our winner work as well.

After the success of our 2008 and 2009 Model of the Year contests, and how far all the contestants have come, we are all very excited about planning the 2010 grand final later this year! The 2010 grand final will be held in November, at a venue in Norwich (currently being decided!)

Sponsors put in over £13,000 worth of prizes for the 2009 grand final. Prizes included £1,000 worth of vouchers for top salon Max Giamello, a £1000 website, portfolio prizes, clothing and dress's, make up, beauty items and much much more! We are hoping to add even more prizes to the Model of the Year 2010 grand final!

If you want to enter any of the heats to win a place in The Model of the Year 2010 grand final, just join up to the Academy now and enter the online contests, or nip along to a Model Tutorial Day and take part in a mini catwalk modelling contest! There are also public voting contests that anyone can enter throughout the year as well, and we will also be holding some live nightclub heats in Norwich this summer.

Kerri personally trains each finalist in catwalk, posing and their interview making sure they all perform their best on the night. Kerri also offers each finalist personalised advice on what to wear, how to have their hair, and so on! You won't find a nicer team to work with than the Academy at The Model of the Year final.

All the girls support each other and have formed some great friendships already inside the Academy. Unlike other contests which are very bitchy and each girl is just out for themselves, our finalists help each other with outfits, and practice their interviews together!

We look forward to seeing you all once again at our Model of the Year 2010 grand final.