This opportunity is open to youth members (under the age of 21) from any of the PSSA clubs and school photography clubs in South Africa. In order to recognize photographic skill in this division PSSA offers these COE awards – Certificates of Excellence.
Applications for COEs take place twice a year. The dates for 2025 are as follows:
• Friday 1 March 2025
• Friday 2 August 2025
COE Panel requirements
Applications are made by submitting 10 digital images in HD format (The maximum pixels on the horizontal axis is 1920 and on the vertical axis 1080. One of the axes must be the full 1920 or 1080). Images must be saved as jpg files with a maximum size of 2Mb.
Junior (Primary School)
Mixed Panel – 10 images (Colour and/or Monochrome)
Senior (Student, High School and Tertiary – under age of 21)
Mixed Panel – 5 mono plus 5 colour images
Colour Panel – 10 colour images
Monochrome Panel – 10 monochrome images
Specialist Panel – 10 images (Colour and/or Monochrome)
A certificate and a badge* are awarded to successful applicants at a Pass, Merit or Distinction standard.
To obtain this certificate the panel must be passed by the judging panel. The standard for a pass is
The Images that are approved must score at least 12 out of 15 by all the judges in the Panel.
COE – 7 out of 10 images
COE with Merit – 8 or 9 out of 10 Images
COE with Distinction – 10 out of 10.
If a scholar does not qualify for the COE then he/she will be notified that they may replace that image/s within a period of three weeks (21 days) of receiving the notice. The images that have passed will receive a Credit and will stand for the final presentation of the new panel with the new images
COE Versatile Award – COE(Vers)
Applicants may work towards a COE(Vers) award by completing three successful COE panels. The rules for a COE(Vers) are as follows:
* A COE(Vers) will not be awarded at a Merit or Distinction level. A COE(Vers) will be awarded irrespective of the level at which the three individual COEs were awarded.
* An applicant will receive a COE(Vers) certificate on the successful completion of his/her third COE. No PSSA badge is issued for a COE(Vers).
* The applicant does not have to apply for a COE(Vers), it is automatically awarded on the successful completion of the third COE.
* All three panels have to be completed in the age and schooling time frames specified in the basic rules of the COE.
* An applicant cannot apply for more than one COE in a specific judging session.
The three successful panels have to cover one of the following combinations:
* Color, Mono, Specialist;
* Mixed, Mono, Specialist;
* Color, Specialist, Specialist (different from first specialization);
* Mono, Specialist, Specialist (different from first specialization);
* Mixed, Specialist, Specialist (different from first specialization)
Payment details
The COE application fee is R120-00 per application. No fees are payable for the COE(Vers).
Payment must be made using the applicant’s name as reference into –
Account name: PSSA
Banking details: ABSA
Account number: 4052639245
Branch code: 630-137
* Applicants who are not individual members of PSSA are required to order and pay an additional R120 for the badge.
Entry is by means of Photovault – http://www.photovaultonline.com.
Applications may be made twice a year as per the dates at the top of this page.
Should you wish to contact me, I can be reached here on e-mail or on my mobile (078 863 9184)
Phillip De Lange
APSSA, DPSSA(Vers), DPSSA(Cls), AFIAP
PSSA Director: Youth Division
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