US Trends

what is the order of awards at the oscars

The Oscars don’t have a fixed, legally “locked” order every year, but there is a fairly consistent pattern: technical and short-film categories earlier, the big prestige awards near the end, and Best Picture as the final award of the night.

Quick Scoop: Typical Order Pattern

In recent years (including the announced/probable orders for 2025 and 2026), the ceremony usually follows this kind of flow:

  1. Early categories (often right after the monologue):
    • Supporting acting (very often Best Supporting Actor first)
    • One or two “big but not final” categories, like Animated Feature
    • Some craft/technical awards (Costume Design, Makeup & Hairstyling, Film Editing)
    • Short films (Animated Short, Live-Action Short)
  2. Middle stretch (heavier on crafts and docs):
    • Screenplays (Original Screenplay, Adapted Screenplay)
    • More craft categories: Production Design, Cinematography, Sound, Visual Effects, Original Score, Original Song
    • Documentary Feature and Documentary Short
    • International Feature Film
  3. Late show (prestige buildup):
    • Supporting Actress (if it wasn’t earlier)
    • Lead acting awards: Best Actor and Best Actress
    • Best Director
  4. Final award:
    • Best Picture closes the night and is almost always the last envelope opened.

For example, guidance for the 97th and 98th Oscars (2025–2026) shows lineups where:

  • A supporting category kicks things off.
  • Technical/craft and short-film awards occupy the middle.
  • The show ends with Actor, Director, Actress, and Best Picture as the final four, with Best Picture last.

Important Details and Caveats

  • The Academy does not always publish the exact official order ahead of time, and it can shift year to year.
  • However, the trend of saving the major above-the-line awards (acting, directing, Best Picture) for the end has held, especially after experiments (like moving Best Picture earlier) drew backlash in past years.
  • Recent reference lists for 2025 and 2026 show around 23–24 televised categories , which line up with the current standard slate (Best Picture, four acting awards, directing, two screenplays, score, song, cinematography, editing, production design, costume, makeup & hairstyling, sound, visual effects, animated feature, animated short, live-action short, documentary feature, documentary short, international feature, plus casting in 2026).

So, if you’re watching: expect a supporting category very early, a long middle dominated by craft and documentary/short awards, and then a late run of the big-name categories, ending with Best Picture. 🏆

Information gathered from public forums or data available on the internet and portrayed here.