At the Annual General Meeting of the Association in 1968 it was agreed that a critic would be appointed to travel to the shows being produced by the members and give them a detailed review of their production, in order to identify areas where improvements could be made. The first AIMS critic was Robert A. Bramham and his first reviews of shows began appearing in the AIMS Bulletin of December 1968. Following on from this decision, it was decided in 1971 that it would be a good idea to reward those societies and performers who had excelled in their productions, like the Oscar and Tony awards in professional film and musical theatre. To that end the AIMS Adjudication and Awards Scheme came into being.

The first awards were presented at the AIMS Seminar of 1972 in the Royal Marine Hotel in Dun Laoghaire. The awards proved to be a great success and became a central part of AIMS life. Over the years the excitement would grow during the month of May when the nominations were announced and a fever pitch atmosphere would build during the weekend of the seminar, culminating in the awards ceremony on Saturday night.

As the success of the scheme grew and the number of societies seeking adjudications spiralled, it became clear towards the end of the 1990s that it was becoming impossible for one adjudicator to see all the shows being performed. In order to alleviate this problem, the scheme was split into two tiers starting from the 2000/2001 season. The two tiers were named Gilbert and Sullivan and progression from one tier to another would be decided by the number of nominations received by a society over the previous five years.

For most AIMS members, the coveted prize within the awards scheme is the Best Overall Show award. Over the years societies all over the country have received this prestigious award. The following are the winners of the Best Overall Show title since the awards scheme began:

Year	Society	Show
1972	Rathmines and Rathgar Musical Society	The Yeoman Of The Guard
1973	St. Agnes' Choral Society, Belfast	The Gypsy Baron
1974	St. Agnes' Choral Society, Belfast	Die Fledermaus
1975	Wexford Light Opera Society	Orpheus In The Underworld
1976	St. Pius X Musical Society	Fiddler On The Roof
1977	Dun Laoghaire Methodist Musical and Dramatic Society	Finian's Rainbow
1978	Pioneer Musical and Dramatic Society	The Great Waltz
1979	Carrick-on-Suir Amateur Operatic Society	Joseph And His Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat
1980	Sandymount Musical Society	South Pacific
1981	Patrician Musical Society, Galway	Orpheus In The Underworld
1982	Belfast Operatic Society	The Yeoman Of The Guard
1983	New Ross Musical Society	Annie Get Your Gun
1984	Belfast Operatic Society	Die Fledermaus
1985	St. Agnes' Choral Society, Belfast	Oklahoma!
1986	New Ross Musical Society	The New Pirates Of Penzance
1987	Dublin Area Youth Musical Society	West Side Story
1988	Dublin Area Youth Musical Society	Godspell
1989	St. Mary's Choral Society, Clonmel	Man Of La Mancha
1990	New Ross Musical Society	Hello, Dolly!
1991	St Agnes' Choral Society, Belfast	Carousel
1992	Wexford Light Opera Society	Fiddler On The Roof
1993	Shannon Musical Society	Half A Sixpence
1994	De La Salle Musical Society	The King And I
1995	Baldoyle Musical Society	Billy
1996	Carrick-on-Suir Amateur Operatic Society	Man Of La Mancha
1997	Wexford Light Opera Society	Chess
1998	Dublin Musical Theatre Players	Some Like It Hot
1999	Wexford Light Opera Society	Man Of La Mancha
2000	Thurles Amateur Musical Society	Hot Mikado

Year	Society	Show
2001	Galway Musical Society	Wonderful Town
2002	Wexford Light Opera Society	The New Pirates Of Penzance
2003	Kilcock Musical Society	Sweeney Todd
2004	Athlone Musical Society	The Hired Man
2005	Teachers' Musical Society	Oliver!
2006	Wexford Light Opera Society	Jekyll & Hyde
2007	Gorey Musical Society	Oklahoma!
2008	Killarney Musical Society	Carousel
2009	New Lyric Operatic Company, Belfast	The Witches Of Eastwick
2010	Ballinrobe Musical Society	The Pirate Queen
2011	Tralee Musical Society	Michael Collins The Musical
2012	Tipperary Musical Society	Man Of La Mancha

Year	Society	Show
2001	Dundalk Musical Society/Banbridge Musical Society	Fiddler On The Roof
2002	Full Circle Theatre Company	The Hired Man
2003	Mullingar Charity and Variety Group	Jesus Christ Superstar
2004	Teachers' Musical Society	Honk!
2005	Belfast Operatic Society	Titanic
2006	Next Stage Productions, Dublin	Assassins
2007	Imagine Theatre Group, Waterford	Into The Woods
2008	Ballinasloe Musical Society	Honk!
2009	Pioneer Musical Society, Dublin	Fiddler On The Roof
2010	Boyle Musical Society	Jesus Christ Superstar
2011	National Youth Musical Theatre, Dublin	Spring Awakening
2012	St. Mary's Musical Society, Navan	Little Shop Of Horrors