British cinema proved the versatility of its talents in this year’s Academy nominations, with recognition for a selection of films and a variety of famous faces. Both An Education and In the Loop will be competing for their own famous Oscar statue in writing, whilst three Brits are in the running for their acting skills.

An Education, a coming-of-age period drama directed by Lone Scherfig, has received nominations in three categories, most notably for the newly-expanded Best Picture Award. British duo Nick Hornby and Carey Mulligan picked up the other two, in the Best Adapted Screenplay and Best Actress categories respectively. It’s the first time either has been nominated for an Oscar, which is all the more impressive for 24-year old Mulligan, as An Education is her feature film debut. Colin Firth also received his first nomination – Best Actor for A Single Man - whilst 2007 winner Helen Mirren picks up her fourth nomination for The Last Station.

Finally, British writing team Jesse Armstrong, Simon Blackwell, Armando Iannucci and Tony Roche will compete against Hornby and three others in the Best Adapted Screenplay category, with their biting satire In the Loop.

Outside of the UK, Avatar and The Hurt Locker look set to be the films to beat, with nine nominations each, including Best Picture and Best Director (for James Cameron and Kathryn Bigelow respectively). There were also strong showings for Tarantino’s Inglourious Basterds, Jason Reitman’s Up in the Air and Lee Daniels' Precious.

Directors UK would like to congratulate all the nominees; the winners will be announced on March 7th. For a full list of the nominations, please click here.