The 2016 British Soap Awards honoured the best in British soap operas throughout 2015 and 2016. The ceremony was held on 24 May 2016 at the Hackney Empire theatre in Hackney, London, and was broadcast four days later on ITV and STV. The publicly voted categories were announced on 4 April 2016, with the vote opening that same day. This included a longlist for the Best Actress and Actor awards. The shortlist, including panel nominations, was released on 2 May 2016.

ITV soap Emmerdale won two of the three viewer-voted categories including Best British Soap, tying with BBC soap EastEnders for taking home the most awards of the night. ITV soap Coronation Street won three awards, with both BBC soap Doctors and Channel 4 soap Hollyoaks winning one each. EastEnders cast member Steve McFadden won the British Soap Award for Outstanding Achievement for his role as Phil Mitchell. The Outstanding Achievement Award (Off Screen) was renamed to the Tony Warren award, in memory of Coronation Street creator Tony Warren, who died in March 2016. It was given to casting director James Bain, who worked on both Coronation Street and Emmerdale. EastEnders' executive producer at the time, Dominic Treadwell-Collins, called out the ceremony on Twitter for having "all white" winners, criticising the lack of diversity.