Hewish had honorary degrees from six universities, including Manchester, Exeter and Cambridge, was a foreign member of the Belgian Royal Academy, American Academy of Arts and Sciences and the Indian National Science Academy. The National Portrait Gallery holds multiple portraits of him in its permanent collection. Other awards and honours include:
* Elected a Fellow of the Royal Society (FRS) in 1968
* Eddington Medal, Royal Astronomical Society (1969)
* Dellinger Gold Medal, International Union of Radio Science (1972)
* Albert A. Michelson Medal, Franklin Institute (1973, jointly with Jocelyn Bell Burnell)
* Fernand Holweck Medal and Prize (1974)
* Nobel Prize for Physics (jointly) (1974)
* Hughes Medal, Royal Society (1976)
* Elected a Fellow of the Institute of Physics (FInstP) in 1998