The 2026 Keystone Awards

Celebrating excellence and innovation in global education

The Keystone Awards honor the outstanding achievements of students, institutions, and professional training providers who have gone above and beyond in 2025.
 

Shortlist revealed!

See the finalists below 

Quick Links:

Shortlist
Meet the Judges
About the Sponsors
Award Categories
Key Dates
FAQs

See the Shortlist: 

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Higher Education Institute of the Year

Outstanding Education Marketing & Recruitment Campaign

Outstanding Student Experience Initiative or Project

Outstanding Equality, Diversity & Inclusion Initiative or Project

Outstanding Teaching & Mentorship 

Training Provider of the Year

Student of the Year

International Student of the Year

Research Student of the Year

Student Athlete of the Year

About the Keystone Awards

The Keystone Awards celebrate the remarkable contributions of students, educators, and institutions shaping the global education landscape. Hosted annually by Keystone Education Group, the awards highlight innovation, inclusion, academic achievement, and initiatives that drive meaningful student impact.
 

For 2026, we’ve expanded our categories to recognize even more individuals, teams, and organizations across higher education and professional training. Whether you’re a student leader, research innovator, athlete, educator, or institution making a difference, these awards are an opportunity to share your story and be recognised globally.

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Meet the Awards Judges

Dr Maureen Manning

Founder & Principal Strategist  
The Global Nexus Collective LLC

Dirk Mulder 

Founder & CEO

The Koala International Education News

Jenny Wilkinson

Pro Vice Chancellor
Liverpool Hope University

Joanna Kumpula

Head of International Education and Integration Support

Tampere University

 

Ilaria Bossi

Associate Director,  International Marketing & Recruitment
Università Cattolica del Sacro Cuore

Andy Howells

Independent Higher Education Consultant

Andy Howells Consulting

Erald Sula

Student Engagement Specialist

University of Groningen

Harri Suominen

Co-founder

Edunation & AsiaExchange

Andy Holliday 

Senior Advisor

Keystone Education Group

Award Categories

★ Award Categories

Institution & Organization Categories

These categories celebrate institutions and teams driving innovation, improving outcomes, and elevating the student experience.

1
Higher Education Institution of the Year
2
Outstanding Education Marketing & Recruitment Campaign
3
Outstanding Student Experience Initiative or Project
4
Outstanding Equality, Diversity & Inclusion Initiative or Project
5
Outstanding Teaching & Mentorship
6
Training Provider of the Year
★ Award Categories

Student Categories

Recognizing exceptional students who demonstrate academic excellence, leadership, creativity, or athletic achievement.

1
Student of the Year (Undergraduate & Masters)
2
International Student of the Year
3
Research Student of the Year (PhD)
4
Student Athlete of the Year

About Keystone & Award Sponsors

 
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More than 100 million students trust Keystone to help them pursue higher education every year. In turn, Keystone helps over 5,500 education institutions reach, recruit, and enroll prospective students in more than 190 countries. Keystone also operates a range of global student recruitment services including UniQuest, FindAUniversity, Beyond Abroad, Edunation, and Keystone Sports.  
UniQuest_RGB_Website-1

 

Established in 2013 in the UK, UniQuest are world leaders in student engagement, admissions and conversion.

Tech-enabled, people-driven and process-powered, UniQuest partners with Higher Education Institutions to deliver 360 personalized student engagement strategies.

To date, UniQuest has engaged over 1.2 million students and managed over 60 million student communications, processing over 300,000 student applications.
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Educations.com is the leading online platform to help inspire, inform and empower students to find their perfect study abroad opportunity. Since 2001, educations.com has provided an intuitive platform that helps over 40 million students across 250 countries find their dream study programs and universities every year.
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Launched in 2004, FindAMasters.com has grown to attract more than 780,000 monthly visitors and currently lists over 23,261 Masters and MBA programmes. FindAMasters is owned by FindAUniversity - experts in everything postgraduate – who partner with higher education institutions to help them meet their postgraduate student recruitment targets.
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Launched in 2001, FindAPhD.com attracts more than 400,000 monthly visitors and currently lists over 6,478 research projects and programmes. FindAPhD is owned by FindAUniversity – experts in everything postgraduate – who partner with higher education institutions to help them meet their postgraduate and PhD student recruitment targets.
findcourses.com

 

findcourses.com is more than a website—it’s a marketplace for professional development and lifelong learning. Whether you're looking to sharpen your skills, explore a new field, or support your team’s growth, findcourses connects you with trusted training providers across a wide range of industries. In turn, findcourses partners with professional training providers to help match learners, HR and L&D Managers with professional training solutions for their organizations.
beyond abroad logo

 

Beyond Abroad is a leading study abroad agency, focused on helping students grow through transformative global experiences, while supporting institutions in expanding their international reach.  Beyond Abroad, launched in 2025, brings together three of Europe’s most trusted international student recruitment agencies – SONOR, Blueberry and Asia Exchange into one unified agency. Beyond Abroad makes international collaboration simpler, smarter, and more impactful, empowering institutions to reach a bigger student audience than ever before. 

Key Dates

3rd December 2025

Nominations Open

31st March 2026   13th April 2026

Nominations Deadline Extended to April 13th

May 2026

Judging & Shortlist Announced

June 2026

Winners Revealed During Online Ceremony

FAQs

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What are the Entry Guidelines?
Who can be nominated?
Can I nominate myself?
Can I nominate in more than 1 award category?
What information is required to submit a nomination?
I want to submit a creative nomination for my Student Award nomination, what formats do you accept?
Do I need to provide supporting information/evidence to support my nomination?
What type of supporting information should I provide?
What file formats are accepted as Supporting Information?
I’m not sure what to include in my nomination, can I find any sample nominations to guide me?
Can I work on my nomination, save it and come back to it later?
I’m having issues submitting my nominations, who can I contact?
I submitted my nomination but haven’t had a confirmation you’ve received it, what should I do?
When do nominations close?
How will the entries be judged?
How will the shortlisted entries be contacted?
When will the winners be announced?
Are there prizes for award winners?
Where can I find out about last year’s Keystone Award Winners?
I want to promote the awards to students, staff and colleagues, where can I download promotional assets?
Do I need to provide supporting information/evidence to support my nomination?